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Spanish and french colonization
Spanish and british colonization
Spanish colonialism history
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Spanish and french colonization
Spanish and british colonization
Spanish colonialism history
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In 1519, Hernándo Cortés, a Spanish Conquistador ventured into Tenochtitlan, the capital of Aztec empire, searching for gold and glory. He set out to conquer the empire and to capture the Aztecs in order to achieve his ambitions. Moctezuma, the highly respected leader of the mighty Aztec Empire, came confronting with Hernán Cortés, the leader of a small band of professional European soldiers from a huge island that lay six day’s sail to the east. In “Malintzin’s Choices: An Indian Women in the Conquest of Mexico” and “Mexico and the Spanish Conquest”, Camilla Townsend and Ross Hassig respectively present one histories in their own interpretations of the conquest of Mexico.
In the book Fifth Sun by Camilla Townsend we explore the history of the Aztecs, but from the perspective of the Aztecs themselves, opposed to the norm of the story being told from the European perspective. This opened up a lot more of the Aztecs history that got lost in the later tellings of the same story. We see similarities but mostly differences when looking at it from the Aztecs point of view. This unique perspective we get as Townsend is leading us through this story helps us better understand the Aztecs but also in my opinion better understand how the European conquistador fully took advantage of the Aztecs' kindness and their cluelessness about who they were and why they were there. As we review the book I am more focused on the ways/events
The natives did not receive correct treatment from those who conquered their land. For example, Hernan Cortes demanded that the natives must change their beliefs. The Aztecs would sacrifice 50 souls every year to their gods. Cortes opposed of this and therefor forced them to adopt a new religion. The Aztecs didn’t easily accept the new religion since they have been following their religion for a very long time (document 3).
In addition to control of marriage, forced labor, and various other factors; the Spanish had a main goal of widespread Catholicism. Ramon A. Gutierrez, a well-known and established professor in the area of history, breaks down the events leading up to the revolt, while directing the cause of the battle at religion, or “contempt for Catholicism” by the Pueblo Indians (39). In the beginning of the essay the abuse and restriction of Indian religion is quickly exposed through the beatings committed by Fray Salvador de Guerra. Gutierrez goes on to state, “Guerra Viciously whipped Juan until “he was bathed in blood.” A second beating was inflicted later that day inside the church.
In The Requerimiento by Juan López de Palacios Rubios, natives in the new world were told, “We ask that … you acknowledge the Christian church as the ruler and superior of the whole world, and as superiors that you agree to let the Christian priests preach to you … (The Priests) shall not compel you to become Christians unless you yourself wish to be converted. But if you do not do this … we shall forcefully enter into your country and make war against you.” The Spanish conquistadors allowed natives to choose whether or not they wanted to convert to Christianity, However if they did not, then the Spanish turned them into slaves. The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz del Castillo openly stated that a reason for Spanish exploration was, “To serve God and his majesty, to give light to those who were in darkness.” The Spanish viewed non-Christians as unintelligent people because they believed in a different God.
Just as the gods of Teotihuacan had to atone for their sins in order to return to their celestial paradise, the sacrifiers wanted to participate in human sacrifice through the victim’s death in order to be granted entrance into heaven. Rituals recorded in the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas portray the victim as substitute for the sacrifier and symbolize self-sacrifice in order for the sacrifier to expiate, confirming the understanding of Aztec human sacrifice as a religious function. Examination of all three aspects – creation myths, sacrificial victims, and sacrifiers – supports the importance of religion in Aztec
The Spaniards came from the east, across the Atlantic. They came from a mysterious world outside Mesoamerica, of which the Nahuas knew nothing. Cortés insisted that Motecuhzoma and other native rulers submit to a foreign power, the Spanish king, and to a new god”(Burkhart, 84). This could be a
The author gives insight on how many ways the Spaniards used their power to assist in the downfall of the Aztecs. The reason why the Spaniards became victorious, was because the Spaniards were looked upon as if they were gods because of their outer appearance. The Aztecs broke bread and welcomed the Spaniards with gifts and parties. The Aztecs triggered their relationship with the Spaniards by holding a ritual for the arrival of the god which included a human sacrifice. The Spaniards didn’t agree with the rituals and began to despise the Aztecs.
The Renaissance era was a great transition from the Medieval times. The arts started to be emphasised and individualism became a major theme. Human exploration was celebrated through art, literature, and theater. Not only was the Renaissance time period the age for human exploration it was a time of global exploration. Hernan Cortez was one of the many explorers of the Renaissance age.
Latin American and feminist theologians, artists, and writers have reimagined the sedate and obedient Virgin as an ordinary woman experiencing the joys and challenges of sexuality, work, and motherhood as exemplified by Yolanda López’s “Portrait of the Artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe.” Although the Virgin of Guadalupe has made an impact on the country of Mexico, at the same time, she has also had effects on others parts of the Americas. The apparition did not only convert the whole nation of Mexico to Catholicism, but the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe brought an end to the Aztecs worship of stone gods and the practice of human sacrifice. When the indigenous people embraced Catholicism, the religion of the Spaniards, the two groups discovered a way of living together in relative harmony. In 1737, she was proclaimed patroness of Mexico City, and in 1746, her patronage was accepted by all the territories of New Spain, which included part of present-day California as well as Mexico and regions as far south as Guatemala and El Salvador.
Sydney Cooper Professor Seekatz History 017A 21 February 2018 FEEDBACK REQUESTED: Spanish Colonization and Its Lack of Progress Father Luis Jayme’s critique of the Spanish Soldiers Behavior, written in 1772, accentuates the little success Spanish colonization had made due to the maltreatment and lack of trust between the Spanish soldiers and the Natives, along with faultiness in religious customs. The relationship between the Spanish settlers and the Native Indians was brutal and unstable. The Spanish desired the California land and saw it to be ideal to try and colonize, but in order to do so, they had to overcome and intervene with the daily life of the Native Indians whom already called this territory home. Instead of trying to create a positive relationship with the Natives, the Spanish went in and demanded for what they wanted. The soldiers were cruel to the Natives, and used rape and obstruction of their land in doing so.
These differences were also smaller details under the larger ideas of barbarianism, new cultures, and the even bigger idea of inhumanity. The Spanish saw the Native Americans as slaves because they showed to be hard laborers and gave into the Spanish power. The Native Americans had a natural knack for manual tasks, so much that most Spaniards compared them to insects because both insects and Native Americans could do certain tasks that normal humans, such as high class Spaniards, could not. The Spaniards would never do such work as they believed that work was meant for slaves. When the Spanish took over the Aztec capital city, Sepúlveda remarks of how the Native Americans were “oppressed and fearful at the beginning.”
Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes were both famous Spanish adventurers during the Age of Exploration. When the explorers came upon land, they encountered two different cultures. In 1492, Columbus encountered the Taino people, and in 1520, Cortes encountered the Aztecs. The two cultures that the men encountered were different in more ways than they were similar in regards to how the natives treated the men, what weapons they had and their war-like behavior, their technologically advancements, their housing and architectural structures, and even their religion.
Perspective can only be gained in hindsight. The accounts draw both on a retelling of events and on emotionality—which cannot be objective. The Aztecs were victims, and their perspective in skewed in this mindset. When the Spanish burned down the Aztecs’ temple, the people “wept and cried out” (p.109), but when they needed to defend their city their “spirits and courage were high; not one of them showed fear” (p.111). Both are possible; yet, they also glorify, romanticize and victimize the Nahua peoples.
“One Hundred Indians should dye for every individual Spaniard that should be slain”, “Spaniards breed up such fierce hunting Dogs as would devour an Indian like a Hog”, and “they erected large Gibbets, but low made, so that their feet almost reached the ground, under which they made a Fire to burn them to ashes while hanging on them” are just some of the few atrocities committed by the Spanish on the Native Americans. These accounts are first hand experienced by the Spanish Dominican Priest, Las Casas, who objected to the Spanish treatment towards the natives. Not only did he tell how the Spanish conquistadors treat the peoples of the New World, but also told how his views on the Native American population, what he thought should be done with