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Conquest of new spain
The Spanish conquest and its consequences
The Spanish conquest and its consequences
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In “A View of the Spanish Conquest”, Solorzano begins with stating that though he is not excusing the wars and mistreatment the Spaniards caused the Indians, he is justifying why they happened the way they did. He then goes on to defend the Spanish for at least trying to convert the Indians into Christians in a considerate way. In the last paragraph, the author claims “…which God, in His mysterious wisdom, has seen fit to send to reduce their numbers...”, to convey that that the Indians had it coming for going against not the Spaniards but God, and as a way to punish them, God killed the Indians off within themselves. In “Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies”, the author Bartoleme accuses the Spaniards of terrible crimes against humanity,
Anais Nin once said that “we write to taste life twice: in the moment and in retrospection.” In his book, Seven Myths of Spanish Conquest, Matthew Restall tries to change our perception of the past in other to open our eyes to what life was really like during the colonial period. As Restall puts it, the main propose of the book is to “illustrate the degree to which the Conquest was a far more complex and protracted affair” (p.154) than what was supposed in the latters and chronicles left by the conquistadores. Each one of Restall’s chapters examines one of seven myths regarding the mystery behind the conquest. By doing so, Matthew Restall forces us to look back at the Spanish conquest and question
The source of the first passage that I read was History of the Indies written by Bartolome de Las Casas written in 1528. Bartolome was a 16th century Spanish historian, social reformer and Dominican friar/priest, who condemned the treatment of Indians in the Spanish empire. Bartolome widely disseminated History of the Indies and helped to establish the Black Legend of Spanish cruelty (Give Me Liberty, 28). The source of the second passage that I read was the “Declaration of Josephe” which was created by Josephe on December 19, 1681, and Josephe was a Spanish-speaking Indian questioned by a royal attorney in Mexico City investigating the Pueblo Revolt, which is the revolt of the indian population, in 1680, which temporarily drove Spanish settlers out of present day New Mexico
The Latino community is a very varied community each with its own unique past and circumstances. In the book Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez the readers can learn and appreciate some of the experiences and history that the different Latino groups had. This book does this with a special emphasis on immigration trends. These points of emphasis of the book are explained thoroughly in the identification of the key points, the explanation of the intersection of race, ethnicity, and class, in addition to the overall evaluation of the book.
In 1518 Hernán Cortés took command of an expedition to secure the interior of Mexico in the name of the Spanish Crown. In the letters he detailed his expedition and the land and peoples they conquered and encountered. The first letter, dated 1519, is a problematic document as it is written in the third person and was most likely not actually wire by cortez. The second and third letters are much more reliable and were published in Seville in 1522 and 1523 respectively. The culture, geography, economy and other details of the Aztec civilization, as well as Cortés and his forces’ interaction with them, are detailed in his letters which are addressed to the monarch of the sponsor of his force, Spain. In his letters Cortés also gave justification and explanation of the actions he took in Mexico.
In Matthew Restall’s book The Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest, he argues that many of the widely accepted modern beliefs about the Spanish Conquest are misguided or skewed. These myths more importantly show how dependent history is on the perspective of the one who is writing it, and how the writer perceives the events happening around them. One example, is the myth of white Spaniards going to a foreign land on the decree of a king and finding barbarous natives who are inferior to these so-called great men. Using documentation written from both sides, and taking into account the context of the time period, Restall explores the myths of the Spanish Conquest in order to frame a less romanticized, well-rounded view of what actually happened
Looking back into the history of certain events affords the modern researcher the ability to examine a variety of documents and artifacts. It is important, however, to take into account biases, inaccuracies, errors in translation, and overall misinformation when examining primary sources, particularly historical documents. Examining the history of the conquest of the Aztec empire is no different, and in a scenario as tense as it was it is extremely important to consider the authorship of the text. Bernal Diaz’ The Conquest of New Spain and Miguel Leon-Portilla’s The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico offer two distinct looks into the same event in history. Both documents offer differing takes of the same events, so when
Danticat begins her essay with a tragic and bitter tone. She tells of the first people who were murdered when the Spaniards came to Haiti including Queen Anacaona, an Arawak Indian who ruled over the western part of the island. With bitterness she states, “Anacaona was one of their first victims. She was raped and killed and her village pillaged” (137).
What he and his men did to the Indigenous people is told in horrifying detail by the Dominican priest Bartolome de Las Casas, “whose writings give the most thorough account of the Spanish-Indian encounter.” Las Casas witnessed firsthand Columbus’ soldiers stabbing Natives for sport, dashing babies’ heads on rocks, and sexually abusing Indigenous women. His testimony was corroborated by other eyewitnesses, such as a group of Dominican friars, who addressed the Spanish monarchy in 1519, hoping to bring an end to the atrocities. At the very least, Columbus was complicit in the actions of his men. He cared so little for the welfare of the Indigenous people that he let his soldiers commit reprehensible acts that would be considered crimes against humanity in the present day. Christopher Columbus’ actions suggest he had no issue with serving as an enabler of the horrifying actions committed by his men against the Indigenous
Bartolomé de Las Casas was born in 1484 AD in Seville and died in 1566 in Madrid. In the ending of the 15th century and the beginning of 16th, he came to America and become a “protector of Indian”. In 1542, most based on his effort, Spain has passed the New Law, which prohibit slaving Indians (Foner, p. 7). In 1552, he published the book A Short Account of the Destruction of The Indies.
...tence it at least allowed him to educate the natives about Christianity and that their experiences before now with the Europeans were not of a Christian nature. Throughout the letter, Las Casas seems careful to be very consistent and never veers from ensuring that his audience knows of the atrocities of the people of their own land to the natives fellow humans. God has a plan for everyone and this is not it.
Andrée M. Collard, "Bartolomé de las Casa," History of the Indies, ed. Joyce J. Contrucci (1999).
There have been circular arguments,internaionally, concerning whether Columbus discoverd or invaded the west Indies. through this essay I will explore all counter arguments for this particular topic. Its complex yet simple, one step at a time.
De Las Casas, however, is not as dishonest in his accounts of the Americas and how “well” the Europeans were spreading their nation. “The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of Indies,” was strictly written to inform the Spanish Royal Court of the wrongs their explorers were committing against the Natives. The voyagers were given the task to convert the Natives to Christianity and Spanish culture, but instead were on a major assassination bender for gold (in which only a small percentage of the gold was given to the Spanish Royalty). Missionaries like De Las Casas wanted to bring justice to new domain.
The last Indian empire in Mexico, the Aztec, fell to Spanish invaders in the early 1500s. For more than the next two hundred years, Mexico was a Spanish colony. The Spaniards took Mexico's fortunes, but also introduced many advances in culture and traditions, government, education and religion. The descendants of the Spaniards became Mexico's ruling class, whereas the Indians remained at a lower-class status. Once New Spain settled in its new territory, it would be under influence of the mother country Spain. Its colonial system would be entrenched in the new colony and its economy would strive to gain profit and make Spain more wealthy and more powerful.
In the early 16th century Hernán Cortés wrote a letter to King Charles I of Spain. The letter being a statement of great accomplishment and power wasn’t just a simple letter; to Hernán Cortés it was a symbol of authority and a step forward towards expansion. The letter acknowledged their achievements of this expedition; the first being their success and the discovery of land to be colonized and this amazing empire known as the Aztec empire. Steel, armor, canons, firearms, and horses presented Cortés and his crew the advantage over the native people they encountered which helped justify the Spanish overcoming of the Aztec empire.