Conquistador

beat them with sticks to make them get up and resume their wearisome trudge. They do not allow them to stop and gasp for breath, and even knock their teeth out with the pommel of their swords” (De Las Casas). In addition to mistreatment, Spanish conquistadors unknowingly brought with them new diseases that utterly destroyed the natives, a fact that he lamented (Davenport). Suffering, disease, and death overshadowed the lives of the natives, who did not have a voice to protest it. Bartolome de…

Artifact 1: Feather Shield Picture/Source Aztec civilization feather shield (Mexico, Aztec civilization. feather shield with linear meander design incorporating eye motifs. From Mexican Altiplano) Description/Source These Shields were used by Aztecs in battle. The Aztecs were a warrior civilization, and this shield represents that. The Aztecs built their empire on tribute from conquered places. (Mexico, Aztec civilization. feather shield with linear meander design incorporating eye motifs. From…

World. First, “God” signifies the conversion of the natives to Catholicism. Second,“Gold” means that the conquistadors wanted to acquire bullion, or gold and silver, to further increase the wealth of Spain. Finally, “Glory” means that the colonists were hoping to achieve great personal deeds that would translate into renown for themselves. The Spanish economy centered around bullion. The conquistadors searched their new land for gold and silver and also forced the Indians into slavery to mine…

The Spanish exploration of America brought many new foods, types of plants, and forms of wealth to the European world. The wealth brought to Spain from the Americas came at a cost that was paid for by the enslavement and the sufferings of Native Americans and eventually the Africans. The Spanish colonization from 1492 to 1700 was motivated by religious conversion of all peoples in America and the desire for wealth and profit that had a significant impact on the lives of Native Americans and…

Ever since the Spanish explorers happened upon the Americas in 1492, there has been a large amounts of violence that occurred between the Native Americans and the European settlers. The subject of the brutal confrontation has been widely talked of for several reasons; one of them being was the violence avoidable? It put it simply, no the violence was inevitable. The European settlers and their American descendants kept the Native Americans under their thumbs, unabling them to defend their…

Day of the Dead – is a traditional festivity dating back almost 3,000 years, that is practiced all over Mexico and in certain parts of the United States. The story behind this idiosyncratic holiday is that over 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors found what are now the remnants of the Aztec Empire, they had encountered the indigenous peoples participating in an activity that seemed to mock death. This ritual was in honor of their goddess Mictecacihuati, the Queen of Mictlan (the…

Lope de Aguirre, a Spanish conquistador of the Basque region of Spain, wrote what is known as the “Letter to King Philip of Spain.” It was a letter written in July 1561 in Spanish America to King Philip (presumably private because it was addressed to the King himself from Aguirre.) At this time historically Lope de Aguirre had joined the expedition in search of El Dorado. Pedro de Ursúa had accompanied him on this voyage to the city of gold. However, not even a year after, Aguirre assisted in…

Over the course of history, Native Americans have become interpreted as the subject of periphery by cause of the ill assumptions of how the Christians described them as “Savages”. In the works of Christopher Columbus, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, and Bartolomé de las Casas, the Natives characterized as positive views in such ways that they were as civilized as the Spaniards. However, negative contexts indicated that Indians created war and show no signs of respect. No matter the view, there will…

When the New World was “discovered,” it it was likely a surprise to the millions of indigenous people that occupied the the land. “Before the Spaniards’ arrival, central Mexico had been a densely populated, urbanized, sedentary civilization. City states, or altepetl, had dotted the landscape, allied with or opposed to the the dominant Mexica. (Owensby Empire 24). The Spaniards did not find an empty continent, they found an advanced and organized civilization. At the root of this civilization…

It boosted power because of relations with other countries outside of Europe and territories owned. Spanish conquistadors commenced colonial expansion under control of the Spanish Empire. Colonial expansion was mainly motivated by trade and the spread of Christian faith through the change of the indigenous groups that occupied the New World. To most Spaniards, New…