Kathryn Walbert's Essay On Primary Sources

La Malinche became Cortes’s mistress and the mother of what is thought to the first mixed race child of Mesoamerica. La Malinche knew both the Nahuatl language and Chontal Maya, and was able to assist Cortes in communicating with the natives through de Aguilar. Cortes marched across the land to meet Montezuma ll, the ruler of the Aztecs living in Tenochtitlan. As he crossed the land, he killed the people who defied him, and formed allies with others, such as the Totonacs of Cempoala and the Nahuas of Tlaxcala. Many people joined to defeat their tyrannical overlord Montezuma.

After a brief summary about the origins of this civilization, I take a closer look at the main groups that made up the Aztec society by highlighting the main characteristics of them. No

Defeat struck the Aztec Empire in 1521 when Hernan Cortes and his army invaded and conquered Tenochtitlan, bringing the end of the great civilization. Could the Aztecs have done something before, something that could have changed the way the Empire had come to an end? Geography helped in a major way, surrounding the Aztecs with protection from Mt.Popocatepetl and Mt.Iztaccihuatl . The weapons and war strategies that the Aztecs used were very well planned and could have defeated the Spanish. Even so, Montezuma, the emperor of the Aztecs, had to ruin the victory.

Historical thinking is the nature of human thoughts that normally doesn’t come naturally to us. We as everyday people, rather than historians, must grasp the knowledge of how to come to a greater understanding of what history is and how it genuinely affects our everyday lives. My understanding of history, is that it’s the knowledge and the circumstances of the past, present, and future that either has changed the historian’s perspectives of the world, or how those key experiences will guide the hands and minds of historians to establish a successful path for the future by avoiding the same miscalculations that people made in the past. There is some controversy among historians, who accredit that the only way to understand history is to “reduce it to its lowest terms” or with the “active participation of the historian.” While I believe these two concepts help us to understand history, however, I don’t believe that they are the only possibility for understanding the past.

. . he concluded his report by asking for a little help from their Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next voyage ‘as much gold as they need ... and as many slaves as they ask’" (Zinn). Therefore, although Columbus is credited for the founding of America, Zinn proves his heroic actions can be hindered by his violence towards the Awracks; however, when Columbus is mentioned in history, he is often given a positive and heroic characteristic. However, Columbus and the Europeans committed a lot of genocide when conquering the Native American land.

Learning about our ancestors is extremely important. There are a couple of reasons as to why our genealogy is very important. The first reason is because it connects us with our past. Think of it as connecting the present to the past. Another reason as to why our genealogy is important is because you learn about your origins; where you came from.

But despite this fear, some parts of Manifest Destiny did win. Ultimately, California was given to the United States by Mexico. America spanned from coast to coast, so part of Polk’s reason for beginning this war was fulfilled. But it can certainly not be said that this war was successful, many died, and the true nature of many Americans was revealed. Through the brutal murders and rapes commited by some of the highest class American men on Mexican citizens, and the racist reasons the American public wanted to end the Mexican Americans War, the true xenophobic nature of many Americans at that time can be

Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón, also know as Antonio López de Santa Anna, was a conceited president and general who used manipulation to obtain power over Mexico. He ruled over Mexico and led his people to many victories. He was a hero, but whenever trouble came he fled only to make a grand entrance during a crisis and lead Mexico to victory. He went by his own rules and made Mexico follow them.  Antonio López de Santa Anna created a new form of government, used taking responsible risks to innovate a way to overcome the settlers, and illuminated the world by changing Mexico into the country it is today.

There were many important causes and effects of the Spanish American War. In the 1880’s the U.S. wanted to achieve manifest destiny and so they expanded out west and took control over the Native Americans. There were four different motives that the United States could’ve used to imperialize: political and military interest and economic interest were mostly with trading. Humanitarian and religious interest, to help those that you have allied with or to spread religion and the rich help those who were “under privileged.” Lastly, social darwinism, the idea that you are superior than someone else.

The Broken Spears, by Miguel Leon-Portilla, is an all-inclusive and compelling account of the Spanish conquest, told by the Aztecs also known as the conquered. Leon Portilla’s choice of events depicted in this book collides together giving the reader a broad view of the Spanish conquest. This book gives a history of emotional and spiritual human experiences, allowing the readers to comprehend, and relate to the Aztecs as they went through terror and faced their fears. This book provides an extensive amount of details concerning lack of leadership, bias and technological hardship that led to the Aztec defeat. After reading this book the reader will start to understand how and why the Aztecs suffered .

By the time the Spaniards marched all the way to the Aztec metropolis, Tenochtitlan, they had created several allies. Portilla explains that the people that sided with the Spaniards were enemies that had been conquered by the Aztec. The Mexica’s began to resent their “gods” and mistrust King Motcuhzoma for letting the Spanish conquistadors wreak havoc among the natives and their customs. Before long the author begins to describe the many battles fought between the Aztec warriors and the strangers. These were awful and terrible battles that continued for three years.

The purpose of Sgt. John Wilson is to give information to the reader in the sense of a autobiography. Lois Simmie does this by foreshadowing the event in the prologue. But not completely giving it away till much further in the book. if this were a novel the sequence of events would change completely but since this is an autobiography the order of events do not need to be followed 100% all the way through.

Rather than using formal footnotes/endnotes, follow these instructions. At the end of a citation--either a complete quotation or a paraphrase (putting the author’s ideas into your own words)--place the author’s name and the page numbers in parentheses. For example, a quotation: “I really like to teach history.” (Beirich, 21); a paraphrase: Some people like to teach history. (Beirich, 21) These methods are used to teach you about the issue of plagiarism, and to show you that historians always try to attribute properly their sources.

The most important thing a historian can do is provide the world with a reliable, sound knowledge of history and the truth in what has happened in our society. Without a solid understanding of where we came from, we cannot understand why things are the way they are, how we got here, and where we’re going. The farther back time goes, the harder it is to know for sure what the absolute facts are, however, there is plenty of evidence to let us know what happened during some of the most important time periods of our nation’s history. In The Last Of The Fathers: James Madison & The Republican Legacy, Drew R. McCoy uses both primary and secondary sources to show us facts about James Madison’s life and how he helped to build America. His use of reliable

Las Casas`s work provoked heated debate in Spain and initiated reforms designed to bring greater “love and moderation” to Spanish-Indians relationships. He wrote it for Charles I of Spain. The purposes for writing this was his fear of Spain coming under divine punishment (God`s corporal punishment) and his concern for the souls of the Native Americans. The account is one of the first attempts by a Spanish writer of the colonial era to show examples of unjust treatment that indigenous people endured in the early stages of the Spanish conquest of the Greater Antilles, particularly the island of