How the Spanish Conquered the “New World”
In this essay, I will argue that the most important advantage that the Spanish had that made their conquests successful were the alliances they made with the native people of the America's. Matthew Restall, author of Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest writes about the crucial alliance Cortés makes with the Tlaxcalan people. "As these Tlaxcalans rightly judged, with Spanish assistance, they would be able to destroy the Mexica Empire and its capital city." (Restall, 47) Prefacing the alliance, Cortés had arrived in Veracruz where he was met with Mexica diplomatic envoys that begged him not to continue further inland. The unwelcome-welcoming that Cortés received inspired him to look for alliances to aid in his conquest. With rumors of Mexica enemies existing, Cortés moved to Tlaxcala …show more content…
(Milstead Lecture, 9/28/17) Cortés was able to manipulate his allies into being submissive to his order by making them think they were working together for a common goal and then …show more content…
The story of the natives believing Cortés was the god (Huitcilopochtli) comes from a letter written by colonial Mexico’s first viceroy. However, Cortés himself never wrote about the Native Americans taking him as a god. Later, the letter from the viceroy was proven to be false by the royal chronicler, Oviedo. (Restall, 113) Because the Native Americans did not blindly worship the Spanish as gods, the alliances that were created between them were the most important advantage that the Spanish had. If they were not to be worshiped as gods and followed without question, then making the natives think that they were working together against a common enemy was Cortés’ next best option. This way he was able to defeat the Mexica and gain control over their allies as
In this essay, I will argue that the most important advantage that the Spanish had that made their conquests successful were the alliances they made with the native people of the America's. Matthew Restall, author of Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest writes about the crucial alliance Cortés makes with the Tlaxcalan people. "As these Tlaxcalans rightly judged, with Spanish assistance, they would be able to destroy the Mexica Empire and its capital city." (Restall, 47) Prefacing the alliance, Cortés had arrived in Veracruz where he was met with Mexica diplomatic envoys that begged him not to continue further inland. The unwelcome-welcoming that Cortés received inspired him to look for alliances to aid in his conquest. With rumors of Mexica enemies existing, Cortés moved to Tlaxcala …show more content…
(Milstead Lecture, 9/28/17) Cortés was able to manipulate his allies into being submissive to his order by making them think they were working together for a common goal and then …show more content…
The story of the natives believing Cortés was the god (Huitcilopochtli) comes from a letter written by colonial Mexico’s first viceroy. However, Cortés himself never wrote about the Native Americans taking him as a god. Later, the letter from the viceroy was proven to be false by the royal chronicler, Oviedo. (Restall, 113) Because the Native Americans did not blindly worship the Spanish as gods, the alliances that were created between them were the most important advantage that the Spanish had. If they were not to be worshiped as gods and followed without question, then making the natives think that they were working together against a common enemy was Cortés’ next best option. This way he was able to defeat the Mexica and gain control over their allies as