Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro has invaded the Inca Empire in search of riches. The Spanish explorer had captured Atahualpa in Cajamarca and forced him to order his generals to back down by threatening to kill him if he did not. Pizarro held Atahualpa for a ransom of gold and silver. According to the Spanish envoy's demands, Atahualpa offered to fill a large room with gold and promised the Spanish twice that amount in silver. Pizarro ostensibly accepted this offer and allowed the gold to pile up, but he had no intention of releasing Atahualpa. He needed his influence over his generals and the people in order to maintain the peace. The question eventually came up of what to do with Atahualpa; both Pizarro and Soto were against killing him,
In Cholas and Pishtacos: Stories of Race and Sex in the Andes, Mary Weismantel provides an extensive, detailed understanding of cholas and pishtacos in the Andes. Through further analysis, Weismantel distinguishes the main difference between the two stories: the pishtaco is only but a figment of the Andean’s imagination, and the chola is an urban Indian women working in the city. The details about the pishtacos and the cholas will be carefully described with the symbolism of each figure. Secondly, this paper will contrast and compare the two figure’s roles and characteristics regarding sex and race. Finally, the changes of the cholas and pishtacos due to colonial enterprise will be discussed, also in terms of race and sex within the Andes. The estrangement of the cholas and pishtacos creates an uncanniness feeling for others within the Andean community.
... will”, which gives Cortes all the power of the kingdom. Plus, Moctezuma is willing to give all the gold to Cortes without interfer. After all the lecture, Moctezuma take off, Cortes and his soldiers rest. All this was recorded during the presence of the great Moctezuma and the conquistador Hernan cortes, which later on would conquer Aztec’s empire, a thing that Moctezuma was afraid.
Spain, as one of the most powerful nations in the old world, had a great influence on many events in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Spanish also had an influence on many other empires/nations' fate. One of the empires that suffered a grave fate at the hands of the Spanish was the Aztec empire. The Aztec empire was not the oldest Mesoamerican empire and it was formed from an agreement between three city-states. The Aztec's class system had the emperor on top, then the priests, and everyone else below them. The priests were responsible for keeping the gods happy. The sacrifice of goods and people was a commonplace in the Aztec culture, and it was often the goods/people of other nations that were taken for sacrifices. As one can imagine,
The history of the Canadians and the Aztecs are really indistinguishable. Both of them were the original inhabitants of their own land. To see the comparison between the Aztecs and Canada’s indigenous people let’s track back in Canadian history. This will also make it a bit easier to see which inhabitants struggled the most. Finally, we will also be able to compare and contrast between the two indigenous people.
The following Essay must be a minimum of 5 paragraphs of 10-12 sentences each (a sentence is 10 words or more) .
Some perceive to say that Las Casas never really understood the Indigenous people since he was still trying to convert them to Catholicism and ultimately a new Spanish culture. In doing this some historians argue that he simply conned the Indigenous people into supporting him by offering protection and hope for the future. Some also criticize that Las Casas had no idea what was actually going on in Latin America since he was constantly traveling back and forth to Spain debating many philosophers almost. Overall he was in the New World for very small periods of time, however they still continued to call him the leader of the Indians (Hidalgo). After taking all of these different views into account, it is still obvious that without Las Casas the Indigenous people of the Americas would have been treated much more severely. He worked hard to get many laws passed in their favor and ultimately devoted most of his life for them. These critical opinions of Las Casa 's ways may be accurate but should not reflect the overall image people have of him
The Maya and Aztec civilizations were both indigenous people that flourished in Mesoamerica during different periods of time. Maya 's classic period is dated from 250 to 900 AD, which was considered to be the peak of their civilization. They covered much of the Yucatan Peninsula and were centered in what is now known as Guatemala. The Aztecs dominated from 1325 AD to 1521 AD, in what is now modern day Mexico. Although they shared cultural similarities such as their social structure, they also had their differences in military and religious rituals.
Perhaps the most significant comparisons were the indirect ones. Las Casas asks the Spanish if they would allow the Romans, who called Spaniards barbaric, to divide their country as a promise for the deaths of many men and women. This is what Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador, did to the Native Americans only a few decades before. He promised surrounding tribes the termination of the Aztec people in order to gain their partnership for his invasion (Tindall and Shi 18). Las Casas proceeds by asking the Spanish if they would allow the Romans to “strip [Spanish] rulers of their authority and consigned all [Spaniards]... especially in searching for gold and silver” (4). Similarly, this is what many conquistadors, including Cortés, did to the Indians. Cortés captured the Aztec emperor, Montezuma II, forcing him to enslave many of his own people to mine for gold (Tindall and Shi 18). While he was far from alone in the enslavement of Native Americans, Cortés’ brutal invasion and treatment of the Indians caused some Europeans, like Las Casas, to question the actions of many
The arguments presented by Las Casas is in defense of the natives stating that if he can convince the king of the wrongful doings of the Spaniards that they would pay for what they've done. The doings of the Spaniards was a shock to Las Casas making him want to spend as long as he could defending them. In the great kingdom and provinces of Peru, Las Casas states "the way the Spanish have behaved has been an offence to God and a disservice to the Crown; the Treasury has been defrauded and, in my opinion, it will be long and a costly business to recover for the Crown this territory which could easily have provided sufficient food to support the entire population of Spain." Just a short example of how Las Casas feels about how the natives are being treated and how he feels about the land bei...
Little is known about Pedro de Cieza de Leon’s youth. Historians have discovered that Pedro de Cieza de Leon was a Spaniard, a conquistador, and a writer of Peru’s history. Pedro de Cieza de Leon was not well educated and had only the most basic education from his local school parish (Atlantis). Although he did not have a superior education, his four part book is reliable because he wrote about what he observed as a conquistador. This document is full of interesting information for the reader to discover the Inca’s way of living.
In the first part of the document, Cortés and his men spend their time at Montezuma's palaces. Seeing the extravagant wealth of the Aztec king, Cortés begins his seduction (all the while knowing that Montezuma believes that he may be the fulfillment of a prophecy). He embraced Montezuma with the greatest reverence and "…told him that now his heart rejoiced at having seen such a great Prince, and that he took it as a great honour that he had come in person to meet him and had frequently shown him such favor" (World History: Castillo, 247). Cortés and his men are brought into the house of Montezuma and all of his riches are now at their disposal to observe and share in. Montezuma tells Cortés: "Malinche you and your brethren are in your own house…" (World History: Castillo, 247). The wealth of Montezuma is magnificent. Each soldier is given tw...
One of the principle themes in the Aztec downfall was the immense greed of the Europeans. The principle goal of every major faction in Europe was to gain power and wealth it didn’t matter from what source. Everyone from popes and kings to the lowly soldier envisioned rivers of gold and fame. Ever since they had boats Europeans have been looking for lucrative trade routes and other ways to turn a profit. The ruling monarchs of these countries contributed a great deal to this. They saw vast profits from these ventures through taxes and the customary “ Royal Fifth” which was a fifth of all profits would go straight to the King and/or Queen. Also royalty or other nobility within the country personally funded a large majority of explorations. Trading and exploration companies just helped push the trend further and made the exploitation of newly discovered lands big business. While greed was defiantly a starting point for Cortez’s expedition, it was his greed while in Central Mexico that changed the tide of history. Cortez’s first encounters with the natives in Central...
Huayna Capac made sure that there was no such question over who had unreserved control nor allow his future heir to be afflicted with opposition to his legitimacy. Like all Incan Emperors, after first coming into power, each went on an expedition around his kingdom and its peripheries, in its entirety, to understand exactly where his boundaries are. After his excursion, he continued the expansion that his father began, and did so through a 5 step c...
During 1563, Fray Pedro De Feria wrote a letter from Mexico City to the King of Spain about Paquiquineo; a native boy who was kidnapped and left to De Feria keeping. The letter explains what De Feria thought about while Paquiquineo came into his care.
La carta de Pedro de Valdivia a Hernando Pizarro es una descripción, posterior a sutil reproche que le hace por no haberle escrito desde hace ya un año y medio, de cómo fue enviado a conquistar nuevas tierras en nombre de la corona, tiene un poco de egocentrismo, puesto que en casi toda las carta, describe aspectos propios, del cómo, por qué y bajo qué circunstancias fue designado con la misión de conquistar y colonizar las tierras que Almagro, en una expedición anterior, llamo Chile y de cómo a pesar de la negativa de muchos, él había preferido servir a la corona española: (…) “me envió con sus provisiones, por su teniente general para que la poblase y sustentase y descubriese otra y otras adelante en su nombre de S.M. junto con el deseo que yo tenía de servir a su cesaría persona, lo aceté [acepté] contrariándomelo mis amigos” (…)