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Colonization of native Americans
Aztec, Inca, Maya quiz
The European encounter with the new world
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Recommended: Colonization of native Americans
Would doing wrong to obtain something good for you and others still act as a good deed? This became a controversial subject when it came to discussing the Age of Exploration. The Age of Exploration was a group of voyages that took place during the 1400’s-1600’s, in which Europeans explored the Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. Their main reasons for exploration were, religious freedom from the protestant reformation, goods, better trade routes, gold, and land. Goods such as spices prevented meat from spoiling *1. Unfortunately spices were only found in Asia, and it was difficult to obtain spices from Asia to Europe over land, so they became very expensive. Due to this several European rulers decided to find a new sea route, knowing that if their …show more content…
Many opinions differentiate as to wether or not explorers did more harm than good. The various explorers conquered new lands, gained wealth, traded new foods and spices , and spread christianity. All of these became positive factors for those countries receiving the wealth, land, and spices. Yet what they did to conquer these lands forms the question of wether they did more harm than good. How would you feel if a stranger invaded your home, took all your valuable possessions, threw you and your family on some ship as cargo and abused them? This was reality for the natives as not only did these explorers put the natives who's land they took in crammed ships, they put them through countless amounts of unnecessary pain. Once conquering new lands, they instantly sold blacks into slavery. “Many blacks lost their lives after being shipped across the world on the Middle Passage”*2. The middle …show more content…
“Small pox ended up killing 90% of all natives in the new world over years since the Europeans arrived.”*6 When praising the Age of Exploration for new culture, land, and crops, many seem to forget all about the Aztecs, the Maya, and the Inca. The Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas were the three most dominant and advanced civilizations that developed in the Americas prior to the arrival of the Europeans. The Aztec Empire was located in central Mexico, and ruled much of the region from the 1400s until 1519, when the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, arrived in Mexico, and by 1521 had conquered the Aztecs for Spain. “The Maya civilization began as early as 2000 BC and continued to have a strong presence in Mesoamerica for over 3000 years until the Spanish arrived in 1519 AD.”*7 The Mayans were the only American civilization to develop an advanced written language. The Inca Empire was centered in Peru, and ruled over much of the west coast of South America from the 1400s to the time of Francisco Pizarro’s arrival in 1532. “This wide ranging empire did not have the wheel, iron tools, or a writing system, but its complex government and system of roads created a society where everyone had a job, a home, and something to eat.” *7 The Inca were conquered by the conquistador Francisco
From the moment Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico and began his campaign against the Aztec empire, the people of the new world were doomed to be conquered by both technological and biological means. Smallpox, a disease that had never been experienced in America before the arrival of the Europeans devastated large scale native populations. The abandonment of the famous lost city of Machu Picchu stands as a famous example of the devastation of native populations.
The Aztec Empire was the most powerful Mesoamerican kingdom of all time. They dominated the valley of Mexico in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Aztecs were an advanced and successful civilization that built beautiful, sophisticated cities, temples, and pyramids. They also created a culture full of creativity with mythological and religious traditions. Aztecs lead a structured and evocative life that let their society to become a very superior civilization. The Aztec’s communication skills were very well developed for their time; through religious beliefs, government involvement, and family life they lived a full and productive life. Until in 1519 when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, and defeated the Aztecs.
The documentary of Guns Germs And Steel – Conquest tells the history of the Spanish conquistadors and the empire of the Inca. It begins in 1532 when Francisco Pizarro, the general of a group of 168 Spanish soldiers reaches the new world and comes in contact with a tribe. The tribe today is known as the Inca, they were an empire who were located in modern day Peru who had never seen a horse, and that taught the Spanish were gods. They had never seen these animals according to Jared Diamond because of Geography, he states in (8:21) of the video of a land known as the Fertile Crescent located in a part of the middle east that spread crops and animals all along long Eurasia, but not all the way to South America. They explain how Atahualpa the Inca emperor, had a plan to set a trap for the Spaniards at Cajamarca but what he didn’t realize is that the soldiers had the best weapons in the world. This was his demise, on November 15th, 1532 not knowing what writing was Atahualpa took the bible of the Spanish and believed it had no power. The Spanish retaliated by killing 7,000 Incas with a surprise attack strategy and kidnapping the Emperor and
This reading was an excellent collection of articles, because it presented seven different views of the Incan empire. It does a good job of trying to idealize the Incas, justify their conquest by the Spanish, and label their government using modern terms. In retrospect, it is easy for us to look back at history and study it, but it is always a necessity to learn from what we study. If there is one thing to learn from the European conquest of the America's, it is that destroying a race of beings and their culture is an injustice to the conquered, and the conquerors.
Before the Europeans reached meso-america, there were three great empires. They are the Mayans, the Aztecs, and the Incas. These early civilizations took up most of Central America and part of South America. Although, through the perspective of the Europeans the meso-americans were described as weak and uncivilized because of their appearance compared to them. However, the meso-americans were advanced in their own ways such as adapting to their geography, astronomy, and agriculture.
During the Renaissance, a period where there was a burst of creativity in art and writing, Europeans were encouraged to endeavour on new adventures of curiosity. The Age of Exploration started in the 15th century and continued into the 17th century. The three main reasons that prompted Europeans to explore were god, glory, and gold. Europeans hoped to find new sources of gold and silver in unclaimed lands. The Muslims and Italians controlled the trade routes which linked the East and West. By controlling these trade routes they were able to charge high prices and make great profits. Thus, the Europeans wanted a new sea route to Asia to avoid losing profits and to gain wealth. Henry the Navigator was a Portuguese prince who was a supporter of
We all think about how Christopher Columbus or Native Americans discovered the Americas long back ago. People have different opinions but what people don’t really think about is, “What lead them or caused them to discover this land?” Well that’s simple…The three G’s. Gold, god, and glory! They would explore and link Europe to other places to get a better trade system and become wealthier. Also, we all know that with great discoveries, come great glory.
Those two Native groups were some of the most powerful of their time. No other Native group could defeat them, but with the Europeans technology and the secret weapon of disease, they were able to weaken and take down both tribes. The Aztecs and Incans were made extremely weak and vulnerable when the small pox epidemic hit them, that they could defend as well as they would have otherwise. The Europeans didn’t intentionally bring small pox to the New World with them, but it did make conquering the Natives easier for it basically killed all of
The Aztec Empire was the largest civilization of the Americas in the early 16th century until Spanish conquistadors arrived in the New World. A motley crew of men from Spain, they were led by Hernan Cortes who intended to expand lands for the Spanish monarch and through many factors he was able to do just that. The three main factors that contributed to the fall of Tenochtitlan by the hands of Spanish conquistadors were significance of native allies, difference in battle tactics among the natives and conquistadors, and widespread disease. Another chapter in the Spanish colonization of the Americas, this one stands out in particular due to its unorthodox sequence of events that led a small group of men to defeating an entire empire in a few short years.
The Spanish were the first people to encounter the Native Americans. Throughout the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish conquered Central and portions of North America. The Spanish chose a more violent style. They pushed their way into the Americas, and would kill, enslave, or change the cultural views of any Native American that stood in their way. When Hernando Cortes led an army into the American mainland, Tabasco, a strong Aztec empire, resisted the Spanish, but their rifles defeated the Aztecs. In 1520, the Aztec finally rebelled against the Spaniards’
The Aztecs were isolated from the world until they fell to the Spanish which highlights that they didn’t have any of the inventions and innovations that the rest of the world experienced
First of all it is important to examine how many African slaves were brought to the New World. The Middle Passage is infamous route of the ships that carried slaves to the Americas. After the arrival to the New World, the slaves were sold or exchanged for the valuable goods. The term Middle Passage might sound somewhat romantic, but in reality it stands as a one of the most terrible events in history. The Middle Passage is the passage of bonded slaves from West Africa to the Americas. In the beginning, there was a trade between Europeans and African leaders who sold their enemies and disabled people in exchange for unique gifts such as guns, tobacco, iron bars and etc. But at the later stages of slavery, Europeans often kidnapped Africans at the costal area of Western Africa and then sent to ships that sailed them to the New World where this new free work force was needed to help stabilize the new nation.
The four civilizations, the Olmec, the Maya, the Aztecs, and the Inca were around many years ago. Life in Latin America prior to the European contact indicated a contradiction because each of these four civilizations were civilized and educated, yet they were violent at the same time.
The Age of Exploration clearly changed the world forever. The discovery of “The New World”, along with priceless trade routes has greatly impacted the world till this day. The men who are responsible for these magnificent discoveries certainly deserve much credit, but are they really the heroes we make them out to be? Although it does not completely diminish their notoriety, many of the individuals who were responsible for these discoveries had vicious intentions and occasionally even acted upon them. This is why there is such a divided view on the legacy of these explorers.
The Spanish peoples presented an advantage of experience in cultivation of agriculture, domestication of animals and technology efficient ships and weapons. Diamond also speaks of the various germs and sicknesses that were consistently exposed to the Spanish, which allowed them to form an immunity to diseases not yet encountered by the Inca (Diamond, 1999). These advantages, both environmental and socio-economic, placed the Spanish at an advantage resulting in a dominant force in history, one that would eventually the Incan Empire.