Aztec Account Of The Spanish Conquest Analysis

The Aztecs, part of modern day Mexico, were once the epitome of fine culture. They began their rule of southern and central Mexico during the 14th century and practiced an incredibly wealthy lifestyle. Nonetheless, this rule began to deteriorate when Spanish explorers disembarked at Tabasco and Vera Cruz on April 21st 1519. When the Spanish voyagers first arrived, they were welcomed warmly, respectfully and received Godlike treatment. Montezuma, the ruler at that time, believed that the Spanish military leader, Hernán Cortés, was the great god Quetzalcoatl. The Spanish took advantage of this Aztec belief and conquered Mexico within two years. By 1521, the Aztec culture was officially eradicated and a new culture, consisting of a

The Aztecs had one of the most successful and advanced empires of all time. They had a dwelling culture The Aztec civilization was located directly in the middle of two mountain ranges in the central valley of Mexico ( Platt 10). Although the Aztec empire eventually came to an end they were able to do well as an empire. Contributing factors that led to the rise of the empire was their political structure, social components, and religious traditions which they preformed earnestly.

Throughout the book, writers mention that Aztec governments did everything that they could to give the Spanish everything that they needed, and that the Spanish took advantage of them. “…he took the Spaniards to be gods; he believed in them and worshiped them as deities.” The people of Mexico were loyal to those that they believed to be gods and “when they conquered the Mexica and all belonging to them, we never abandoned them or left them behind in it.” Under Spanish rule many men, women and children were exploited, tortured and murdered. The Broken Spears captured this in great detail while Traditions and Encounters skims over a lot of these details. This seems to create a gap between the two texts, making the differences between the authors more apparent.

Leon-Portilla based the stories told in this book upon old writings of actual Aztec people who survived the Spanish massacres. The actual authors of the stories told in this book are priests, wise men and regular people who survived the killings. These stories represent the more realistic view of what really happened during the Spanish conquest. Most of the history about the Aztec Empire was based on Spanish accounts of events, but Leon-Portilla used writings from actual survivors to illustrate the true history from the Indians’ point of view.

Before the 15th century, the Indians in the Americas were not connected with the world and would remain that way until Columbus's exploration. In the beginning of 15th century, the Aztecs were the dominant group in Mesoamerica leaded by Montezuma, the last leader, before the Spanish conquest. In 1519, Hernan Cortez led the Spanish mission to explore and conquer the New World. This paper will compare three primary sources about this event. First, an informing letter sent from Cortez to King Charles V, the king of Spain. Second, the Broken Spears which is an Indian recollection about the conquest of Mexico. Lastly, Bernal Diaz’s (one of Cortez’s men) account was written by him to share his experience with Aztec

     The Aztecs were an American Indian people who ruled a mighty empire in Mexico from the 1400's to the 1500's. The Aztecs had one of the most advanced civilizations in the Americas and built cities as large as any in Europe at that time. They also practiced a remarkable religion that affected every part of their lives and featured human sacrifice. The Aztecs built towering temples, created huge sculptures, and held impressive ceremonies all for the purpose of worshipping their gods. The Spaniards destroyed their magnificent empire in the year 1521, but the Aztecs left a lasting mark on Mexican life and culture .

The ancient Aztec civilization is usually thought of as a barbaric, unintelligent people throughout modern society. This could be an ideal carried down from the Spaniards that concord the native lands or even something as simple as today’s society creating overblown stereotypes because of conjoined lack of understanding and overall knowledge. But, because of the extensive research and studies done by Miguel León-Portilla we are able to discover the true nature of the Aztec peoples way of life. Within the book “Aztec Thought and Culture” the author explains the develop of the Aztec civilization through education and philosophy as well as describing the Aztec people as an advanced society rather than the popular belief of a savage people and culture.

Miguel Leon-Portilla author of Broken Spears- The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, tells the story of the Spanish conquest over the Aztecs from the Aztec point of view. It is more familiar in history that the Spanish led by Hernan Cortez defeated the Aztecs with a powerful army and established an easy victory all while having intentions to gain power and greed. However, Leon-Portilla focuses on the Aztec Empire and their story. Leon-Portilla does a great job giving readers the real occurrences and events from Aztec members. This paper argues that history must be told from all sides. It is more common to hear about the Spanish conquest

and fame. The accounts are based on the Aztec’s perception of the invasion and include the

Schreffler begins the essay by explaining Bernal Díaz del Castillo’s account of San Juan de Ulúa on Easter Sunday of 1519. Díaz explains that Tendile (an Aztec leader) ordered his people to produce a painting of Cortés, his entourage, and his ship. Unfortunately, this painting

The events that occurred between the Aztecs and Spanish Conquistadors have many sides and opportunities for debate. One of the most debated topics being; Who was more savage and who was more Civil? Both the Aztecs and Spanish had powerful and thriving empires. These empires displayed their dominance through their advanced technology and flourishing military. Though it may seem that the Spanish were more advanced than the Aztecs, the Aztecs and Spanish were actually quite close to being equal in technological advancements.

But then, this is when the empire started to fall apart after many years. There are several reasons that it had happened. First, there are the sacrifice. The sacrifice wasted immense amount of resources, manpower, and livestock. This greatly damaged the Aztec empire’s social balance. Another reason that caused it to happen was smallpox, yellow fever, and those diseases that wiped out mass amount of Aztec people, greatly damaging the society and the Aztec empire’s defense system. Then comes the invasion of a Spanish conqueror called Cortes. He has advanced weapon like horses and guns. The Aztecs learned how the Spanish fought, and they tried to counter that fighting style, and it almost worked. But sadly, it didn’t. With the help of the smallpox plague and the allies of Cortes, Cortes was managed to defeat the Aztec quickly and easily despite being outnumbered. Soon, the Aztec were

Throughout time women have had to fill a role, defined by her culture, in order to be considered desirable. Wherever or whenever she might have been from she struggled with the pressure to fill her niche in society. These pressures vary greatly from one culture to another, but some cultures are particularly demanding. Women in pre-Colombian Aztec society were held to a very strict code of behavior. From the day they were born to the day they died their domesticity was held up as being the most important aspect of their lives. This was probably necessary because of the warfare oriented nature of the men in their culture. This made having a woman at home to keep the civilian life going incredibly important. Without her there

Cortes is an intriguing biography of Hernan Cortes’s life from his drawn out childhood to his conquering of the Aztec Empire. Cortes began as a sickly baby and ended as one of the most well-known Spanish conquistadors. Hernan studied law at Salamanca, but he left after two years without a degree and returned home. Then, he set out for the New World in 1504 and maintained himself there for thirteen to fourteen years. Cortes embarked on a voyage that ended in Santo Domingo, where he was granted land and appointed a notary for the town of Azua. After being in Azua for several years, Cortes went to conquer Cuba under the command of Panfilo de Narvaez. After they assumed control of Cuba, Don Diego Velazquez de Cuellar was made governor and granted

The Aztecs were a very powerful ethnic group. They had an emperor, and nobles. Nobles who were basically slaves, labor workers that seemed to do all the work for the emperors. They would build cities, that would assist the Aztecs.