Victors and Vanquished The history of the Western hemisphere is full of war and conquest. One of the most significant and defining of those conquests is the downfall of the Mexica/Aztec Empire. While there are many other events to choose from‚ this one stands out since it was one over one of the largest empires in Central America. It is also important to look at because of the immense cultural impact it had. The story of this takeover reads like a movie script‚ a small band of Spaniards single
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The Victors and Vanquished is a book that was edited by Stuart B. Schwartz in the year 2000. From reading the acknowledgements I gathered that Schwartz preparation with the book involved the help of his colleagues too. He even attended Yale University as a Professor and gave a seminar of the conquest of Mexico. However‚ Schwartz is not a researcher in Mexican ethnohistory‚ but a man whose goal is to spread new discoveries to people who enjoy culture’s past. The document that Schwartz presented the
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The Spanish conquest of Mexico is an epic story that is understudied. The historical documents recounting the events are either written through the memory of the conquerors or the conquered‚ and as a result there is a great disparity in the facts‚ those facts changing depending on which side produced the documents. We will take a look at several of the documents published in Victors and Vanquished from both the Spanish and Nahua perspectives‚ analyzing them for bias‚ lessons learned‚ as well as the
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consider the fall of the Nahua and Inca empires an encounter of the Spanish‚ the meeting of the two cultures was a conquest because the Spanish brutally defeated and took over the indigenous cultures with the help of many advantages. There are three major factors which contributed to the successful conquest between the Spanish and the Nahuas‚ also known as the Aztecs‚ and Incas. First‚ the Spanish leaders had experience in forming alliances with indigenous people. Second‚ the Spanish had superior weaponry
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The accounts of the Spanish conquest of Mexico are often Spanish and almost always "patently self-serving" (Hassig 3). They glorify the ideals of the groups that the authors represent and emphasize the improbability of the Spanish victories. They largely ignore the Native points of view of the conquest‚ due to both a smaller number of Native accounts and due to their own motives. However‚ Hassig presents a balanced narrative of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and considers the Native perspectives
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First Book Essay-Quiz Stuart B. Schwartz‚ ed. Victors and Vanquished‚ Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico. After the massacre at Cholula‚ Cortez and the Spanish‚ whose coming had been foretold in omens‚ and their Indian allies entered the city of Tenochtitlan and were ceremoniously met my Moctezuma‚ whom after a week they imprisoned. After slaughtering celebrants at the religious festival of Huitzilopochtli in the Sacred Patio‚ the Spanish were forced out of the city by a general revolt
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February 20‚ 2012 HIST 125 Comparison of the Spanish Conquest After the Spanish Conquest‚ many written document have become used as sources that help recount major events from the past. Therefore‚ it becomes that job of historians to analyze sources and determine their accuracy and relevancy. “The Conquest of New Spain” written by Bernal Díaz and “The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico” are two sources whose themes can be compared and contrasted in order to determine their
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The Conquest of Mexico The Spaniards‚ in the conquest of the Mexican people‚ relied just as heavily on chance and luck as they did on their on their skills on diplomacy and military prowess. The sicknesses that the Spaniards brought over with them in addition to the political situation that the Mexica had established with their neighbors is what really brought about the downfall of the great Mexican civilizations. In addition to these factors there was also the fact that up to this point in history
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Spain’s Conquest of the Indian civilizations of Mexico and South America shaped their vast new world in many ways. The Spanish increased monetary gains‚ gained power and created a new type of breed shaping its vast new world empire. “Spain secured Columbus’s discoveries through the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) dividing the land with Portugal” (Spain’s main competition at the time.) (Kennedy‚ Cohen & Piehl Pg.14.) With the land secured‚ Spain gained more power through many of the lands resources such
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exploration‚ conquest‚ and colonization are part of the same narrativeone in which culture‚ science‚ religion‚ politics‚ and power are inextricably intertwined. Innovations in science and technology made long-distance travel and exploration possible. The desire of rulers for wealth and power financed conquest‚ and the desire of the Roman Catholic church for converts provided religious motivation for the subjection of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Upon reaching Central Mexico‚ Spanish explorers
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