European colonization of the Americas

Meanwhile, the younger Montejo continued to fight the Maya that were becoming more hostile as their numbers grew. They eventually they laid siege to the Spanish barricaded in the city. The Maya were able to cut off the Spanish supply line to the coast and forced them to send for help as they barricaded themselves in the ruins of the ancient city of Chichén Itzá. Months passed, but no reinforcements came to the aid of the trapped Spaniards. Montejo the Younger attempted an all out assault…

Silver and the Global Economy During the 16th to 18th centuries silver was of vast importance to trading networks all around the world. From 1500 to 1750 Spanish America and Tokugawa Japan dominated the world production in silver. Silver was so influential that the Ming government in China required all taxes to be paid in silver. Silver had many economic and social effects because it expanded trading connections with Asia, caused inflation, and the forced labor class had a hard life in its…

Dominating the America’s was one of the smartest decisions the Spanish could have made in the 1500’s. Bankrolling Columbus’ expedition fashioned several opportunities for the boundless empire. This colonization brought numerous characteristics for possibilities at a new life. They had an instance to obtain areas of rich land and develop their realm across the sea. Soon to find out, the Spanish weren’t the only ones there nor the first people in the America’s. Long before them, the invaders…

by doing so, lowered their own status. This also plays into the great chain of being (cite lecture). In the great chain of being, in which God is the highest and human beings, though superior to animals and other creatures, are below him. For the Europeans, this chain of being was ingrained into the society, since they understood the world as a hierarchy, and assumed that every organism had a fixed place in the world. The Mexica admitted that they are “not their match; they are nothing…

Chapter 4: Grisly Murders and the Entities in Mission San Miguel Built in 1797, Mission San Miguel served as a church to serve the needs of the local Native American population in the locality. In its history, it has experienced a fire, major change in government, a horrendous massacre and a major earthquake and managed to survive to the present. Much later, when a new government was formed in Mexico, it cracked down heavily on the Spanish Franciscan Friars and the church. The church was…

Introduction Virtudes del Indio, literally translated as Virtues of the Indian, is a letter written by bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza to King Philip IV. Palafox asks the king for legal protection of indigenous people in New Spain, and justifies this request by arguing for their virtuous nature. He recounts the abuse and poverty suffered by indigenous communities. It is believed that this letter was written around 1649, following Palafox’s return to Spain. Virtudes provides insight into how…

spanish capture of mexico and then the complete takeover of the Native Americans by the new American settlers. The book that will be used to help explain everything will be Juan Gonzalez revised edition of Harvest of Empire:A History of Latinos in America. When the world was young many powerful countries looked over their sea in search for new lands and treasures. Yet only few powerful countries managed to find what they set out for. Spain was one of those countries, with the voyage sent out by…

colonizing the New World with the intent of spreading Christianity and obtaining land to expand the Spanish Empire. The Spanish explorer Bartolome de Las Casas and humanist Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda had differing beliefs upon how Natives within the Americas should be converted to Christianity and how they should be treated once their land was colonized. Bartolome de Las Casas believed that the Spanish ,while colonizing the New World, should practice the conversion of Natives to Christianity in a…

In the Early Modern Period, core nations such as Spain, Portugal, and Britain started to show interest and influence the societies in the New World. Among these nations, Spain was one of the countries that gained great power through the control of Native Americans. Spain was going through some major changes at this time, and these changes contributed much to the treatment to Indians. The Spanish nobles, also known as hidalgos, wanted to gain more power through the New World and take full…

The Aztecs were a harsh and cruel empire. The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice, which caused them to be feared by others (Cornale,2). Many of the sacrificed people were captured from neighboring Indian tribes. Cortes really did not like the thought of human sacrifice (Livescience). This was a reason that helped him make allies with other Indian tribes. The other Indian tribes supported Cortes and his men by helping them fight the Aztecs. This helped Cortes and his men defeat the Aztecs because…