Exploring Columbus and Cortes: Perspectives on Indigenous
School
William G Enloe High**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
SOCIAL STUDIES 4I008X0
Subject
History
Date
Dec 11, 2024
Pages
3
Uploaded by HighnessPencilWolf41
Document 1: Christopher ColumbusOrigin:●Primary source diary entries from Christopher Columbus upon his first arrival in the New World in 1492●Columbus’s expedition to the New World was sponsored by the King and Queen of Spain, whose main goals were to convert the indigenous peoples to Christianity and use them for economic growthPurpose:●Purpose was to document the indigenous peoples, their intent, their behavior, everything about them, and to record the Europeans’ progress in converting themand turning them into tools for economic purposes, as well as what the tactics theEuropeans used were, and how well or how poorly they worked●Columbus perhaps journaled instead of, for example, sending letters, because hewould need to keep all his writings and progress in one place so he could build upon it and use prior knowledge (about the indigenous peoples behavior, reactions to certain things, etc.) to his advantage●Intended audience is Columbus himself or his men, and/or perhaps the King and Queen of Spain, for them to know how the expedition is coming alongContent:●The document gives a brief description of the indigenous peoples and their stature, behavior, religion, and whether they carry arms. Columbus and the Admiral both stated that they quickly became what the Admiral describes as “friends,” in many exchanges of gifts, food, and spices, and go on to describe how they seem intelligent, and that they will make “good servants.” Columbus then wrote how, depending on what the King and Queen decree, his men can take the indigenous peoples captive. Values:●From this source, we can derive the intentions of Columbus in entering the New World and how he believed the indigenous peoples acted through their behaviorsand routines, compared to his own society.●We can trust this source entirely, save for a few grains of salt, because this was Columbus’ personal journal and record of his findings on the islands, used to collect valuable information he may need later, or may need to present to the monarchs of Spain when he returned. Limitations●The document does not give any indication of Columbus and his men’s violence towards the indigenous people, nor the diseases that the Europeans’ shared to the indigenous peoples through their contact with them●It also does not include what the indigenous peoples thought of the Europeans amongst themselves, only what Columbus assumed they were thinking based onoutwardDocument 2: AztecsOrigin
●Written and recorded by Mexican anthropologist Miguel Leon Portilla, who gathered accounts of the events in Mexico involving Hernán Cortes and the Aztecs●According to the article, Portilla began gathering at least some of this information shortly after they occurred, early 1520s most likely. He did not see these events firsthand●The source was probably created in Mexico, where Portilla is fromPurpose●Portilla was an anthropologist, so it is likely that he was trying to record the events as they happened, or as his sources said they happened, likely trying to get as close to the truth as possible●The intended audience of this source may have been future generations, studying human history Content●The document states that Cortes and his men were welcomed as if they were angels, or kings of a higher power than Montezuma. Montezuma frequently referred to Cortes and his men as “our lords” and asked them to “sit on our throne,” as if even the real king, Montezuma, held no water in their greatness.●It further records Cortes speaking to La Malinche, a translator between him and Motezuma, stating that they are his friends and that there is nothing to fear. ●In a fiesta that followed these events, according to the document, Cortes and his men made Montezuma a prisoner and murdered all: the musicians, the singers, dancers, spectators, and still more that were not part of the fiesta. ●The Spaniards left, returned, then a day later, were attacked by the Aztecs, starting a war, according to Portilla’s accounts.Value●Based on Portilla’s nationality as a Mexican in a time not far removed from Spanish conquest of Mexico, and the fact that he repeatedly says “our” or “ours” to describe Aztec warriors and people, an Aztec’s view of these events can be ascertained. Portilla’s time as an anthropologist reportedly came soon after Spanish conquest of Mexico, and therefore he would have quite a good reason tobe upset and that something of his was taken by the Spanish as well.●Although he was anthropologist, and therefore a historian, Portilla made no effort to hide his bias●During the time of this document’s creation, Europeans of all countries (mostly western, however) were colonizing all of the New World, and this document givesus a good (and very biased) view into what they, or, at least, what Cortes and hismen did to conquer the land. Limitations●Portilla was from Mexico and used pronouns such as “our” and “ours” to refer to Aztec people, so it can be safely said that he was biased towards the Aztec side, making no trouble to hide it. He also described Cortes’ tongue as “strange” and “savage,” further adding to the point of his bias.
●We do not have the Spaniards’ point of view, so we do not know exactly why theymurdered so many unarmed Aztecs. They could have done it simply because they wanted to, or perhaps they were provoked, or perhaps they did it unwillingly out of a command from the king. We do not know their side from this document.