Mexican Conquest

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On November 8th 1519, Don Hernando Cortes and six hundred Spaniards entered the city of Mexico. In Xoloco, Motecuhzoma’s originally thought that these spanish men were prince Quetzalcoatl and other gods. Yet they were far from gods. They were not there to answer all their prayers and hopes but were there to take over the Aztec Capital. On August 13, 1521, the Aztec capital surrendered to Cortes. Every documentation about the conquest is told from a different point of view and a different story. In the past historians have only based the conquest on two documents; Letters Cortes wrote to King Charles V and the True History of the Conquest of Mexico by Bernal Diaz del Castillo. Both documents were written by the Spaniards. Seven years after the…show more content…
The first account is by Sahagun's informants, stating that the strangers conquered the Otomies, fired canons at them, attacked them with their swords and shot them with their crossbows (Broken Spears; Leon-Portilla, 38). Leaving not a single person alive. The other version of the story could have been invented by the Tlaxcaltecas to excuse their part in the massacre. This story does not include a massacre but a friendly encounter, where the strangers were invited to enter, were paid with great honors and joined with them as allies. The Spaniards second massacre was at Cholula in the courtyard of the god. The people of Cholula had not seen this coming so they were unarmed. They couldn’t understand why this came about but it was because of the lies of the Tlaxcaltecas. After this massacre, they continued to set out for the city of Mexico. Motecuhzoma decided to meet the Spaniards as friends and invited them to Tezcoco (Broken Spears; Leon-Portilla, 58). They were showered with gifts upon arrival at Xoloco. At this time the Spaniards take possession of the city, the princes were taken captive and Motecuhzoma was imprisoned (Broken Spears; Leon-Portilla, 65). They set off their canons causing chaos and confusion among the people while demanding food, supplies and gold from Motecuhzoma. They seized all of the treasures and gold while burning everything else. As

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