Stein points out, “The Aztecs were known for their skills as warriors. They were feared and respected by their neighbors. So how were the Spanish able to defeat to defeat them?” (27) The advanced weaponry gave the Spaniards an advantage over the Aztecs.
They attempted to drive them away by attacking them. Unfortunately, the Spaniards had weaponry that was far more advanced to the weapons of the natives and were able to not only fend off the attack, but also destroyed the natives when they retaliated. In areas where there were no significant amounts of valuables, the Spaniards used their religion as an excuse to try to dominate the Native Americans. The Spaniards were Catholic Christians. They looked down upon the Native Americans’ “inferior” religion.
Europeans survived in the Americas solely because of their relations with the Indians. Europeans would accrue great profits from trade with the Indians. The Indians, however, would suffer because of their contact with the Europeans. Whenever Indians would encounter their European counterparts, their dealings would almost ultimately result in violence and spread of disease. Based on the above, it is evident that only Europeans benefited from contact in North America.
A People’s History of the United States: Reflection Chapter 5 A Kind of Revolution To summarize, this chapter serves to explain about how the common people were wooed into serving in the Revolutionary War. While the rich could control and influence (and even get out of) the drafting, the poor had no such power. However, seeing as slaves and Indians would not want to participate, the white colonists had to be persuaded. This brings to light the immense distinction between the poor and the rich, and as Zinn states, “It seemed that the majority of white colonists, who had a bit of land, or no property at all, were still better off than slaves or indentured servants or Indians, and could be wooed into the coalition of the Revolution,” (Zinn 80). He also says that 10% of the white population owned nearly half of the wealth of the country and held slaves as 1/7th of the country’s people.
The only reason this is a belief is because these select men who were the ones writing to the king and queen. Clearly they were only writing good things about themselves and failing to leave out information about the others helping in the conquest, meaning the proof of merit was not correct (discussion 9/7). More so, another fabrication told during this time was that the Spanish had superiority because they were thought to be more intelligent, advanced and superior from their time practicing superior from their time practicing Catholicism. Need closing
Hernando Cortes and his crew had some of the attributes of their god, red hair, beard, all that, and ended up thinking their gods were returning to them. So all of the Aztec weapons were all somewhere in their house or storage, and instead they had presents and food to give their so-called “gods”, which meant that they were not going to fight at first. You may say that the Aztecs had a lot of gold and land. Having a lot of gold and land does not always mean you are a powerful empire. In this case, they were, but the Aztecs did not know the best way that they captured most of the villages and told them they had to give sacrifices, and forced them to do whatever the Aztecs needed them to do.
In The Broken Spears, Miguel Leon recounts several reasons as to why the Spaniards had an advantage over the Aztecs when conquering them. Some of the most important information in The Broken Spears had to do with both the advantages and exploitations the Spaniards used over the Aztecs. For instance, the Aztecs thought the Spaniards were gods and must succumb to their demands simply through the way the Spaniards looked. Their clothing and physical features led the Aztecs to believe that they were god like and thus showered them with various gifts. This was a major advantage for the Spaniards because it basically implied that the Spanish had control over the Aztecs.
They believed that Montezuma had offered his valuables freely. This interpretation of the events illustrates the Spaniards’ attempt to appear virtuous and showcases their need to embellish their success in retrieving gold. Meanwhile, the Aztecs believed Montezuma was forced into this offering: “The Spaniards questioned him closely and then demanded gold.” The Aztec explanation of the events suggests a distrust in the Spanish and demonstrates their belief that the Spaniards’ arrival destroyed their society. The discrepancy between the two accounts is due to the biased viewpoints of the writers. The truth, however, can be found in-between the two stories.
In the 1500s, the Spanish arrived in the New World with the intent to convert natives to Catholicism, trade, and discover riches. Juan de Onate, one of these explorers, killed thousands of natives in order to gain fame and wealth. The Spanish and Indians also developed the Columbian Exchange; a trade of goods, livestock, and crops, which was beneficial to both sides as it brought new items to both groups. Most of the products that the Spanish gave to the natives brought diseases that the Indians had no immunity to. Cortez even intentionally gave out
Originally, Columbus was looking for a quick westward route to the spice riched India. Upon discovering the Americas he met the natives of the islands he first ran in to. Columbus describes them as “incurably timid,” and says that once they are assured that there is nothing to fear they become extremely generous. Columbus was unsure of their religion, but he thought that they could easily be converted to christianity. “And I gave a thousand handsome good things, which I had brought, in order that they might conceive affection, and more than that, might become Christians…,”1 By giving them goods, Columbus thought that they would convert to Christianity.