The Conquest of New Spain Essay

Conquistador: Hernán Cortés, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs written by Buddy Levy tells the story of a conquistador named Hernán Cortés who sailed to an unknown land and in less than two years, conquered the entire Aztec empire. Levy addresses many issues but is mainly concerned about the differences between the two cultures, which causes an issue between both the Spaniards and the Aztecs, and argues that people cannot take over an empire without clashing cultures. Religion and culture have been an issue then and now and although people are free to practice their own religion and culture, it is inappropriate for the Spaniards to impose their religion and culture to the Aztecs as this could also cause tension between ethnic groups.

Cortés invaded Mexico in April in the year 1519. Aztec mythology stated that Quetzalcoatl would arrive on Earth in the form of a man and Cortés had come on Quetzalcoatl's birthday. Although Montezuma II did not trust Cortés, he also was worried that Cortés was the Aztec God. Cortés began to march towards the city of Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Aztec Empire. He conquered some cities along his journey and made alliances with others including the powerful Tlaxcala people. When Cortés finally arrived in Tenochtitlan he was welcomed with gifts and invited inside.

Hernan Cortes defied orders to have the Spanish base at Veracruz and moved near Tenochtitlán where there was rumored to be gold and other riches in Mexico. Soon after his arrival he became allies with the Tlaxcalteca a major enemy of the Aztecs. King Montezuma II heard of this alliance and sent gifts to Cortes to appease him and he even invited him into the Incan capital Tenochtitlán. Cortes upon arrival saw that he had been outnumber so instead he held Montezuma hostage and in the altercation Montezuma ended up getting killed. Over the next couple year he and his men fired siege weapons on the Aztecs until they surrendered. The siege cut off the water and food supplies which lead to a huge panic for the Aztecs. Another key role was smallpox, many of the Aztecs died off which weakened their military causing them to surrendering.Once they surrendered the Spanish went in and took control over the city and like many other places the conquistadors married the Native women having mestizos and combined their two cultures

After being surrounded and about lose everything he has worked for, they somehow come to agreement to become allies fighting against the Aztecs. Cortes and his people spent a month there getting to know and becoming friends with the Tlaxcalans. The poor city had no items to contribute to the Spanish but their people and army. Hernando decided he should try to scare and intimidate the Aztecs before approaching them. Cholula, a bordering city and an Aztec influence, was one of the most important cities of Mexico. It being a poor, deprived city based on religion, it was one of the most prestigious places for the Aztecs. The Spanish start by killing some of the low class nobles, then threatening important people in the society. After no reaction, Cortes and his army slaughter every person in their sight and burn the city. He bluntly told Moctezuma that the people disrespected him and not to be scared if he welcomes him with reverence and gold. The Spanish, after trying to teach a lesson and three long months since being here, were ready to enter the largest city in the world. Hernando Cortes was about to approach his biggest adventure yet, the Aztecs.

When Cortes and his forces arrived in Central America they were warmly greeted and given splendid gifts. Cortes, a knowledgeable man, had great plans to defeat his enemies. He made allies and also used items brought from Spain. The Aztecs had a scheme to kill the Spaniards in their sleep until Cortes's mistress Mariana found out. They then began the attack that later turned out to start the war between the Aztecs and the Spaniards. Cortes found an effectual way to block all the exits to forbear every citizen in the region. Eventually the Aztecs surrendered and were conquered until the collapse of their empire. The Spaniards brought death to the region through diseases and war. Both the Spaniards and the Aztecs culture have a great affect on today’s traditions and customs in Mexico. Although this a tragic and horrific event which can never be change it has a big meaning of what people should learn about the past and cannot occur in the

After building up his army, Cortes set sail for New Spain in mid-February 1519. They landed in Cozumel to find that the frightened Indians had fled from their villages. There Cortes began to lecture his men, “That this new land would be permanently pacified and truly conquered only if the Indians were induced to accept Spanish rule” (41). The Indians eventually returned to their homes, and Cortes introduced them to Christianity. While at this village, Cortes learned of the Aztec’s gold and treasures. He wanted to conquer the Aztecs and take their treasure. After several failed attempts of trying to meet with the Aztec Emperor, Montezuma II, Cortes decided to march to Tenochtitlan. Cortes gathered several hundred men and began his journey to the Aztec Capital. On the way, Cortes made alliances with several tribes that didn’t like their Aztec rulers. Cortes finally reached his destination of Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519 and was greeted by Montezuma. The Aztec Emperor gave Cortes and his men gifts, because he thought this would stop Cortes from trying to take over the capital. Montezuma was wrong. Montezuma allowed Cortes and his army to stay in Tenochtitlan for several days. On the fifth day, Cortes and Montezuma had a dispute. They both decided Montezuma should stay with the Spaniards until the matter was resolved. Several months later, a fleet of fourteen hundred soldiers arrived at San

For example, Hernan Cortes, launched his mission to the powerful Aztec Empire which ultimately resulted in its destruction, with the killing of many Native people. Cortes initially had no plans of attacking the Aztec Empire. He arrived in the Americas as a soldier on an expedition to explore Cuba with Diego Velasquez in 1511. After disobeying orders from Velasquez, Cortes travelled to Mexico with 500 men and 11 ships, arriving there in 1519. Cortes’ first attempt at capturing Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, failed when Velasquez sent troops to Mexico to capture Cortes and his men and force them to return to his army. Although he was heavily outnumbered, Cortes defeated Velasquez’s army, and moved on to Tenochtitlan once more. This time, he was successful in his attack, as he captured the capital, and killed the ruler of the Aztecs, Montezuma. However, with Cortes conquering the empire, many innocent lives were taken. Bartolome de las Casas, a famous Spanish priest who witnessed the Spanish cruelty, said that “We can estimate very surely and truthfully that in the forty years that have passed, with the infernal actions of the Christians, there have been unjustly slain more than twelve million men, women, and children” (Walbert. No Date). De las Casas goes on to say that “Their reason for killing and destroying such an

His main objective was achieving power to allow him to get more gold. He started by murdering the Aztecs hoping to be honored in Spain for protecting the Spaniards. However, he didn’t follow the teachings of Christianity that were mentioned by Charles V which were “It may be accomplished with no offence to God, without death nor robbery of said Indians and without enslaving them, so that the desire to spread our faith among them be achieved without grieving our consciences.” This quotation shows that the guidelines are clear about hoe the Native Americans are supposed to be treated. His actions made it clear to the jury that he violated the teachings of Christianity and the commands of the Holy Roman Emperor. According to the evidence provided from King Charles V, “It was never the policy of the Spanish crown to entrust the government of dependencies to their discoverers or conquerors, and when powerful friends at Court sought in 1529 to prevail upon Charles the Fifth to grant Cortes supreme power under the crown in Mexico, His Majesty was not to be persuaded secondary.” This testimony proved that Cortes achieved his second which is becoming in power. However, Cortes deceived the emperor causing the emperor to make him the governor of Mexico. Based on the evidence provided, Cortes achieved his second selfish goal which was becoming in power. He achieved both of the goals mentioned above while killing the

Cortes then returns to Tenochtitlan and try’s to obligate the Montezuma send Aztec warriors to attack the troops that were coming to capture him. But Montezuma had a stone drop on his head in which he died from. At this stage Cortes was in huge disperse and is trying to avoid any Spanish troops. And on 1521 Cortes returns to Tenochtitlan after three month voyage to get there. Cortes then secured power in Mexico and caused cruelties to the majority of the population which led to many deaths. Cortes then realize that Spain is no longer angry with him and in 1523 he becomes governor and captain general of Spain. Although in 1528 Spain feared that Cortes had too much power so the king reinstated him to only captain general. Cortes then decides to go back to Mexico of course, this time fully monitored found nothing. And then constantly still looking for riches, he looked that all central and Latin America, Atlantic to Pacific to find nothing. Only to name and discover California.

A note-worthy Spanish conquistador known as Hernan Cortes, was a well-off, ambitious young man. “On February 18, 1519, Cortes set sail from Cuba with 500 men and 11 ships” (Miller, Amy 2001) in search of gold. The voyage led Cortes into MesoAmerica, the former Mexico. Once the ship docked in Mexico, Cortes was greeted by Moctezuma. Moctezuma was the Aztecs leader.

Cortés was also interested in conquering the land for his mother country and making a name for himself as a young explorer. Like any explorer Hernan was both ambitious and greedy.

governor of the new world. This man was responsible for many unnecessarily brutal clashes, which brought down the civilization known as the Aztec empire. While some scholars think that Cortes is a heroic figure, he took away lives for his own monetary and political gain; this is an unjustified crime even by the standards of his time. Disobeying his superior Velasquez, Cortes set off as Capitan of an expedition to colonize the interior of Mexico. At the time, the emperor Montezuma presided over the Aztec empire, a religious civilization that was

Bernal Diaz came from a noble Spanish family, who had served the king and queen of Spain for a long time. He felt that the previous stories of the conquest of the Aztec Empire were missing some real elements, and him not having any wealth or descendants, felt the need to leave a legacy on the heroism of the Spanish conquerors. He claims that he is not a scholar and does not want to twist the facts in any way, but rather describe in detail the conquest. From the description of the architecture of buildings, the looks of the people, market square, the cities, to description of religion, games, clothing, culture, respect and emotional characteristics, Diaz encloses the natives. He never claims they have bad intentions, however, just like any

There are three points Todorov makes as to why Cortes managed the overflow despite these issues, they are Montezuma’s hesitation, internal divisions among the Mexicans and Spanish superiority of weapons (Todorov, 1984, pg 61). Though Todorov asserts that these factors are important, he identifies them as simply a common basis, and only takes one reason literally for the reason of defeat which is the Mexica account of loss of communication (Todorov, pg

In general, Montezuma and Atahualpa’s views and experiences were extremely different. Montezuma in captivity did not think like Atahualpa did and manage to save himself. Atahualpa was clever into thinking of his plan to pay the ransom to the Spanish. Though it did not go as planned, it still saved him from captivity temporarily. However, when Montezuma was captured he did not act and had to be forced to watch his men being burned. If he acted like Atahualpa did, he possibly could have been spared. Likewise, their attitudes in captivity also differ because, when they were, both captured they spent their time differently. Even though Diaz’s language and attitude to Montezuma’s capture suggest that he was comfortable and enjoyed his captivity, we can’t ignore the fact Montezuma was emotionally tortured into seeing his men die in front of his eyes. The treatment of Montezuma differs to Atahualpa’s because he had time to figure out his plan and he is allowed to talk to his men in order to get supplies to build the “house of jewels and gold.” The contrasts between these two texts are also apparent when we look at the role of the