Legacy of Rwanda

The book “A Land So Strange” by Andrés Reséndez basically illustrates 8 years of long odyssey from what is now Tampa, Florida to Mexico City on Cabeza de Vaca’s perspective. Cabaza de Vaca along with his companions named Andres Dorante, Alonso del Castillo, and Estebanico, are survivors of failed expedition to New World from Spain during 16th century. Unlike other members from the expedition, these four members found a way to live with native Indian tribes to survive. They were slaves of Indians and treated cruelly all the time. However, after long period of time of being slaves, they decided to make escape to Spanish territory. During their fugitive period, they had chance to help injured Indians. Their knowledge of certain medicine,

It is crucial to focus on translators when it comes to understanding the conquest of Mexico. It shows how

Cabeza De Vacaśsurvival was a mystery among others or was it ? In the spring of 1527 five spanish ships set sail for the New world one of them was holding a man named Cabeza De Vaca.After waiting for winter to stop Panfilo De Narvaez (The leader of the expedition) hopelessly confused made accidental landfall near modern day tampa bay,Florida After 2 difficult months,Narvaez and his men arrived at Apalache Bay and only new he had to travel west to get to mexico and told the men to melt guns down into tools to build 5 rafts that could hold fifty men and one of the five rafts was led by Cabeza. Some wondered how Cabeza survived when he came back from his horrible trip and I have three of many to tell you abou. Cabezaś survival was attributed by having faith in god, the ability to be trusted by indians,and being able to heal the indians.

Meanwhile Cortes was busy killing the natives who had previously lived in the Americas. He even sent some of his highest men

This particular story is like a complementary to the note lectures about the Aztecs. Also, this lecture help to understand

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

Hernan Cortez was a Spanish conquistador that landed in Mexico in April of 1519. Upon his arrival, he met a native woman named Dona marina. Dona marina spoke many languages and was eventually Cortez’s interpreter when he found the Aztec empire. It was because that the Aztecs saw Cortez as some god and the weapon differences that he took advantage of that and killed off everyone leading to a defeated Aztec empire Cortez eventually claimed Mexico for Spain. Cortez is important to history because he began the European

“Since the survivors were held by different tribes or groups they were often separated. The next year at the time of the gathering of the tribes to eat prickly pears the four (Castillo, Dorantes, Estebanico, and Cabeza de Vaca) made their escape. (sjsu.edu). “During their escape, other tribes that they met along the way aided them and helped them. They escaped at the time when the tribes were going to pick pears, so food was not a problem at this time.” (sjsu.edu). “The Spaniards decided to build rafts and leave Florida by the sea.” (tshaonline.org). “Each raft was loaded with fewer than fifty men, and rose only six inches above the water. They had to sail their rafts as closely to the shore as possible in case something were to happen. They left on September 22, 1528, and all was going well until they crossed what is now the Mississippi River. Thrown off course by the strong winds, the five rafts eventually landed off the coast of Texas. (tshaonline.org). “By the spring of 1529, only thirteen Spaniards and an African slave were still alive, along with Cabeza de Vaca. Some of the men thought that he was dead because he had been gone for so long. Twelve of the fourteen men had headed towards the coast of Mexico.” (tshaonline.org). “They finally landed at a place that they named the Island of Misfortune, somewhere around what is now Galveston, Texas. Cabeza de Vaca and his men lived out on the island with the Karankawa Indians from 1529 to 1534, and were eventually separated due to a state of semi-slavery.”(americanjourneys.org). After Cabeza de Vaca and his men were separated from the Indians, he used his self-teaching skills and taught himself how to become a healer, or a doctor. “He explored all along the coast of East Texas, hoping to find a way into Mexico and explore some Spanish colonies. In 1534, the other survivors, Alfonso de Castillo, Andres Dorantes, and Estevan or Estebanico and

The book Spanish Expeditions into Texas (1689-1768) by William C. Foster has thirteen chapters. In chapter One through Two the author talks about three diaries that were found during the expedition. The first diary the author talks about is De Leon’s personal diary and how it is translated into the English language. The second is Juan Bautista Chapa’s diary account which talks about the history of Nuevo Reino De Leon. The third one is about a letter found during 1690 expedition, it was from Fray D. Massanet’s to Don Carlos de Siguenz which was also translated into the English language.

begin marching In-land, in their arrival to Tlaxcala and Cholula. One could argue that the

The capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan, and what is known today as Mexico City was conquered in 1521 by the Spanish explorer named Hernando Cortez. Cortez was born Medellin, Spain in 1485. He was the only son of a noble family and his father was a captain in the Spanish army. He was fascinated with Christopher Columbus’ journeys in the new world. This was a far cry from his parents wish for him to be lawyer. Before reaching the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, Cortes along with Diego Velazquez, were powerful figures in the island of Cuba. Their partnership soon ended when Cortes went against Velasquez’s wishes to marry his sister and sailed to the mainland of Mexico against his orders. On 1519 Cortez reached the harbor of central Veracruz (“True Cross”). He arrived with 11 ships, 15 horses and a fleet of 500 men in search for gold. Cortes soon learned that the land was ruled by the great Aztec lord in the city of Tenochtitlán: King Monezuma II.

In the primary source document, The Aztec Marketplace at Tlatelolco by Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Castillo manages to describe the magnificent marketplace at the Aztec city, Tlatelolco. Castillo’s memory and recollection of his experience at the market place occurred around the time period of 1521, when the Aztec empire was conquered by the Spaniards through the expedition of Hernán Cortés. After these expeditions and battles between the Aztec natives and the Spanish newcomers, Castillo was able to record his involvement and experience in his entries fifty years later in Guatemala where he lived in retirement.

Cortez and his force arrived in Tenochtitlan on November 8th, 1519. Tenochtitlan was the capital of what we know today as Mexico. Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities in the world at that time. Tenochtitlan was run by the Aztecs. Cortes then met Montezuma, the Aztecs’s emperor. Montezuma and the Aztecs thought Hernan Cortes was a god. They thought he was Quetzalcoatl. Cortez was there at the right time because the god was supposed to arrive the same year Cortes was there. Since they thought he was a god they would do anything for his command. Later on Montezuma suspected Cortez not to be the god. He gave him gold and jewels to try and get him to leave. It had the opposite affect and increased the Spaniards greed. Cortez then captured Montezuma as hostage to prevent the Aztecs attacking.

Cortes prepared for this expedition. However, Velasquez became regretful of his decision. He thought Cortes wanted to conquer the Mayans for his own personal gains. Velasquez attempted to change his orders, but it was too late. Cortes set sail and continued to put his fleet together. In 1519, Cortes explored the Yucatan coastline. Landing in Tabasco, Cortes captured the natives. Although, Tabasco people possessed little of value, they told Cortes of the great treasures of the Aztec Empire. Cortes moved his troops northward and conquered the port of Vera Cruz. In addition to, Cortes was making plans to advance against the Aztecs. He took a Tabasco woman and enlisted her help to supplement his army. Cortes used her to translate the native language to Aguilar. Aguilar was another Spaniard that had been shipped wreck at the port of Vera Cruz. He had learned the language of the natives. Aguilar translated the language to Cortes troops. They learned about the traditions of the Aztec people in Tenochtitlan. Cortes used this information he gathered to defeat the Aztecs. Finally, he convinced the native tribes to fight with him against the Aztecs. He knew he needed these allies to conquer the Aztec empire. With the knowledge of a myth about a white god, he was able to betray Montezuma II. “Quetzalcoatl was an Aztecan god. His name means “the feathered serpent” in the Nahuatl language. Quetzalcoatl was the patron of priests and the inventor of