Spanish colonization of the Americas

During their stay the Spaniards efficiently extorted good of gold and silver from the Aztecs, at one point cortez was able to persuade Montezuma to stay with them as the spanish guest, essentially becoming a prisoner to his own Gods. Due to this Montezuma's power over his people slowly diminished.In 1520 news of another Spanish Expedition made news to Cortez, the group of conquistadors were sent by the governor of Cuba Diego Velasquez, a rival of cortez, the objective of this group was to arrest…

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 was an officer in the Spanish Army. His parents wished for Cortez to gain a higher education and…

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…

The Spanish, led by Francisco Pizzaro, conquered the Inca in Peru in 1532 (Chapter 13, Slide #4). The video describes that the Spanish used the Jacobus musket as part of its weaponry, which was slow firing and inaccurate, 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…

were already leading to the culmination of their demise even before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. The ever so-popular ‘tradition’ of human sacrifice with Mesoamerican civilizations due to religion was one of the many catalysts of their downfall. As the sacrifices rose in an alarming rate, friendships were tested, allegiances were made and trust is re-discovered and lost. The arrival of the Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes…

Latin America is an area on the map that is denoted as the countries that speak Spanish and Portuguese within the Americas. This area encloses 20 states starting from the border of North America to the end of South America. This region was first known as the home of a group of people who had one of the most advanced civilizations, the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans. This was before the arrival of the Europeans during the end of the 15th and peak of the 16th centuries. There were many vital events…

In the religious context, there are two different views of the ‘other’. According to Todorov, Catholics, “regard the Indians as their equal, hence as like themselves, and try to assimilate them, to identify them with themselves,” while Protestants, “emphasize the differences and isolate their community from that of the natives, when they find themselves in contact.” He concludes by stating, “In both cases, the other’s identity is denied: either on the level of existence, as in the case of the…

The Indians did not have freedom. They were held in captivity like animals. The Indians were not viewed as people; they were viewed as beasts tied to a rope. They were the Spaniards slaves. The Spanish decided how the Indians would live and controlled their every move. The Indians are not use to working as hard as they were. They often got very ill because they were not accustomed. This was not enough for the Spaniards to give the Indians rest.…

armament of both battalions, an immediate superiority on the side of the Spanish was not found. An experiment conducted by the Unsolved History team drew accurate conclusions regarding this as false by examining duplicates of weapons used in the era of exploration. Although it is accurate the Spanish obtained steel— a more than adequate accessory to combat— it was not enough to secure a victory over the Aztecs. For example, the Spanish wore steel armor to protect against enemy blows. It…

During the thirteenth and the sixteenth century, the colonization and conquering of empires lead to contact between different cultures. In Sundiata by D.T. Niane and The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz women in the Mali, Aztec, and Spanish Empires were treated as objects. While there might be some differences in these empire’s customs, there are more similarities than differences that show how women were seen as objects and inferior to men, as women do not decide who they marry and have no…