broken spears

A detailed Summary of broken spears

Around 1519, a Spaniard by the name of Hernan Cortes sailed to what we now know as modern day Mexico. Diego Velazques, governor of Cuba, instructed Cortes to make contact with the New World. What was supposed to be an innocent journey of exploration and trading, became a horrific genocide of the Aztecs of the New World. Cortes was a violent, manipulative, and a greedy man.

To give you an idea of the violence Cortes and his men were capable of committing, I would like to relate a passage of a Nahautl account, from the book by Miguel Leon-Portilla, "Broken Spears":

They ran in among the dancers, forcing their way to where the drums played. They attacked the man who was drumming and cut off his arms. Then they cut off his head, and it rolled across the floor. They attacked all the celebrants, stabbing them, spearing them, striking them with their swords. They attacked some of the from behind, and these fell instantly to the ground with their entrails hanging out. Others they beheaded: they cut off their heads, or split their heads to pieces. They struck others in the shoulders, and their arms were torn from their bodies. They wounded some in the thigh and some in the calf. They slashed others in the abdomen, and thei

Cortes came to the New World with such few men, and such little resources. He was able to gain thousands of allies, and deceive thousands of men. He conquered one of the largest empires within a 2 year time period. Although I am not fond of Cortes' character, and I am disgusted by the mistreatment of the Aztecs people, I must admit I admire Cortes as a great military leader.

r entrails all spilled to the ground. Some attempted to run away but their intestines dragged as they ran; they seemed to tangle their feet in their own entrails. (xxvi)

The previous passage took place during the Fiesta of Toxcatl. Although Cortes was not present at this time, I believe the actions of his men were a direct reflection of Cortes' thirst for violence. I also came across different parts in the book where it described how Cortes and the Spaniards would hang, torture, and feed people to their dogs. Cortes was also involved in the killing of unarmed people in Cholula. Cortes would use any means necessary to conquer the Aztecs and rob them of their gold. Cortes most likely was a violent man due to the fact that he came from a greco-roman influenced society that was violent by nature. An example of the violence in this society was the type of sports and entertainment they used to enjoy, such as human and animal fighting. Most of the time the loser of the fight would pay

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Approximate Word count = 917
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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broken spears

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