Bernal Diaz Del Castillo's The History Of The Conquest Of New Spain

Colonial Latin American society in the Seventeenth Century was undergoing a tremendous amount of changes. Society was transforming from a conquering phase into a colonizing phase. New institutions were forming and new people and ideas flooded into the new lands freshly claimed for the Spanish Empire. Two remarkable women, radically different from each other, who lived during this period of change are a lenses through which many of the new institutions and changes can be viewed. Sor Juana and Catalina de Erauso are exceptional women who in no way represent the norm but through their extraordinary tales and by discovering what makes them so extraordinary we can deduce what was the norm and how society functioned during this era of Colonial

Negotiating Conquest is a scholarly work written by Miroslava Chavez-Garcia, which analyzes women 's roles in history, and discusses how the political system has affected their roles. It covers the period between the 1770 's to the 1880 's, the periods before and after American Conquest. Likewise, this book is divided into two sections, chapters 1-3 discusses "Women in Spanish and Mexican California," and chapters 4-6 discusses "Women in American California." This work analyzes the major ideas present within each period and how it affected women 's roles and power. The time and effort put into this book, is something that the author enjoyed, calling it a "labor of love." Overall, she then claims that her purpose in writing this work is to, "honor and recognize woman of all ethnic backgrounds, social classes, and regions, who established households, nurtured and reared families, and rose above personal adversity in societies that often ignored, overlooked, and rendered them invisible."

Ramon Gutierrez’s When Jesus Came, The Corn Mothers Went Away is an exploration of the merging of Spanish, Franciscan and Pueblo Indian cultures throughout Spain's “frontier” in its colonial American empire before Anglo contact. Gutierrez builds a foundation for his analysis by discussing Pueblo Indian life prior to outside contact, Franciscan theology, and the class structure of Spanish communities in each of its respective book sections. He examines meanings of the cultural interactions of gift exchange, ownership, trade, sexual rights, labor, kinship, social status, religious beliefs, and honor among many others using marriage as a window. His interpretation of the complex cultural meanings of marriage illustrates the ways in which the

Q: What were Cortes' and Bernal Diaz's motives for writing their accounts of the conquest? How did these motives color their narratives of the conquest?

Moved from their land, forced into a new religion and way of thinking the natives were also mostly extinguished by European microbes. Not everyone was passive however and one of these people was Popay, being the leader various groups was very well known for his successful revolts in pueblo communities across New Mexico, keeping Spaniards for 12 years. The book also talks about the communities built by the natives and how they were mostly eradicated by disease. The story of Apolonaria Lorenzana is also talked about, living through the early days of Spanish missions to the closing of the American frontier and her importance as “La Beata” in San Diego missions. The identity crisis of those with Spanish ancestry and of Mexican decent by in new American soil is also mentioned. The legacy left by the Seguin family, to be more specific the importance of Juan Seguin’s role as a Mexican taking the American side for Texas

For decades, the history of Latin America has been shrouded in a cover of Spanish glory and myth that misleads and complicates the views of historians everywhere. Myths such as the relationship between natives and conquistadors, and the individuality of the conquistadors themselves stand as only a few examples of how this history may have become broken and distorted. However, in Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest Matthew Restall goes to great lengths to dispel these myths and provide a more accurate history of Latin American, in a readable and enjoyable book.

When Jesus Came, The Corn Mothers Went Away gives an in-depth history of the Pueblo Indians before and after the Spanish conquest. It describes the forced changes the Spanish brought to the Indians, and also the changes brought to the Spaniards who came to “civilize” the Indians. The author's thesis is that the Pueblo Indians and other Indians were treated cruelly by the Spanish, who justified their crime by claiming they were civilizing an

Soldier and conqueror Bernal Díaz del Castillo in his book The True History of the Conquest of New Spain labeled Hernán Cortés “a valiant, energetic, and daring captain” and compared him to the likes of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Hannibal. Hernán Cortés was an ambitious conquistador and eventually defeated the mighty Mexican empire. A problem, however; emerges when distinguishing between the rational and romanticized versions of Cortés’ exploits. Bernal Díaz was present during the conquest, but his account was written much later and cannot be expected to be unbiased. Modern interpretations of Cortés can piece together all document and find that he stretched the truth to further his own gains. Cortés’ personality, goals, and actions have been interpreted differently since the days of the conquest, and have changed the way the conquest has been understood.

She presents various forms of discourse about indigenous women’s sexuality written by scholars as well as first-hand accounts of explorers such as Amerigo Vespucci. With a careful eye for exaggeration and fantasy as well as understatement, euphemism, and deception, she observes evidence of sexual violation such as when resistance or lack thereof is mentioned by, say, an explorer describing sexual contact with indigenous women. Wood traces the changing societal attitudes about rape, including the blaming of victims of rape and the possible excusing of rape as a sort of outlet for soldiers. She describes the many potential uses of sexual violation in conquest, concluding that although it may not have been a conscious or concerted strategy by conquerors, it certainly played a crucial role in the conquest of the

Convinced of the superiority of Catholicism to all other religions, Spain insisted that the primary goal of colonization was to save the Indians from heathenism and prevent them from falling under the sway of Protestantism. The aim was neither to exterminate nor to remove the Indians, but to transform them into obedient Christian subjects of the crown. To the Spanish colonizers, the large native populations of the Americas were not only souls to be saved but also a labor force to be organized to extract gold and silver that would enrich their mother country. Las Casas’ writings and the abuses they exposed contributed to the spread of the Black Legend-the image of Spain as a uniquely brutal and exploitative colonizer. This would provide of a potent justification for other European powers to challenge Spain’s predominance in the New World.

This is clear in Document 2 of chapter two in The Major Problems in Mexican American History. In this document entitled, "Spain Asserts Control over the Indians of Nueva Galicia, Mexico, 1570," the king of Spain issued a royal order commanding the Spanish in Mexico to control the Indians, convert them, and use them as labor. The king did not’t like the fact the Indians were living in the mountains "preventing interference with their manner and custom of life" (34). By being away from the Spanish established towns, they were refusing to "be more advantageously converted and indoctrinated" (34).

Any student of history has come to recognize the fact that history is written by the victor and in lieu of this, research becomes essential to uncover where the truth lies. The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, so ironically named, is a personal account for historical events leading up to the conquest of New Spain, formerly known as the City of Mexico. The author, Bernal Diaz, was a soldier of the conquering army who composed the document well after the events took place sometime between 1552 and 1557. Though the document did provide insight in regards to the victor’s perspective, it also served as a tool to rewrite the account of the conquered people.

Cortés came not to the New World to conquer by force, but by manipulation. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, in the "Conquest of New Spain," describes how Cortés and his soldiers manipulated the Aztec people and their king Montezuma from the time they traveled from Iztapalaopa to the time when Montezuma took Cortés to the top of the great Cue and showed him the whole of Mexico and its countryside, and the three causeways which led into Mexico. Castillo's purpose for recording the mission was to keep an account of the wealth of Montezuma and Mexico, the traditions, and the economic potential that could benefit Cortés' upcoming conquest. However, through these recordings, we are able to see and understand Cortés'

Ines explains that since men were not accustomed to seeing a Spanish woman without a partner, they also treated her with great consideration. “In that long, slow journey to Cuzco they tended to my needs, shared their food with me, lent me their tents and mounds, and gave me boots and a blanket woven of vicuña, the finest cloth in the world.” Indeed, Ines enjoyed many privileges because she was Spanish. Ines also benefitted of the different culture of the New World. In Peru, no one denied her respect. Pedro de Valdivia was a married man yet Ines justified their relationship by arguing that in the New World, “…men needed immediate love, or a substitute for it. Besides, men have mistresses in Spain.”

An important aspect of Todorov's thesis is his well-supported claim that it was precisely the claim to European racial superiority that Christianity strongly reinforced and provided justification for the actions of the Spanish, even in its most severe manifestation. In fact, Todorov invokes the unimaginably horrible image of Catholic priests bashing Indian baby's heads against rocks, allegedly to save them from damnation to hell, which their "savage" culture would have otherwise consigned them to. The logic of this deed and others like them illustrates the destructive influence of Christianity in the Colonial project, which lies at the root of the hegemonic self-image of Western experience--first defined from the perspective of Columbus and Cortes.