Spain 's Conquest Of Mexico

Restall, Matthew. Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2003

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.

In the late 18th century, the Spanish monarchy decided to improve the defenses of its empire because of its many military losses in Europe. Because of this, the Spanish Crown was forced to increase revenues. Between 1765 and 1771, Spain sent José de Gálvez on an official tour of inspection of New Spain. He restructured the current taxes and their collection methods..

The reading “An Aztec account of the Spanish Conquest” is mainly about a story when Hernan Cortes came for the first time at Tenochtitlan (nowadays Mexico City). The Aztecs believes that when Hernan Cortes arrive they believe the he was Quetzalcoatl, the main god in the Aztec culture. Cortes were friendly invite to the Aztec city as the most important guest, the Aztec people made a big party to celebrate the return of their god, but the Aztec people did not know Cortes intentions of conquer the empire. Later the Aztecs were betrayed by Hernan Cortes. Cortes’s army began to attack the city and at the end they take over the city.

Cortés also made sure to describe the Aztecs as primitive people who worshiped false gods and viewed the king as a "barbarous monarch". As a result, Cortés placed himself in a strong position to be the symbol of the crown that could bring a stable Christian society to save these people.[4: Cortés, and Pagden, In Letter from Mexico, 11][5: Arkenberg, Hernan Cortés: From Second Letter to Charles V, 1520][6: Arkenberg, Hernan Cortés: From Second Letter to Charles V, 1520]

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

In the book The Conquest of America by Tzvetan Todorov, Todorov brings about an interesting look into the expeditions of Columbus, based on Columbus’ own writings. Initially, one can see Columbus nearly overwhelmed by the beauty of these lands that he has encountered. He creates vivid pictures that stand out in the imagination, colored by a "marvelous" descriptive style. Todorov gives us an interpretation of Columbus’ discovery of America, and the Spaniards’ subsequent conquest, colonization, and destruction of pre-Columbian cultures in Mexico and the Caribbean. Tzvetan Todorov examines the beliefs and behavior of the Spanish conquistadors and of the Aztecs.

Maybe too much credit is given to Cortés as one of the greatest Spanish conquerors who developed effective strategy to defeat the Aztecs. Restall see this as somewhat of a myth accounting for the failure of historians to look at history before the 1519 (Restall, 19). Restall says “However, too often, without any direct evidence, the actions of Conquistadors after the 1519– 21 invasion of Mexico are taken as deliberately imitating Cortés, while pre-1519 patterns are ignored.” Whatever the case for whom should be given the credit for the strategy used to defeat the Aztecs; one must admit Cortés was able the win the trust of the people and use the Aztecs’ fear of him to control their empire. Cortés harbored fear of his own. Elliott says, “Cortés felt some uneasiness, when he reflected that it was in the power of the Indians, at any time, to cut off his communications with the surrounding country, and hold him a prisoner in the capital.” The Omens of the Aztecs betrayed them and caused them to see the arriving settlers as gods. They were not prepared to defend themselves against the advanced weapons of the Spanish. Much like the Aztecs, the Mayans faced hard times at the hands of the Spanish conquerors, but their defeat came much easier to the Spanish.

The Mexican Cession refers to America’s expansion due West to the Pacific River that would lead to the Mexican-American War, and Mexico would ultimately cede land to the growing United States. Reasons for the expansion can be related to America’s mentality of manifest destiny. People believed that even God himself had blessed the country for expansion and this only added fuel to what soon would lead to advancing uncharted territory. Conditions throughout were strong, but America had an expedition and a mission to uphold that would make the United States a world power for decades to come.

Representation” by Michael Schreffler argues that “ . . . early modern rhetoric and iconography . . . constructed a distorted view of painting in Aztec Mexico and entangled it in the conventions of colonial historiography” (407). This essay is effective because of its thorough examination of the accounts that explain a painting made by the Aztec’s at San Juan de Ulúa on Easter Sunday of 1519.

(n.d.). Cortés on Meeting Moctezuma). It was about an hour before Cotes could pass over the bridge to meet Moctezuma, who was accompanied by two lords who in turn saluted Cortés in the same fashion as the inhabitants had done earlier (Cortés, H. (n.d.). Cortés on Meeting Moctezuma). Moctezuma has arranged the meeting with Cortés with many flowers in vases, wreaths, and garlands. His entourage included hi major rulers and nobles all properly dressed with jewels in preparation of meeting the Cortés. Moctezuma bestowed many gifts onto Cortés, and addressed him “Our lord, you are very welcome in your arrival in this land. You have come to satisfy your curiosity about your noble city of Mexico. You have come here to sit on your throne, to sit under its canopy, which I have kept for a while for you. For the rulers and governors have gone: Itzcoatl, Moctezuma I, Axayacatl, Tiçocic, and Ahuitzotl. Your poor vassal has been in charge for you, to govern the city of Mexico” (De Sahagún, B. (n.d.). Mexica Accounts of Moctezuma Meeting Cortés). From Moctezuma’s perspective he was now handing over the reins of his kingdom to what he perceived as the rightful ruler, he believed that Cortés was the Lord written about by his ancestors, which allowed Cortés and his small army the ability to

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.

In order to gain control of the whole of New Spain, Cortés must manipulate the hierarchal traditions of the Aztec people as well. As in wealth, Castillo makes no lapse of detail here as well. He documents the way Montezuma his treated and revered by those who are under him. "Not one of these chieftains dared even to think of looking him in the face, but kept their eyes lowered with great reverence…" (World History: Castillo, 247). Montezuma

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.

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