ipl-logo

Broken Spears Summary Essay

551 Words3 Pages

Throughout history, there has always been a sort of controversy that has never been said out loud but have always been there.This pertains to when history is written and which account it should be drawn upon. Especially when a significant event has happened, and so when a side does not “win” at that event, they are then unfortunately left in the dust and forgotten by the way the manner of how that story is written. These perspectives, although will always follow the victorians shadow, until a light has been shined upon them. Gustavo Verdesio, claims in his preface, Colonialism Past and Present, Reading and Writing about Colonial Latin America Today, that this statement is true and must be shined up to be considered a historical text, especially regarding the colonization of any country. Verdesio entirely argues, that when it comes to studying any colony (focusing in Latin America here), we must find a connection between the past and present, “... to establish a nexus between the “antiquities” we study and the current situation of the descendants of the human contingents who shared the colonial experience, between the colonial situations of the past and the colonial legacies of the present,”(1). He argues that the “colonial legacies” is a determining factor in how …show more content…

The book is written in a manner in which gives the reader insight of what he was thinking as he was writing this book. One could see that this book is meant to give light to the real and truthful perspective of what happened when the Spaniards came in 1519. One could argue, therefore, if this is what Gustavo Verdesio has been advocating for when he was writing his preface. When you look into the text analytically for Broken Spears, many things begin to appear as proof to what Verdesio has been

Show More
Related
980 Words | 4 Pages

Braford E. Burns began writing The Poverty of Progress as a historical essay arguing against the “modernization” of nineteenth century Latin America. Burns argues that modernization was preformed against the will of the majority and benefited a small group of Creole Elite, while causing an exponential drop in the quality of life for folk majority. Burns supports his research through a series of dichotomies. Within the first twenty years of the nineteenth century the majority of Latin America gained independence from Spain.

Read More
714 Words | 3 Pages

Juan Pablo Viscardo states "Americans, being those most worried by issues of America , coherently should fill the general population workplaces of their own nation for the advantage of all concerned." This implied they weren't going to give anybody a chance to have control over them in light of the fact that the Creoles were the sensible decision. The postulation on the grounds that the Creoles thought it was sensible that they needed to have power in their own nation so everybody would profit by it. Howard J. Wiarda states "Creoles started to consider doing far from the impairment of spanish expansionism and move toward autonomy" by moving towards freedom the creoles would have power and that is the thing that the Creoles needed on the grounds that they thought they were the main coherent decision to govern Latin America. This identifies with the postulation in light of the fact that the Creoles thought it was intelligent for them to be autonomous so spain didn't have control over

Read More
1376 Words | 6 Pages

Unlike DBC Pierre, Clendinnen has a more rigid contextual application to her history, having studied Anthropology and therefore approaching the Aztecs through the intensely human aspect, in the manner of history from below. In dealing with the reasons for defeat of the Aztec Empire, Clendinnen focuses on the intensely intimate and brutal cultural practices of battle and further war. She focuses intensely on the cultural forces, as defined by humans, in losing the war - and she raises the question of the adaptability of the Aztec Empire to the Spanish terms of engagement. She provides interesting insight into the inability for both the Spanish or the Aztecs to understand one another; clearly influenced by her background in Anthropology. Undoubtedly, her contextualisation of the downfall through the insuperable cultural clash and demands of ritual, that is hand to hand combat only and the criminal death system in battle is reflective of her familiarity with Anthropology - certainly her character dissection of Cortes is done in an intense, anthropological detail.

Read More
588 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the book, we get a narrative perspective of how the advanced Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was at its height and how it fell into the hands of the Spanish conquistadors. Leon-Portilla gave a different perspective of history that always tends to be silenced. Many colonized people throughout the world have had their voices silenced and ignored. However, Leon-Portilla shared a different account of the conquest of Mexico. After Leon Portilla's book was published it has received some critiques and criticisms over the

Read More
653 Words | 3 Pages

Since the Creoles are American born, they have limited rights in Latin America compared to the Peninsulares who had the majority power. ”-we are struggling to maintain ourselves in the country that gave us birth against the opposition of the invaders.” (Document A).Also due to the creoles birthplace (Latin America), they have a limit of personal and property rights. “Will you recover the lands stolen three hundred years ago from your forefathers by the hated Spaniards?” (Document E).

Read More
1273 Words | 6 Pages

I chose this prompt because it best highlights the idea of how Colonial Latin America had a problem with the disregard for law among the citizens. In particular, lawlessness played a large role in Colonial Latin America. As a result of the small population of Iberians in Latin America, the rule over people in Colonial Latin America proved to be arduous for the Iberians. These limits were depicted in the gap between the colonial laws and reality throughout Colonial Latin America. The gap can be broken down into two categories.

Read More
573 Words | 3 Pages

The Broken Spears, by Miguel Leon-Portilla, is an all-inclusive and compelling account of the Spanish conquest, told by the Aztecs also known as the conquered. Leon Portilla’s choice of events depicted in this book collides together giving the reader a broad view of the Spanish conquest. This book gives a history of emotional and spiritual human experiences, allowing the readers to comprehend, and relate to the Aztecs as they went through terror and faced their fears. This book provides an extensive amount of details concerning lack of leadership, bias and technological hardship that led to the Aztec defeat. After reading this book the reader will start to understand how and why the Aztecs suffered .

Read More
1695 Words | 7 Pages

The reader not only grasps conflict between Esteban and Blanca, but also the conflict between Esteban and the people of Tres Marias. The violent conflict the

Read More
1412 Words | 6 Pages

Many of the more unrealistic parts of the essay can be seen as less of the ideological musings of one man and his hope for a united future and more the reflection of a colonial and racially charged violent past, disunity of Latin America and failure of Simon Bolivar's dreams, and the corrupt rule of the

Read More
791 Words | 4 Pages

Many Latin American countries struggled to gain independence and resist European culture to form their own. Some academics, specifically the Uruguayan Jose Enrique Rodo, argued that only Northern European culture should be rejected and that their Latin culture was superior; while this differs from Martí’s view of building a strong national pride that embraces multiple races and cultures, it does align with the poem in that it emphasizes a pride in a culture that is different than the “master.”

Read More
1506 Words | 7 Pages

When Tenochtitlan was destroyed, the warriors “stared at the ruins of their city in dazed silence, and the women and children and old men were all weeping” (p.122), nevertheless they persisted and survived these events. The Broken Spears show the conquest’s emotional, human impact on the natives, despite the subjectivity this might entail. Nevertheless, the events ring true, and have been academically vetted—leading to suggest that this account is historically accurate,

Read More
1513 Words | 7 Pages

The Spanish exploration and colonisation made both a positive and negative impact on Latin America. The arrival of the Spanish explorers to the new world made a big change and they are the reason Latin America looks the way it does today. However these people were ruthless and were the tyrants of the new world. One of Spain’s major foreign policy objectives since the advent of democracy has been to increase its influence in Latin America. Spain has had interest in this area due to historical ties and a common linguistic, cultural and religious heritage (Countrystudies.us, 2017).

Read More
1192 Words | 5 Pages

The discoveries of land or groups of individuals may involve what modern individuals call colonization. Colonization is the ability to formulate control or power that enables the person to dominate the area or individuals into a colony they wish to construct. This form of formulating new colonies was constantly used by many individuals during the early 1500s. Individuals like Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes are seen as heroic individuals of history due to their colonizing experiences and discoveries. Although both of these two individuals are seen as heroes to numerous groups, their values and beliefs allowed their colonization’s to have a few contrasts and similarities.

Read More
1002 Words | 5 Pages

Coloniality of power is a concept/phrase originally coined by Anibal Quijano. The concept itself refers to interconnecting the practices and legacies of European colonialism in social orders and forms of knowledge. More specifically, it describes the lasting legacy of colonialism within modern society in the form of social and racial discrimination that has been incorporated into today’s social orders. Furthermore, it identifies the racial, political and social hierarchies enforced by European colonialists in Latin America that gave value to certain people while marginalizing others. Quijano’s main argument is based around the notion that the colonial structure of power created a class system, where Spaniards and other light skinned ethnicities

Read More
1715 Words | 7 Pages

Discourse on colonialism generally results in the different opinions of the colonizer and the colonized. The upshot of such discourse shows that colonialism has divergent interpretations. For the colonizer, it is ‘a civilizing mission’; to the colonized, it is exploitation. Such concept is better understood when both the views are studied with an objective approach. Things Fall Apart is a perfect novel to study colonialism as it deals with the perspectives of the colonizer and the colonized.

Read More

More about Broken Spears Summary Essay

Related Topics

Open Document