The author argues that the Spanish were completely at fault for the total destruction of the Aztec Empire. In Broken spears‚ the author explains how many factors other than Spanish power contributed to the downfall of the Aztecs. Not only did the Spanish have many advantages over the Aztecs‚ but also they also exploited them and took advantage of the cultural difference. The main key aspects to the Spanish victory‚ is that the Spanish were viewed as gods at first because of their appearance‚ the
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The Broken Spears “The Broken Spears” is a collection of many accounts of the destruction of Mexico by Cortes and the conquistadors in their invasion. The motive behind this conquest was Cortes’ desire to bring a fortune of gold‚ spices‚ and land that can be claimed‚ back to Spain. Although these desires were admirable‚ they were sought after at the expense of the Aztecs and consequently changed an entire civilization‚ due to an initial drive for power‚ control‚ land‚ and money
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Focus Paper #1 The Broken Spears The book The Broken Spears‚ by Miguel Leon-Portilla‚ presents an account of the Conquest of Mexico from the point of view of the some of the indigenous people who survived those events. The passages used‚ written in the native language of the victims‚ provide us a brief description of the encounters with the Spaniards that were not seen in the documented history of the conquest. Native priests and wise men had documented the welcoming of Cortes and his men as
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The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico Author: Miguel León-Portilla History of the Spanish defeat of Mexico and the Aztecs has always been told in the words of the Spaniards. It has often been forgotten that with only having one impression of the events that took place during this time period‚ we can never be certain of the entire story‚ or what actually took place. For this reason‚ Miguel León-Portilla took it upon himself to further explore pre-Hispanic history and gain
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three factors contributed to the defeat of the Aztecs? Though there appear to be several factors involved in the defeat of the Aztecs‚ three stood out above the others: (1) superstition‚ (2) weapons and warring tactics‚ and (3) the introduction of new diseases. Ten years prior to the arrival of the Spaniards‚ there were eight signs or omens that appeared to predict the downfall of civilization or the end of the world. Superstition‚ omens‚ magicians‚ signs‚ etc. were a major part of the Aztec religion
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While reading “Broken Spears”‚ written by Miguel Leon-Portilla‚ I’ve had a small view of what Mexican culture was like back in those times. They are sort of different from America’s traditions and societies. Broken Spears is unlike others written about the loss of the empire because it was written from the point of the Aztecs and not the Spanish. As the book goes on‚ Miguel Leon-Portilla describes how the Spanish were successful in taking over the solid empire. The book really starts out by giving
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Information Conveyance While most of what has happened historically is clouded by speculation and wonder‚ some events have been well-documented. The Conquest of the Americas by the Spanish was an event in which many aspects were recorded‚ which has helped historians tremendously. The Broken Spears is a historical outlook on the Spanish Conquest of the Americas that includes several different texts written by many different indigenous people. Numerous texts are written in such a way that show the
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Conquest of New Spain When trying to recall a historical event‚ we try to find the most accurate and most reliable source that is available. It is important to make sure that the source is accurate because if it is not‚ the information that we share could be false. When recalling the events that happened when the Spanish and the Aztecs had an encounter‚ we look at many different sources such as excerpts‚ background information‚ and even the actual translated version of the book that Bernal Díaz
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Accounts: Broken Spears and Bernal Diaz In every historical event there tends to be conflicting sides‚ each member has their own point of view based on a plethora of statistics. These statistics include but are not limited to‚ socio-economic classes‚ race‚ geographical boundaries‚ gender‚ etc. When two cultures interact for the first time there is bound to be some discrepancies over what truly occurred. These discrepancies are portrayed quite well through Bernal Diaz’s The Conquest of New Spain and The
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The Broken Spears written by Miguel Leon-Portilla is a book that goes into depth about the conquest of Mexico starting in 1519 from an Aztec point of view. The book discusses everything in depth about what occurred during this time period of the conquest. It discusses when the Aztecs first take news of the arrival of Cortez and the Spaniards comparing it to small floating mountains off the Mexican coast‚ all the way to the revolt of the Aztec people that lead to the end of the Aztec civilization
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