The Conquistadors

The conquistadors were professional warriors, using European tactics, firearms, and cavalry. Their units (Compañia, Companhia) would often specialize in forms of combat that required long periods of training that were too costly for informal groups. Their armies were mostly composed of Iberian and other European soldiers.

Since of the history is only written by the winners and contains bias, the views of “other side” are barely recaptured. As this suggest, the credibility of some historical events taken from one perspective can be questioned. Therefore, the majority of the histories can be considered as incomplete in the view of the fact that only unilateral views from the winning side were being shown. As a matter of fact, the conquest of Mexico has always been one of the historical events that lots of historians like to talk about. Along with the book Victors and Vanquished, Stuart B. Schwartz has carefully provided readers with the perspectives from both Spanish and the Nahua on the fall of Aztec and allowed us to interrogate the real history behind.

Every artist's dream is to create something that leaves a lasting impression. The Last Conquistador follows the story of a sculptor who does exactly that. John Houser spent nearly a decade painstakingly crafted a 34-foot tall equestrian statue featuring the infamous Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate y Salazar. Following in the footsteps of his father who assisted in the carving of Mount Rushmore, Houser's fantasy of leaving his mark in one of the largest bronze equestrian statues in the world finally became a reality (Valadez). However, what an artist attempts to express and what message is truly received may not be one and the same. While the Hispanic elite of El Paso praised (and funded) the magnificent piece, the Acoma were horrified by the towering symbol of oppression and genocide looming overhead. This film not only provides a window into the conflict and controversy surrounding Houser's work, but also showcases several aspects of Texas political culture and highlights the dismissive attitude toward Native American culture that is still prevalent today.

Before 1453, Europe was in a period of time often referred to as the Dark ages. Critics claim that they had little access to any kind of trade, wealth or ideas that traveled along the Silk Roads. Meaning that the Europeans economy was based largely off of agriculture and they lived very difficult lives in poverty. This was until daring and courageous men decided to pull Europe out of the Dark ages and into the Renaissance (A Golden Age). The many voyages of European explorers and conquistadors are what brought Europe into what would become known as The Age of Exploration. This connected Europe to trade and cultural ideas along the east. Although the Europeans and conquistadors did conquer the natives and spread the base of slavery, these men did bring new ideas, technology, science and culture that ultimately result in a huge impact on history.

If religion was a guiding principle in the lives of the conquerors, as Todorov points out, so too was it for the conquered, especially in the case of the Aztecs. Baffled by the paradox of the famous story concerning Cortes and his several hundred Conquistador's ability to defeat the entire Aztec empire, which numbered at least several million, Todorov reveals that it was primarily due to Montezuma's belief that Cortes and his party were Gods, which led to his reluctance to raise an army in opposition.

For thousands of years mankind has felt an insatiable desire to explore. Many people groups from around the world have discovered and conquered new lands. The Spanish Conquistadors are among these. In the 1500s, there were many compelling incentives luring them to gain control of the Aztec Empire in New Spain (Mexico). What impelled the Conquistadors to conquer the Aztecs was a desire to spread the teachings of the Christian church, to gain wealth allowing them to establish roots in New Spain, and to develop relationships between the Aztecs and the continental Spaniards.

During the Conquest period, epidemics of diseases like smallpox significantly reduced native populations. Centuries later, the HIV/AIDS destroyed large populations of the LGBT community in the United States. When diseases killed natives, doctors at the time did not have the advanced knowledge to understand what spread the disease and how to contain it. Therefore, while the colonists might have benefited from epidemics, they did not willfully spread the disease. Although one could speculate that the conquistadors would have used disease strategically if they understood how to spread it, there is no way to prove that they would have. In fact, it is possible that they would have tried to contain diseases more, as the natives provided useful labor and subjects for conquistadors. On the other hand, during the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the late 20th century, the United States government knowingly did not take measures to assist those affected with HIV/AIDS because they looked down on the communities most affected by the disease. While the conquistadors killed large amounts of Indians with epidemics, they did not do so intentionality. However, the United States government allowed disease to

Act of Toleration: This was made May 24th of 1689 as an act of Parliament. It granted freedom of worship to those of nonconformist faith, like Baptists and Congregationalists. They were allowed their own places of worship and their own teachers. This act was not all inclusive and left out Catholics and Unitarians. As a result, the preexisting social and political restrictions were kept in place. This was a small step for religious freedom, but the act still managed to slightly miss the mark. (http://www.britannica.com/event/Toleration-Act-Great-Britain-1689)

They had strategies that far exceeded those of the Aztecs. On the other side, the Aztecs had never left their homeland and did not know about the other cultures. Even though they had conquered some people, they weren’t good at strategically planning their attacks they went all out aggressive and believed that the gods would help them in the battle. The Spanish prepared before hand so they could have a better chance

As a new and mysterious world awaits to be discovered, daring conquistadors leave their home country of Spain in a journey of exploration. Two men by the name of Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca set sail to thwart the untrustworthy Cortez who, behind the backs of Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca, sailed to the New World with half of Narvaez’s crew in search of treasures. However, the journey would prove to be treacherous as the conquistadors would have to encounter hostile Native Americans and strange terrain they have never seen before. Throughout the expedition, future encounters between the Native Americans and conquistadors were heavily influenced by the personalities of the individuals and past experiences the Native Americans faced.

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'

The Spanish colonization of the Caribbean and Yucatan was the campaign of the Spanish conquistadores against Postclassical Maya stares and polities specifically on the central Yucatan Peninsula. The Spanish

     In 1519 Hernán Cortés led a couple hundred other Spaniards inland to the impressive Empire of the Mexica ruled by the Great Montezuma. Many historians today tell how quickly and almost effortlessly these Spaniards conquered the Empire. They paint an image of ignorant, helpless Indians practically giving up their land out of fear of this group because certainly the Spaniards must be gods since they have powerful weapons and strange animals. We know neither Cortés nor any of his men were gods, of course, but what was it that allowed Cortés to prevail over the inhabitants of the land?

1. Three arguments’ that Juan Gines de Sepulveda used to justify enslaving the Native Americans were for gold, ore deposits, and for God’s sake and man’s faith in him. 2. Three arguments that Bartolome de las Casas gave in attacking Spanish clonial policies in the New World were the Indians eating human flesh, worshiping false gods, and also, he believed that the Indians were cowardly and timid. 3. For comparisons that Sepulveda used, in lines 1-7, to express the inferiority of the Indians was their prudence, skill virtues, and humanity were inferior to the Spanish as children to adults, or even apes to men. Comparisons he used to dismiss the significance of the Indians

The reshaping of the New World began the moment Spaniards set foot on the continent. Those first “conquistadors” documented their encounters with native peoples, emphasizing their desire to convert these peoples to Christianity and away from their heathenistic rituals. The documents presented by Stuart B. Schwartz portray accounts from the perspectives of both the conquerors and the conquered. His work does not provide much in the way of personal interpretation but rather “displays” the documents so the reader can compare better both sides of the New World inhabitants. These documents present an opportunity to consider moments of heroism, greed, and despair born during the clashing of Spanish and Nahua cultures and challenge the way historians view such cultures and the interpretation of primary texts. Schwartz’s goal, it would seem, is not to persuade readers of the accuracy of one source over another but rather to call attention to how personal interests, class and ethnic biases, and politics influence the interpretation of the conquering of the Aztec empire.