Seven Myths of Spanish Conquest Book review Anais Nin once said that “we write to taste life twice: in the moment and in retrospection.” In his book, Seven Myths of Spanish Conquest, Matthew Restall tries to change our perception of the past in other to open our eyes to what life was really like during the colonial period. As Restall puts it, the main propose of the book is to “illustrate the degree to which the Conquest was a far more complex and protracted affair” (p.154) than what was supposed in the latters and chronicles left by the conquistadores. Each one of Restall’s chapters examines one of seven myths regarding the mystery behind the conquest. By doing so, Matthew Restall forces us to look back at the Spanish conquest and question …show more content…
He brings out the idea that past Historians saw the action of a few men, as heroic act. In other to convey his point of view, Restall brings up examples of theses exceptional man. The first person he mentions is Christopher Columbus. According to him Columbus was not exceptional or unique, he was just at the right place at the right time. As Restall puts it, the most exceptional thing about Columbus’ geographical vision was that it was wrong.” (p.27). Restall explains that Columbus based his ideas on patterns visualized by previous Portuguese Geographer. Columbus initially set out to find a shorter route to India when he stumbled upon a new land. He also brings up Cortes, who is known for the probonza de merito, which is a system that would give rewards to conquistadores for their great accomplishments. With this example, Restall shows that by that the conquistadores had encouragement to omit the negatives and enhance the positive aspects of their daily lives. With this entire different example, Restall show that exaggeration concealed the conquistadores failures making them to be …show more content…
In this chapter, he is bringing light to our current vision that the conquistadores were hand picked by the king in other to serve a greater propose. According to Restall the “Army” we know today was not created until the late 17th century. Through out this paragraph, Restall shows, that this myth was also brought to life trough narratives and letters. Many, if not all were regular men, without military experience. He uses of a historical time line to prove that it was not until after the military revolution that the Spanish started speaking of conquistadores as solders. In this chapter, Restall mentioned that the conquistadores were merchants, artisans and farmers that saw in the new world a chance to change their life and the way they live. Most of them were not directed or funded by the
Admittedly, these men are responsible for much of the exploration of the America’s, but to focus on so few of the explorers ignores how reactive their actions were, and the larger narrative of the world at that time (4). For example, Columbus is praised and idolized for discovering the America’s, however it was only by luck that he arrived on those shores. Moreover, there were many other explorers at the time who could have reached the America’s if Columbus had not done so first (9). Another man who is seen as the key figure in the actual Conquest is Cortes. Cortes’ campaign in the America’s is commonly viewed as the standard to strive for, yet it is also the exception to a typical conquest (19). He is viewed as some above-it-all conquistador idol, when in all actuality he merely followed the standard protocol of the Conquest (19). This does not mean that Cortes’ actions were any less inspirational, merely that they were not uncharacteristic acts that he created (19). Both Columbus and Cortes were merely following standard procedure of the time, yet they are written about as if they were heroes of their time, bravely going and doing what none had done before. And in some sense, they were the first to discover and conquer, but it is foolish to assume that just because they were the first to be in the America’s
In this section his initial thoughts show through. “But losers matter, especially in the history of early America.” Many different regions of early America are examined in their years of early conquest when native populations started their descent. The biggest theme throughout the section is the effect that conquistadors and explorers had on the native population in their search for gold and glory. The information that is given is not typical of what is learned of early America, but tries to really focus on the most important figures of the time and there voyages. For example, when talking about the Plains nations and there explorers, Coronado and De Soto a tattooed woman woman is brought up who had been captured by both explorers at different times and different places, but little is known about her. “Of the tattooed woman who witnessed the two greatest expeditions of conquest in North America, and became captive to both, nothing more is known.” This point captures the main idea of the theme and what many know of this time. Horwitz aims to point out the important facts, not just the well known
Francisco traveled to New Spain in 1535. He got a job working for the government. Within three years of his arrival, he had put down a slave rebellion, become governor of Nueva Galicia, and had married Dona Beatriz, the daughter of the colonial treasurer. But he wanted more. He set out, convinced by the rumors of cities of gold, but what he found wasn’t what he was looking for.
This assignment examines the document entitled “Bartolomé de las Casas, from Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies.” Bartolomé de las Casas, who spent most of his time in the New World protecting the native people that lived there, authored the document in 1542. In this document Bartolome de Las Casas gives a detailed but horrific account of the atrocious behavior of the spaniards against the native people of the indies.He vividly describes the brutality brought on the natives by europeans all in the name of proclaiming and spreading Christianity.This document was originally intended for Charles I of Spain and one
This text was created to bring to light the hardship Natives went through during the Age of Exploration. The populous, who only hear rumors and short stories from all territories west of the Atlantic Ocean, cannot grasp the tough and difficult task that is at hand in the Americas. From these short blurbs of what is said about the west, they make inferences of what it is like, and how it is possible for another land mass to be unknown to many for so long. But for those who do know what is past the Atlantic, know that this Agenda of the King and Queen must be fulfilled and to do so would be to claim land for Spain for it to be settled upon. On top of that is to further collect the riches of the Americas to benefit Spain in the conquest of the Americas.
Another way the author supports his thesis are his descriptions of the reactions made by the Europeans who arrived at the immense and powerful society that already existed in the Americas. A distinct example is portrayed when describing the Spaniards arrival in Tenochtitlan: “Tenochtitlan dazzled its invaders-it was bigger than Paris, Europe’s greatest metropolis. The Spaniards gawped like yokels at the wide streets, ornately carved buildings, and markets bright with goods from hundreds
Bartolomé de Las Casas begins by providing a vivid description of each land being invaded by the Europeans and the type of peopl...
The Dutch seaborne empire (London, 1965) Canny, Nicholas: The Oxford History of the British Empire,vol I, TheOrigins of the Empire (New York 1998) Curtin, Philip D: The rise and fall of the plantation complex:essays in Atlantic history (Cambridge, 1990). Dunn, Richard S: Sugar and Slaves (North Carolina,1973) Haring, C.H: The Spanish Empire in America(New York, 1947) Hemming, John: Red gold: the conquest of the Brazilian Indians (Southampton 1978) Hobbhouse, Henry: Seeds of Change: Five plants that transformed mankind (1985) Mattoso, Katia M de Queiros: To be a slave in Brazil 1550-1888 (New Jersey, 1986) Mintz, Sidney W: Sweetness and Power (New York 1985) Winn, Peter: Americas:The changing face of Latin America and the Caribbean (California, 1999)
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.
In the first section, Monroy describes the Indian and the Iberian cultures and illustrates the role each played during missionization, as the Indians adapted ?to the demands of Iberian imperialism.?(5) He stresses the differen...
“The Conquest of New Spain” is the first hand account of Bernal Diaz (translated by J.M. Cohen) who writes about his personal accounts of the conquest of Mexico by himself and other conquistadors beginning in 1517. Unlike other authors who wrote about their first hand accounts, Diaz offers a more positive outlook of the conquest and the conquistadors motives as they moved through mainland Mexico. The beginning chapters go into detail about the expeditions of some Spanish conquistadors such as Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de Grijalva and Hernando Cotes. This book, though, focuses mainly on Diaz’s travels with Hernando Cortes. Bernal Diaz’s uses the idea of the “Just War Theory” as his argument for why the conquests were justifiable
The Conquest of New Spain Cortés came not to the New World to conquer by force, but by manipulation. Bernal Daz del Castillo, in the "Conquest of New Spain," describes how Cortés and his soldiers manipulated the Aztec people and their king Montezuma from the time they traveled from Iztapalaopa to the time when Montezuma took Cortés to the top of the great Cue and showed him the whole of Mexico and its countryside, and the three causeways which led into Mexico. Castillo's purpose for recording the mission was to keep an account of the wealth of Montezuma and Mexico, the traditions, and the economic potential that could benefit Cortés' upcoming conquest. However, through these recordings, we are able to see and understand Cortés' strategy in making Mexico "New Spain." He came as a wolf in sheep's clothing and manipulated Montezuma through his apparent innocence.
In schools, students are being taught wrong information. “Our gods were vanquished after the fall of Tenochtitlan as were our traditions. Our warriors and nobles were eradicated, our children starved and our women ravished by the white conquerors and their allies.” (157). In books across America, the Spaniards were said to be good people, but the way that Huitzitzilin described what happened, shows the complete opposite of how the Spaniards actually were.
Rock, D. (1987). Argentina, 1516-1987: From Spanish Colonization to Alphonsín. Berkley: University of California Press.
From Spain's early arrival in the Caribbean through their establishment of the Spanish empire indigenous people were exploited through cheap, slave like labor. One of the most incredible subjects raised by the documents presented in Colonial Spanish America is the topic of Labor Systems that were imposed on the indigenous people. Spain tried to excuse this exploitation by claiming to save these indigenous people by teaching them the ways of Christ but many of the Articles in Colonial Spanish America, Struggle & Survival, and The Limits of Racial Domination prove otherwise. Through letters, personal stories, and other documents these books present accounts that tell about the labor system used in this area. They tell of the Spanish labor systems such as the encomiendos and later rapartamientos and how these operations were run.