Aztecs 5
The Spaniard and Aztec civilizations were two completely different worlds whose fated encounter caused some surprising reactions from both parties. Neither of these nations knew exactly what to expect or how to react to each other's behaviors. Differences in religion, customs and weaponry became the deciding factors of who would be the dominant aggressor in these encounters. Even though both parties were unsure of what to expect, the Spaniards had already set a goal for themselves before they set foot in Mexico. They wanted to conquer the other nation and exploit them for anything of value. The climax of the Aztec Empire and the conquistadors occurred when Motecuhzoma and Cortes met face to face for the first time. The Spaniards as well as the Aztecs had no clue what to expect. Motecuhzoma told Cortes, "Our lord, you are weary. The journey has tired you, but now you have arrived on earth... to sit on your throne, under its canopy." This was due to the fact that the Aztec religion told of a god, Quetzalcoatl, who would come from the heavens and take his place as ruler of the Aztec Empire. Thus Motecuhzoma showered the Spaniards with many fine gifts. Unlike the Spaniards believed, these
The Spaniards knew that they could not take on the whole Aztec Empire since they were so many compared to the number of conquistadors. They decided to take Motecuhzoma prisoner and keep him hostage in order to control the Aztecs. These people did not know what was going on. As it says on page sixty-five, many ran away and went into hiding. The Spaniards already knew that their weapons caused much confusion and struck some fear in these native people, so they fired one of their canons and people ran and fled. They used weapons unknown to them which gave the Spanish a slight advantage by method of intimidation so the Aztecs would not try anything. The Spaniards did not immediately begin to attack the Aztecs yet because they knew they could be crushed because of the immense size of their army. There were many minor misinterpretations due to the differences in the two cultures that happened to give the Spanish the upper hand. The Aztecs were not a helpless group of people like I had thought before I had read this book. The Spanish account of the conquest of Mexico portrays Motecuhzoma as one who completely surrenders to them out of fear rather than a misconception of culture. It also portrays the natives as a helpless group of people who just constantly are slaughtered by the superiority of the Spanish and it seems to exclude the losses the Spanish had while fighting these natives. This is an example of how truth can be distorted if one only listens to one side of an argument. As a basic rule, one should always look at both sides of a story in order to have a more educated opinion on that matter. fine gifts were not really a sign of Aztec submission but rather as a sign of wealth and power. In order to give proper respect to th
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Approximate Word count = 1182
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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