Mexica Civilization Book Review

Schwartz’s text is both a history and historiography—he provides a history of the Mesoamerican indigenous groups and the Spaniards, while analyzing the various biases present in the many accounts of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. He also sets the scene for his book to be presented as a compilation of various primary sources, each reflecting the different views of the groups involved. He breaks his introductory chapter into six main sections—the indigenous people of Mesoamerica, Tenochtitlan, Mexica civilization, the Spanish, Spanish historical sources, and indigenous historical resources—which connect to provide the necessary context for the remainder of his book.
I. The indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica A. Schwartz discusses the indigenous …show more content…
Tenochtitlan
A. Schwartz examines the Mexica city of Tenochtitlan and its status as a world-class city.
B. He analyzes its political, symbolic, and ritual significance to the Mexica and explains the internal designs of the city.
III. Mexica Civilization
A. Schwartz provides a more in-depth examination of Mexica culture and society. B. He discusses the importance of religion and warfare to the Mexica.
1. Schwartz includes a description of the various Mexica gods, including the oft-mentioned Quetzalcoatl.
IV. The Spanish
A. Schwartz describes events occurring in Spain around the year 1492 and explains the various motivations of the Spanish conquerors.
B. He mentions the similarities in both the Mexica and Spanish, but qualifies this argument by discussing the Mexica technological disadvantage and its role in their eventual fall.
V. Spanish Sources
A. Schwartz mentions the wide variety of sources available that describe the Spaniard views of the conquest.
B. He decides, however, to mostly use the account of Bernal Díaz del Castillo in his book.
1. Bernal Díaz was one of the Cortes’ foot soldiers. He had an excellent memory and wrote down his account of the events many years after his conquest.
VI. Indigenous