Spanish colonization of the Americas

A little bit after humans first came to America, two great empires just started to rise up. The Incas and the Aztecs. The Aztecs, a religion-based empire that started from a small city that paid tribute to another empire before becoming an empire that had tribute coming from many different cities. The Aztec civilization even would sacrifice people for their gods! The Inca civilization was a bit calmer, but they still sometimes sacrificed people. They were also religion based, but they focused…

The slave trade continued in parts of South America long after American Slaves were freed. Brazil was the last country to ban slavery, and they did not do so until 1888. The Spaniards had developed complex and sometimes Antithetical ideologies to justify their racial theories. Essential to this theory…

Portugal showed that with firepower 1.5 million people can conquer another group that is much larger. They established the slave trade and left slums in their former colonies. And now, for the most infamous American colonizer, Spain. The most famous non-Spanish Spaniard must be the sailor Columbus. Columbus heard stories of Leif Erikson the famous Icelander who traveled west. He was intrigued and felt these stories were true. He also thought the Earth was much smaller than it was. He also…

Ellena Purnell October 19, 2015 Mexican History The Conquest of Mexico Over the course of history certain accounts of the Spanish conquest of Mexica has been told different ways. This can be owed to the biased accounts of certain events by all parties involved. While some might argue that the Spaniards actions were due to the savageness of the Aztec people, others might argue that the Aztecs were a advanced civilization that conducted life according to their customs and religious beliefs and…

The True History of the Conquest of New Spain (Content Paper) Bernal Díaz del Castillo a Spanish conqueror and chronicler in the Indies, travelled with Cortés expedition party. Bernal Díaz del Castillo was interested in getting his version of the expedition out to the world. Even though it was years before he was able to accomplish this he believed it was important to explain the “rank and file” of the expeditioners and the Aztecs. The excerpt describes the expeditions walk into the great…

The Conquest of Mexico and Peru were two individual but linked events that led the Spanish to conquer over territorial empires. The historical invasions of the conquests led to many changes in Latin American history, and had effects on the Spanish present day; but changes to European cultures and trading aspects back in the 16th century are insignificant. The Conquest of Mexico was basically the capture of the Aztec Empire, which was ruled by emperor Montezuma. The Conquest of Peru was the…

This would eventually lead to the downfall of their people. As one of the major motives of Columbus’ exploration was to bring back gold to the Spanish crown, he immediately thought they would know how to get gold for him and consequently took some aboard ship as prisoners. After not finding much gold, they took slaves to fill up the ships, leading to death of those enslaved. A gold requirement was…

One way that the Jamestown colonists differed from both the French and the Spanish is that they never formed any military alliances with local tribes. They did trade, but they did not fight with natives against other natives like the French and Spanish did. Also, unlike the French, Jamestown wanted the natives to become vassals of James I, the French just wanted to trade while Jamestown wanted the natives to become…

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…

The Spanish invasion of Mesoamerica in the sixteenth century has been one of their most renowned victories. However, with a review of Restall’s work, as well as a closer look into the help that the Spanish had, reveals that the success of the Spanish was not merely their own. The Spaniards’ and natives’ common political goals, the natives’ army strength, knowledge of the land and the sharing of battle strategies and resources made the native allies a key asset to the conquest. The success of the…