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Effects of conquest and colonization on the native Americans
Effects of conquest and colonization on the native Americans
Effect of spanish conquest and colonization on native americans
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The Fall of the Aztec and Inca Empires In this essay I will tell how the Aztec and Inca empires ended, and also I will compare the fall of both empires, using for a point of departure the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the land of Mexico. Wherever the Spanish went always the same thing happened, from my point of view. Innocent people were killed for no good reason, cities were massacred, civilizations were destroyed or forced to convert to Christianity. And so, I think now is the time to reevaluate the actions of the European explorers who subjugated the native American peoples and their civilizations. Undoubtedly the most glorified and heroically portrayed of these figures of the European conquest of the New World were the conquistadors, the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16-th century. These men, under leaders such as Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro nearly eliminated the Aztec and Inca peoples. Surely many of these soldiers were extremely cruel and intolerant of the native populations. But it is important to consider, with the push of both sides toward territorial expansion, how these groups (European and American) could remain isolated from each other. Furthermore, with meeting of these two imperialist cultures, it must be considered whether it would be possible for the two to peacefully coexist. From the point of view of what we know today it seems impossible that Europe could have remained completely ignorant until the XVI century with respect a civilization that by then had existed in Mexico for more than one thousand five hundred years. Equally astonishing is the indifference that the conquerors showed towards the universe that by pure luck crossed their path. Nothing shows the attitude ... ... middle of paper ... ...th empires. The Indian overlords made no attempts to assimilate the other cultures to their own and thus provided the basis for a full scale revolt against them. With diligent work by missionaries, the Spaniards tried to bring together the people of present-day Mexico and the southwestern United States by converting them to Christianity. The resulting extension of the Spanish empire, New Spain, was the most strongly united of the American empires for years to come. Works Cited: Sejourne, Laurette. "Burning Water". Kishlansky, Mark A. Sources of World History. "An Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico" (1528). Kishlansky, Mark A. Sources of World History. Cobo, Bernabe. "History of the Inca Empire" (1653). Palfrey, Dale Hoyte. "The Settlement of New Spain". Mexico's Colonial Era - part I. http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/dpalfrey/dpcolonial1.html
Before the 15th century, the Indians in the Americas were not connected with the world and would remain that way until Columbus's exploration. In the beginning of 15th century, the Aztecs were the dominant group in Mesoamerica leaded by Montezuma, the last leader, before the Spanish conquest. In 1519, Hernan Cortez led the Spanish mission to explore and conquer the New World. This paper will compare three primary sources about this event. First, an informing letter sent from Cortez to King Charles V, the king of Spain. Second, the Broken Spears which is an Indian recollection about the conquest of Mexico. Lastly, Bernal Diaz’s (one of Cortez’s men) account was written by him to share his experience with Aztec civilization. Moreover, this paper will show the credibility of Diaz’s account compared to the other sources because the objectivity of his tone, written after a while of the event, and the author’s great experience and his independent purpose of the source.
Portilla starts out by giving a thorough background of the culture and religious beliefs. The reader can draw many theories on how this carried over to the Aztecs way of thinking and fighting. In addition to the religion and culture, Portilla shows the technology advantages the Spanish had over the Aztecs. He also goes on to describe the poor leadership of Motecuhzoma. Motecuhzoma will be portrayed as a coward. Portilla also writes about the strategy that worked rather well for the Spanish as they made alliances with the Tlaxcalatecas and other cities. He finally talks about plague that wiped out much of the Aztecs. This may have been the greatest factor in the fall of the Aztecs Empire. All of these factors combined effectively show how the Spaniards prevailed over this great Aztec Empire of the 15th and early 16th century.
“The Conquest of New Spain” is the first hand account of Bernal Diaz (translated by J.M. Cohen) who writes about his personal accounts of the conquest of Mexico by himself and other conquistadors beginning in 1517. Unlike other authors who wrote about their first hand accounts, Diaz offers a more positive outlook of the conquest and the conquistadors motives as they moved through mainland Mexico. The beginning chapters go into detail about the expeditions of some Spanish conquistadors such as Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de Grijalva and Hernando Cotes. This book, though, focuses mainly on Diaz’s travels with Hernando Cortes. Bernal Diaz’s uses the idea of the “Just War Theory” as his argument for why the conquests were justifiable
Inga Clendinnen's Aztecs:An Interpretation is an outstanding book dealing with investigations into how the Mexica peoples may have veiwed the world in which they lived. From the daily life of a commoner to the explosively, awe inspiring lives of the priests and warriors. Clendinnen has used thoughtful insights and a fresh perspective that will have general readers and specialist readers alike engaged in a powerful and elegantly written interpretation that is hard to put down without reflection upon this lost culture.
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.
The downfall of the Aztec Empire was a major building block of the Spanish colonial empire in the Americas. Spain’s empire would stretch all the way into North America from the Southwest United States all the way up the Pacific Coast. The unfortunate side effect of this was the elimination of many nations of indigenous people. The three major themes shown in this conquest really give deeper look into the anatomy of this important historical event. Without context on the extent of native assistance given to Cortez in his fight with the Aztecs, a reader would be grossly uniformed. The Spanish conquest was closer to a civil war than an actual conquest. Until reading detailed personal accounts of the fighting it is difficult to judge the deadly effectiveness of the Spaniards technological superiority. Without it is difficult to imagine 500 conquistadors holding thousands of native warriors at bay. Once the greed of Cortez and greed in general of the Europeans one understands that if it wasn’t Cortez if would have just been a different man at a different time. Unfortunately fame and prosperity seem to always win over cares about fellow human beings
113. 424 http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-art.html http://www.about-peru-history.com/inca-artifacts.html Voyages in World History, pg. 113.
A major element of Aztec life was religion, as often is in the case in ancient civilizations. The Aztecs were a polytheistic people, and they often made use of human sacrifice to please their gods. Diaz often makes reference to the blood-stained walls of the Aztec temples in his account of the conquest. In reference to the success of Cortes and his soldiers, an anci...
In schools, students are being taught wrong information. “Our gods were vanquished after the fall of Tenochtitlan as were our traditions. Our warriors and nobles were eradicated, our children starved and our women ravished by the white conquerors and their allies.” (157). In books across America, the Spaniards were said to be good people, but the way that Huitzitzilin described what happened, shows the complete opposite of how the Spaniards actually were.
Figueroa, Luis A. "Before and After the First Conquest: From Tainos to Early Spanish Colonialism". September 17, 1998.
In central and southern Mexico, there are fundamental characteristic that deserve emphasis at the outset. The size and distribution of Indian peoples before the arrival of Europeans had a huge effect on the development of Mexico. The differences in the historical development of central and southern Mexico and the rest of North America derive in large part from the dense concentration of Indian peoples in the highland valleys of Mexico. The Spaniards had a huge role in the changing of the native peoples if Mexico not only politically and culturally as well. The timing of the colonization was also a huge fundamental influence on its development. Spain introduced their most important legacy to Mexico, the Reconquista. This was an 800 year long process of “reconquering” the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim control. This helped define the social and economic patterns that were introduced to Mexico. Along with the reconquering, Spain was full of a renaissance drive for knowledge, wealth and power. They attempted to recreate as accurately as possible the life of the medieval lord with his titles and power based ownership of large landed estates and control over subordinate and retainers. This was only made possible through the large population of Indians living in the area. They were the ones who did the heavy lifting and built the new society so that the Spaniards could accomplish their objectives. Unlike the central and southern Mexico, the northern section had a smaller Indian population, harsh climate and wide-open spaces helped develop a completely different culture. This section was a land of opportunity during much of its history.
Both the Spaniards and Aztecs reinvestigated their religions as a result of their encounter and conquest. Understanding the context of both the Spanish and Aztec cultures before their encounter and conquest is important to understanding the events of the conquest. This also sheds light on how both the Spanish and Aztecs learned about each other. They attempted to reflect frameworks from their own cultures onto the new one;
Fagan, Brian M. (2001) "Mesoamerican Civilizations." The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World: Unlocking the Secrets of past Civilizations. New York: Thames & Hudson, 491-509.
..., "Major Problems In Mexican American History" The Mexican Immigrant Experience, 1917-1928, Zaragosa Vargas (233)
Janos Gyarmati’s Paria la Viexa and an expanding empire: Provincial centers in the political economy of the Inka Empire proved that the Inca’s built an empire unlike another. From 1440 to 1532 A.D. the Inca Empire dominated the Americas. Known as “the fastest growing and largest territorial empire”(Gyarmati 37) of its time the Inca Empire left a mark with their complex, perpetual and innovative economic, road, and settlement system. The Inca’s were advanced for their time, however they lacked a system that would guarantee the survival of their kin. In order to strive, for the long-term, the Inca’s created provincial centers that would ensure their growth and economy for the generations to come. Provincial centers served as both the focal economic and administrative points of the Inca Empire. The impaction of Inca Empire’s multiple uses of their provincial centers will reign for all of eternity, unified the overall elements of the Janos Gyarmati’s article in regards to society, production, features,