After America was discovered, we all know that world's biggest empires had a colonial race, which means they went out to these new worlds and seized the native land. France, England, Portugal and Spain as the most notable forces. The famous Spanish conquistadores disembarked in Mesoamerica, the Yucatan peninsula; the home of the great Mayan civilization. These Mesoamerican civilizations – Mayas and Aztecs – made a famous drink that they used in various ways. The conquistadores took the recipe back to Europe. This drink was called “bitter water,” when translated to their native language, is pronounced Xocolatl.
Chocolate is a food in the form of a paste or solid block made from roasted and ground cacao seeds. As suspected, its name is derived
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Show MoreThe 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 handedly takes down the most powerful empire in Central America. It was an epic battle, which unfortunately led to the destruction of a magnificent culture. As in any major historical event there are many underlying themes and storylines that come together to make the event happen. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec is no different. Three major themes are seen in this struggle. One of them is the incredible advantage that the Spaniards technology gave them over the Aztecs. A second major theme is the greed that fueled the conquests in the New World. The last major theme was the effect of the political divisions and rivalries within Montezuma’s Central American Kingdom. As this historical event progressed each one of these themes began to intertwine until they became an almost unstoppable force.
World History, itself is a very well complicated topic to discuss. Many other authors have tried to condense many years of history in one book. Subjected to fail, Tom Standage’s attempt was a success. Instead of Standage trying to sum up the history, he simply based the book upon a single topic, in this case beverages.
Prior to the arrival of the whites, Native Americans experienced little to no contact with alcohol, or “firewater.” The main introduction of alcohol to Native Americans came through the fur trade. Quickly upon its initiation to Native Americans, alcohol had various social, economic, and political ramifications. [note] To form new relations with Native Americans and to continue existing ones, the consistent distribution of alcohol was established.
We may think of chocolates as God's gift to humanity as they may soothes all our problems and suffering. But, have you ever wonder that these chocolates – sweet, good and pleasurable as it may, have dark sides?.
A drug is a medicine or other substance that has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body. Many people use drugs without realizing how addictive they can become. During the 1960s and 1970s drugs had a huge impact on the people and as years went on they became more and more dangerous to the point where marijuana, and LSDs were becoming popular and the group most affected were teenagers.
The Spanish and Aztecs were both, very powerful and rich empires. They both were immensely successful. The Aztecs, originally known as the Mexica, was a group of people who lived in Tenochtitlan, now know as Mexico City. They believed that the gods controlled the world, and that they worshipped them by sacrificing. If the gods were not fed blood, the believed that the world would end. The Aztecs became one of the greatest cities in the world. On the other hand, the Spanish lived in the west of Europe, converting people to Catholicism. The Spanish wanted to explore, to conquer and by doing that, they could get rich. They were both powerful in their own areas. The Spanish soon were exploring and came across the Aztecs. The Spanish were seeking
There, he convinced a rival tribe, the Nahua of central Mexico, to join his forces against the Aztec people. When the conquistadors finally arrived at Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec empire, the Natives were convinced that he was one of their gods. Cortés abused this misbelief and used it to receive a portion of the Aztec gold. He eventually began to force the Aztecs to supply him with more riches, and the Aztecs rebelled. While the Natives successfully forced the conquistadors out of their area, many Aztecs had succumbed to the foreign diseases, such as smallpox and measles, brought over by the Spanish. Using this to their advantage, the conquistadors and the Nahua attacked the Aztecs again in 1521. Months of fighting and the final looting and destruction of Tenochtitlán forced the Aztecs to surrender. With their opponents gone, the Spanish began to carry out their plans for New Spain. To build up this colony and take the land’s resources, the conquistadors forced the natives into a system called encomienda. In this system, the Natives were forced to do physical labor for the Spanish, such as farming, ranching, and mining. In the mid-1500’s, priests pushed for the system to be abolished, which led the Spanish without the Natives’ labor and looking for a
Though, the origin of the cacao bean is indefinite, the first instant that Europeans encountered cacao beans is alleged to have been in 1502 between Christopher Columbus and the ancient Mayan civilization. Initial impressions were less than satisfactory. Christopher Columbus having believed the beans were “shriveled almonds” (Rosenblum 6), . During Hernan Cortez’s voyage to the Aztec Empire of the Americas during 1517, he was introduced to the Emperor Montezuma’s favorite drink “chocolatl”. Though, he also was not very appreciative of the drink, Cortez was fascinated with the very idea that cacao beans were used as a form of currency among the Aztec. The Spanish would pay Aztec laborers in cacao beans, as they would load their treasure ships with deposits of silver and gold. For this reason, the Spanish nicknamed the cacao bean “black gold” (Lopez 19). Still, it was Spanish monks and missionaries who recognized the value of cacao beans as a medial t...
After Hernan Cortez’s victory over the Aztecs, the Spanish expeditions focused primarily on the vast territory to their north. With legends of gold and great wealth, more and more Spanish explorers launched expeditions to what is now the American southwestern region as well as Florida. Map 1 demonstrates the exploration and colonization efforts that took place in the North America from the middle of the 16th century until 1675. It is very evident that Spanish authorities put an enormous focus on the area of present day New Mexico, which they heavily settled after Juan de Oñate’s arrival in 1598. For the settlers, the territory of New Mexico was their opportunity to gain riches, but also it put them in direct contact with the area’s native population,
The Aztec society flourished as they built a prosperous empire. At the same time the people of London were drinking polluted water from River Thames (until 1854), Tenochtitlan had a supply of fresh clean water for its residents. While chamber pots were emptied in the streets of Europe, public bathrooms were built in every neighborhood and 1,000 cleaners were employed to clean their streets. Even though many books may refer to these Native Americans as primitive or barbaric savages, we can see that even though their way of life may have been different, it was fascinating and sophisticated with much to teach us then- and now. The contributions and achievements of the Aztec people were significant in many areas and have had a great influence on American life
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.
Chocolate or cacao was first discovered by the Europeans as a New World plant, as the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. In Latin, Theobroma literally means: “food of the Gods” (Bugbee, Cacao and Chocolate: A Short History of Their Production and Use). Originally found and cultivated in Mexico, Central America and Northern South America, its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning “bitter water” (Grivetti; Howard-Yana, Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage). It was also a beverage in Mayan tradition that served a function as a ceremonial item. The cacao plant is g...
Chocolate is something that is cherished and known by everyone. There’s nothing better than enjoying a chocolate chip cookie or even just a chocolate bar after a long day. But a question remains: how is this amazing treat created? The answer is fermentation. Fermentation is a huge step in the process of creating chocolate. Without it, chocolate wouldn’t have its distinct flavor. In the paper below, we’ll take a look at how the fermentation process is initiated, what happens during the fermentation process, and how the cocoa beans are further prepared for consumption.
Chocolate is a sweet food preparation made of cacao seeds in various forms and flavors. It has large application in the food industry and can be consumed either as a final product or as a flavoring ingredient for a great variety of sweet foods. Its primary ingredient – cacao, is cultivated by many cultures in Mexico and Central America as well as in some countries in West Africa, such as Cote d’Ivoire.
Fryer, Peter, and Kerstin Pinschower. "The Material Science of Chocolate." Mrs Bulletin December 2000: 1-5.