Spanish Conquest Rhetorical Analysis

In the late 1400's, conquistadors started their first voyages to the “New World”. They sought gold, resources, and to convert any indigenous peoples they came across. The Spanish, the conquistadors were heroes for spreading Catholicism and returning new resources. Yet, from the point of view of the natives and Bartholome de Las Casas, they were villains. The conquistadors massacred the natives; enslaving those who escaped. The conquistadors were no heroes. By the early 1500’s, the Spanish were already conquering more land by killing more natives for gold and greed.

The Aztecs were a very religious group who were disciplined and independent. They were powerful warriors that conquered and raided neighbouring cities. The Aztec were educated and formed defense alliances, but this could not help the Aztec’s society as they were all killed off by the Spanish. This conflict and defeat of the Aztecs was unavoidable. It was unavoidable because of the Spanish’s obsession with gold, god, glory. Gold might have been the biggest cause of the Aztec empire's collapse. At the time of the conquest gold meant power and wealth. This meant the Spanish knew in order to get more gold they needed to expand. Secondly god, god was another big reason why, the Aztec empire had collapsed. The Spaniards and Islam were also in conflict,

In 1519, Hernándo Cortés, a Spanish Conquistador ventured into Tenochtitlan, the capital of Aztec empire, searching for gold and glory. He set out to conquer the empire and to capture the Aztecs in order to achieve his ambitions. Moctezuma, the highly respected leader of the mighty Aztec Empire, came confronting with Hernán Cortés, the leader of a small band of professional European soldiers from a huge island that lay six day’s sail to the east. In “Malintzin’s Choices: An Indian Women in the Conquest of Mexico” and “Mexico and the Spanish Conquest”, Camilla Townsend and Ross Hassig respectively present one histories in their own interpretations of the conquest of Mexico.

Since 1492, Spain recognized Christianity as its official religion because there was no distinction between Catholicism and Protestantism. Most of the Spanish population practiced Christianity due to Jews being banished and Muslims being converted. In 1517, the Protestant Reformation divided the Christian religion half - into Catholicism and Protestantism. Spain supported the Catholic religion, and they saw the New World as an opportunity to convert others to Catholicism. They believed that religion gave them the right to conquer new land, because they “came to serve God and to get rich, as all men wish to do,” which Bernal Diaz del Castillo said while working with Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico. Mendicant friars, Jesuits, and priests traveled across the New World to preach Catholicism in hopes of converting the non-Catholics. Religious values were one of the main motivations for conquistadors, because they felt more powerful and superior.

Religion played a huge role in the Aztec society. Religion was the most important thing to the Aztec people . The Aztecs used omens and stars to tell the future. The Aztecs had believed that a god named Quetzalcoatl would and destroy the entire Aztec civilization and he would return in the year of the seed. In 1519 a Explorer named Hernan Cortes discovered Mexico in 1519. 1519 was the seed year according to the Aztec calendar. The Aztecs Believed that Hernán Cortés was Quetzalcoatl.So they treated him great respect. Hernan Cortes had lunch with the Aztecs and after lunch he killed all the Aztec people. The aztecs could not attack him first because they believed that he was a god and they had to treat him with great respect.Hernan Cortes killed 5% of the aztec empire. The 90% died from smallpox and the 4% died in the attack. The spanish brought the other 5% with them to Spain as slaves. On August/13/1521 most of the Aztecs race died and Hernan Cortes was declared

As far as religion goes, Columbus said “[The Taino People] have no religion, and I believe that they would very readily become Christians, as they have a good understanding” (Journal, page 8). The Aztecs were quite different. Cortes noted that the Aztec believed and worshipped multiple gods and idols. “Three halls are in this grand temple, which contain the principal idols” (Hernan Cortes: From the Second Letter To Charles V, page 3). Cortes even tried to “divert them from their idolatries, and draw them to a knowledge of God” (Hernan Cortes: From the Second Letter To Charles V, page

The author gives insight on how many ways the Spaniards used their power to assist in the downfall of the Aztecs. The reason why the Spaniards became victorious, was because the Spaniards were looked upon as if they were gods because of their outer appearance. The Aztecs broke bread and welcomed the Spaniards with gifts and parties. The Aztecs triggered their relationship with the Spaniards by holding a ritual for the arrival of the god which included a human sacrifice. The Spaniards didn’t agree with the rituals and began to despise the Aztecs.

European exploration was brought on by the three G’s: God, gold, and glory. People wanted to spread Christianity whether it be Catholicism or Protestantism, while explorers such as Cortes were looking for gold to get rich and glory to get famous. This age of exploration was able to occur because of technological advances such as the caravel, cannons on ships, more advanced cartography, and the magnetic compass. The impact exploration had on the natives of the New World was changes in the natives culture, enslavement of the native people, and a massive population decrease.

It’s not a coincidence that every year on the second Monday of October, students have a day off from school. That day is used to commemorate Christopher Columbus’s arrival to the Americas. Christopher Columbus and many other explores departed from Europe seeking to discover new land. This time in history became know as the Age of Exploration. Historians debate whether the Age of Exploration is as great as it is said to be. There were several downsides to the Age of Exploration. This time period in history should clearly be remembered, but not celebrated due diseases that traveled and killed millions, and the unfair treatment of native peoples.

Ever since the conquistadors had conquered Mexico, the life and culture of many modern Mexicans has been altered by Spain. From the design and organization of towns and cities to religion to class system, Spain has definitely made an impression on Mexico. One of the first imprint the Spanish made was leveling the native temples and then putting their Catholic churches and administrative buildings on top. To me, it’s as they - the Spanish are stating their religion - Catholicism - is superior to theirs. Secondly, the Spaniards used the local people as slaves to build their churches and their government buildings. The fact that they took advantage of these people in their own land is just upsetting. Another thing the Spanish did was they “built” a church in the center of every town while all the important

In the 16th Century, Spain became one of the European forces to reckon with. To expand even further globally, Spanish conquistadors were sent abroad to discover lands, riches, and North America and its civilizations. When the Spanish and Native American groups met one another, they judged each other, as they were both unfamiliar with the people that stood before them. The Native American and Spanish views and opinions of one another are more similar than different because when meeting and getting to know each other, neither the Spaniards nor the Native Americans saw the other group of people as human. Both groups of people thought of one another as barbaric monsters and were confused and amazed by each other’s cultures. But, even though both

In The Requerimiento by Juan López de Palacios Rubios, natives in the new world were told, “We ask that … you acknowledge the Christian church as the ruler and superior of the whole world, and as superiors that you agree to let the Christian priests preach to you … (The Priests) shall not compel you to become Christians unless you yourself wish to be converted. But if you do not do this … we shall forcefully enter into your country and make war against you.” The Spanish conquistadors allowed natives to choose whether or not they wanted to convert to Christianity, However if they did not, then the Spanish turned them into slaves. The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz del Castillo openly stated that a reason for Spanish exploration was, “To serve God and his majesty, to give light to those who were in darkness.” The Spanish viewed non-Christians as unintelligent people because they believed in a different God. They felt that converting them would make them smarter and more aware of their purpose. The European views on religion were very ethnocentric. They felt that Christianity was the only real religion and it was their job to travel around the world to make others aware of their

I believe that the Spanish conquest was quite effective because they achieve their goal of establishing territorial gains. The Spanish also demolished one of earliest civilization in history. In the book it mentions that the Maya knew not to go against the Spanish Masters because their military was much stronger than the Mayan warriors. There were very much loss with the Mayan Empire because of the conquest itself.

While thinking of some of the greatest settlements in history, England and Spain colonies should come to mind. Due to their dedication and slightly forceful determination to form their own rather small communities, they created a huge establishment in the Americas that will later influence other countries. Although the colonies were rarely influenced by each other, they both faced issues with many external factors. Both Spain and England encountered conflict between colonists and Native Americans, but England was more welcoming to religious differences while Spain strictly converted settlers to be Catholics.

Growing up under both the influence of his parents’ Mexican culture and his own experience of a more modern California, Richard Rodriguez seemed to have the best of both worlds. His Mexican lifestyle was the way of tradition and cynicism, and his California lifestyle was the way of defiance and optimism. However, as he writes in his book Days of Obligation, this clash between cultures only conflicted his feelings. Rodriguez’s acknowledgement of the age and the religion of California and Mexico allows himself to explore his identity struggle.