The True History Of The Conquest Of New Spain As Hernan Cortes Essay

Matthew Restall, a Professor of Latin American History, Women’s Studies, and Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University. He also serves the Director of the university’s Latin Studies. Throughout “Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest,” he discusses many false truths that have been passed down through history. For instance, he discusses, “The Myth of Exceptional Men.” “The Myth of Spanish Army,” and “The Myth of Completion.” For the sake of time, I will discuss three myths that correlate with class lectures and serve as the topic of this paper, “The Myth of Exceptional Men,” “The Myth of the King’s Army,” and the “Myth of the White Conquistador.” It should be noted that Restall speaks to his audience assuring us that his “...his purpose is not to degenerate this technique of historical writing completely...Nor do I mean to create a narrative in which individual action is utterly subordinated to the larger structural forces and causes of social change.” (4). He states that his intentions are to react to more than just the works of Columbus, Pizzaro, and Cortez.

This publication motivated Diaz to write his second book, which he called "The True history of the Conquest of New Spain". He wrote this book in opposition of the publications which he thought to be incorrect. He again hoped his accomplishments would be seen by those in power and

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.

persuaded Velazquez to give him the command of an expedition to Mexico. And this is the beginning of Cortes’ legacy.

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.

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.

Cortes played a large role in the conquering of the Americas, and both Traditions and Encounters and The Broken Spears document his actions. In Traditions and Encounters, Cortes’s role as captain of Spanish expeditions was detailed. The advantage that the

- Cortes actions played a vital role in helping establish Spanish settlement in the new world. He and his fleet of about 600 men traveled into Mexico in hopes of finding gold as well as glory. During his time in Mexico he persuaded Indian societies who were rivals of the Aztec Empire, to join his force to take over this mighty empire. He used terror and intimidation to do so along the way. After a few years he took down the Aztec Empire, which opened the door for other explorers to invade the new world as well in their hopes of finding gold as well.

Hernan Cortes was a fierce conquistador from Spain that grew up in a noble family. In 1504, he headed out for Hispaniola but ended up in Cuba in 1511. Cortes convinced the Cuban governor to let him be the leader and general of an expedition to Mexico. He then established Veracruz, and was elected official General. Cortes scorched his ships. His men were skeptical about

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'

Hernando Cortes was one of the bravest military leaders of all time. Born in Medellin, Spain, he was a Spanish Conquistador who conquered most of Central America. He also gave Spain three-hundred years of control over Mexico. Cortes started exploring in the early 1500’s. He explored to find riches and conquered by being observant of the natives. With a small army, he conquered the Aztec Empire. Cortes went to the university in Salamanca, Spain. He attended the university to study Latin and Law. Unfortunately, Cortes completed only two years of school. He returned to his family in Medellin, Spain. However, life became boring for him. Nevertheless, Christopher Columbus inspired Cortes to explore the New World. Finally, Cortes was able to

Before reading this document, it didn’t cross my mind that Spanish Monarch was the one that ruled over Mexico. I thought it was British Empire who actually did. I now realize that Spanish empire was also a dominant power in the New World. Cortes was assigned to explore and find Mexico, which was considered to be the wealthiest kingdom during sixteen century, by the governor of Cuba. I was intrigued to find out how a teen successfully led six hundred men to the conquest of Mexico. In the meantime, I was quite disappointed to discover then Emperor of Mexico, Montezuma, man in his forties who had every kind of weapon that Cortes, a nineteen years old teen, had instead of giving him and his soldiers a fight, bowed down in front of Cortes and easily believed that he was their god sent out to rule them. On the contrary, Spaniards atrocity towards Montezuma, who treated Cortes and his soldiers with nothing but respect, and his people is heartbreaking. In addition, their arrival in Mexico also brought epidemic European disease with them. Many native people were the victims of death as they had no immunity because they were never exposed to such disease before the arrival of

In 1519 Cortes led a hundred Spaniards to come to the Mexico that by the time Great Montezuma are the Empire of Mexican and he make the rule. Cortex was a Spanish explorer and conquistador that lend on the Mexico. He acting on his own, he has an army about 500 men, cause a debacle of the wealthiest, and most powerful empire on America. He is the remembered for conquering the Aztec empire and claiming Mexico for Spain. He also became a governor of New Spain by helping Cuba colonize. He came to the new world in 1504 , and attached his fortunes to Velazquez, the Spanish government of Cuba. Later on he proved that he can be a one of the most capable ministers. That is one of the reasons that Velazquez put Cortez in charge when he decide to commission an expedition to mainland. But soon he noticed that he make a mistake and know that Cortez are so successful and will do thing to get the

“Of all the explorers in the El Dorado search, Cortes is very famous especially based on his unfathomable ruthlessness.” There was much effect on the life of Cortes and his world view

Colonialism, according to Webster’s dictionary, is the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically (1). Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador, who against the wishes of the crown, set out on an expedition in 1519 to conquer a new world. Hernan Cortes came with the sole intent to conquer and economically exploit the new world he intended to conquer. Wikipedia does a decent job at providing reliable information, but I would argue that there are multiple areas the author can expand on to help expand the perspective beyond that of a bias. The first suggestion that I would make in this Wikipedia article would be to provide a more objective view of the native allies/allies, to get an all-encompassing idea of what actually happened. The perspective of this article is that of the Spanish conquistador, while acknowledging that the author gives nods to various indigenous groups. This is shown through the authors use of providing only surface level claims, not revealing the true intentions of Cortes’ Expedition. In the text, there is a claim made by Cortés that stated the natives “think of us as gods, or godlike beings” because the Aztecs and Montezuma thought Cortés was the Aztec god Quatizquatoal returning. The description of the interaction is mentioned when the author states that “Cortes attempted to frighten the Aztec delegation with a display of his firepower” (), this use