The Spanish, despite giving the Aztecs permission to hold the celebration, were “seized with an urge to kill the celebrants” and ensued with the trapping and massacre of the Aztec celebrants (The Broken Spears, The Spaniards Attack the Celebrants). The Spanish hunted down and slaughtered every celebrant, even though the Aztecs were not a threat to them and posed no harm. The diametric responses to the inequality between the Aztecs and the Spaniards is clear: the Aztecs are submissive and respectful towards the Spanish, and often resort to hiding out of fear. In contrast, the Spanish are needlessly aggressive, avaricious, and intimidating; they demand gold, destroy the meaningful treasures of the Aztecs, seize Motecuhzoma’s treasures, and violently …show more content…
While Devries does help the Algonquins, as he protests against the plan to massacre the tribe, and aids in the escape of some Algonquins who had fled to the Dutch for safety, his ingrained white superiority complex is still very much present. Though he is not violent or aggressive towards the Algonquin tribe, his chosen language is very revealing of his internal racist beliefs. He does not refer to the Native Americans as human beings, but rather as “savages” or “poor little creatures” (A Dutch Massacre of Algonquins). These phrases, and many others, were very commonly used by conquerors to describe their conquests, as the dehumanization of the subjects of their exploitation helped conquerors to alleviate any inklings of guilt for their treatment of fellow human beings. This dehumanization is also referenced in Willem Bosman’s A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea. Although Bosman does acknowledge the humanity of the enslaved, he, similarly to Devries, compares the slaves to animals, stating that, “Markets of men are here kept in the same manner as those of beasts with us,” (Slave …show more content…
However, these many achievements were accomplished through the exploitation and enslavement of indigenous peoples. Additionally, many of the improvements only affected an exclusive, elite upper class. For these reasons, the Age of Discovery was not only a time of advancement, but also a time of serious socioeconomic inequalities that had lasting effects on the state of the world as a
Aztecs had a wide majority of power over Southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Yucatan. Spanish arrived in Mexico in 1519, and wanted to take advantage of the massive amount of silver, the mines produced in the Aztec’s land. In South America, ingitis labor was cheaper, so it was beneficial to the Spanish to use these people to work in the mines to earn them high valued items that they can take back to the Old
The Aztec Empire was a tribute empire based in Tenochtitlan. The Aztec people were indigenous groups of Mexico and they spoke "Nahuatl" language. They governed large parts of Mesoamerica for a long period. They lived and governed from the 13th century to 16th century. Since the 13th century, Aztec civilization thrived in the city of Mexico.
It raises the question of how the Spanish viewed the natives: as people standing in the way of their gold, or fascinating and interesting people with rich culture and
In 1598 Juan de Oñate and his men killed nearly two thousand Native Americans from the Acama Pueblo in retaliation for the death of eleven of his men. They then cut off one foot from every one of the men of fighting age in the two hundred men, women, and children that he spared. Some Spanish conquistadors had very little respect for the lives of the Natives. To many of them they were nothing but savages inhabiting land that they felt could be put to better use. While many Spanish explorers and priests came to the Americas with the intention of “helping” the Natives, whether or not the Natives ended up better worse off, some Spanish did truly have the mission that they wanted to make the Native’s lives better.
The Aztecs way of life was based on their religion. The Aztecs lived from the 1300-1500s. The Aztecs religion was Mesoamerican. Mesoamerican is where the Aztecs held ceremonies according to the patterns in the Aztec calendar, leading them to believe in a connection to the gods by human sacrifice. They believed so much in the gods that the Aztecs feared the gods were capable of ending the world.
Compare and contrast the conquests of Mexico (Aztecs) with that of the Inca. What led up to the conquest? The goals of the Conquistadores. The results. Inca Empire Political: Most powerful figure in the Inca Empire was the Sapa Inca. For one to ascend to the lever of Inca, one must be descended from the original Inca tribe.
The strong tactics of the Spanish Conquistadors, the mistakes of Montezuma, and disease lead to the defeat of the Aztec army of 200,000 men. The Spanish Conquistadors had the advantage over the Aztecs, using the allies they had and the technology they used in battle. Montezuma, the ruler of Tenochtitlan made a mistake when the Spanish Conquistadors arrived, by thinking they were Gods.. The conquistadors also brought over diseases, which whipped out most of the Aztec army leading to a slight setback for the Aztecs. The Aztecs then, had no chance against the Spanish.
The Aztec people dominated the 14th through 16th century Mesoamerica. They are one of the most noted cultures recognized in history books today and they deserve as much recognition for their accomplishments and errors as much as any other civilization because their works were much the same. Their religious practices were similar to that of the ancient civilizations throughout the entire world. The magnificent capital, Tenochtitlan, displays accomplishments other cities had achieved thousands of years before the Aztecs marched through what is now Mexico. Even the fall of their empire was like that of the far away Celtic civilization and countless others.
All the Spaniards had done was killing of innocent lives for personal greed and acquiring as much goods as they could for their Majesty, doing so for the money was their justifications for killing the natives. Then we have Cortes, who instead of killing off the Natives of Tenochtitlan, he opened their eyes to the horrors of their religious ways and gave them the revelation of Christianity. Cortes didn’t mention any genocide of the natives, he spoke about the geography and religious views of the natives. He stated, “I will simply say that the manner of living among the people is very similar to that of Spain, and considering that this is a barbarous nation shut off from a knowledge of true God or communication with enlightened nations, one may well marvel at the orderliness and good government which is everywhere mentioned” (SB, 8). Cortes is only praising the natives and their life style because he feels the people have everything figured out in terms of being dominant and true government but, lacked in religion which he left them
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.
Aztec essay The Aztecs were a part of a strong culture, located in modern day Mexico. The Aztecs practiced a wealthy lifestyle and had strong beliefs of religion. Their wealthy lifestyle began to deteriorate due to the Spanish explorers disembarking at Tabasco and Vera Cruz. The Spanish were welcomed warmly when they first arrived and were treated godlike.
This power imbalance and these payments are key in the subjugation of the natives. Furthermore, the paternalism of the Spanish toward the Indigenous peoples is obvious: “Captain [Cortes] stared at him [Cuauhtemoc]…then patted him on the head” (p.117). Post-conquest, and still today, “difficult relations” between the descendants of the Indigenous peoples and the “others” (p.117) still exist. The European view of the natives “as idolatrous savages” or, on the contrary, as “models of natural virtue” (p.175) demonstrate the versatile and often contradictory views held. Similarly, the Aztecs at times saw the Spaniards as gods, and other times as gold-hungry savages who “fingered it like monkeys” (p.51).
Everything was perfectly planned out. As the calendar says, they have to sacrifice one of their own to please the Gods. The Mayan people would get together as a whole to practice their religious ceremony at the temple. The Mayan and Aztec civilizations are two ancient civilizations that were located near Central and South America. The Mayan civilization was more remarkable than the Aztecs because of their advanced knowledge.
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.
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.