European colonization of the Americas

The Conquest of Mexico started in 1519 and was between the Spaniards and the Indians. The leading commander for the Spaniards was Hernán Cortés. His objective was to capture the center of Mexico, Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards had a technological advantage which was the quality of their weapons. The steel armor and weapons were an advantage over the Indians because the Indians had wooden weapons. They had other advantages as well such as diseases, dogs, and horses. Although horses were one of the…

After the fall of Tenochtitlan, improper conversions, as mentioned above, were a common occurrence in early colonial New Spain. The reason for this being that the Spaniards believed that the natives were incapable of understanding the religion of Catholicism, so they instead tried to force it on them or just baptize them even when the religion’s practices and beliefs were not explained as well as they should have been. Other times, the natives were punished for their past practices of their…

Marks asks us to consider contingency, and that the European takeover of the west was not inevitable, but the result of many small events coming together. Mexico is a perfect example of the development of a post colonial nation state. There was a native group that was colonized by Europeans, oppression leads to revolution, independence is gained, there is a period of turmoil and civil war, which is followed by political…

The writing system by the Mayan had a distinct approach to the scholars. Deciphering the writing represents and values who the Maya people really were. The Mayan writing was acknowledge and known as the emblem graph. The emblem graph represented certain cities around Guatemala. Spaniards colonized a better understanding of the Maya people using the Hieroglyphs. They were able to categorize the cities and discover which group belonged to what city. They were able to identify which city was at…

The documentary, The Other Conquest is based on a year later after Hernan Cortes’s invasion. The opening scene shows a native Aztec, Topiltzin as the last survivor of the massacre at the temple. As he searches among the dead bodies for a sigh of life he discovers his mother dead. Seeing all that’s left behind which isn’t much, he than realizes the importance of his existence. He felt as if he was assigned to keep his culture alive. To do so, he draws in his codex all that has occurred. Topiltzin…

The exploration and conquest of the Aztec Empire in 16th century lead to destruction and devastation at the hands of Cortez and his conquistadors. Hernan Cortez and his conquistadors landed on the Mexican Coast in 1519, their exploration led them to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. During their travel to city, they encountered the Txlancans, a enemy to the Aztecs and made them allies. They will play a important in the siege of Tenichcihlan. With the use of diplomacy Cortex was able to convince…

Catalina Pizarro Altamirano was around 20 years old when she gave birth to the man who would later defeat and conquer the entire Aztec Empire. His name was Hernan Cortez. He was a Spanish conquistador whose explorations and conquests led him to great fame. He was born in 1485 in Medellin, a town in Western Spain which is now known as the Castilian province of Extremadura. He was born into an aristocratic family who were fairly well-known due to the fact that his father, Martin Cortez de Monroy…

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…

but nevertheless deadly (GGS 17:06-18:14). Another critical weapon in the Spanish arsenal was the Toledo sword. It was a long, hard, and pliable sword that was characteristic of rapiers (GGS 20:00-21:00). In the film, Jared Diamond explains that Europeans inherited metal technology due to its proximity to the Fertile Crescent, which allowed for the adoption of the knowledge of smithing, whereas the Inca had no such knowledge or ability to advance their weaponry (GGS 19:36- 19:40). Thus, steel…

He uses paintings like An Allegory of America Nursing Foreigners by an anonymous artist, Virgin of Guadalupe by Sebstián Salcedo, Del Español, y la Yndia nace el Mestizo, or lo común, humilde, quieto, y sensillo by José Joaquín Magón, The Preaching of Saint Thomas in Tlaxcala and the Introduction…