Following the conquest of the Aztecs, the Spanish were able to extend their control mostly because of...

• the roadways spreading out of Tenochtitlan.
• gold from the Peruvian Incas.
• funds from the pope.
• smallpox and other epidemics that decimated the native inhabitants.

ANSWER: Following the conquest of the Aztecs, the Spanish were able to extend their control mostly because of smallpox and other epidemics that decimated the native inhabitants.