Spanish

Introduction

Other resources:

• Aztec Life
• Mexica Culture
• Mexica Medicine
• Religion of the Modern Aztlan Movement
• Religion of the Mexica

Don Hernando Cortes, who was accompanied by six hundred Spaniards and a great many native allies, at last could see for himself the temples and palaces about which he had heard so many marvels. The Spaniards arrived from the direction of Tlalpan, to the south of the city, passing across one of the wide causeways that connected the island with the mainland. When they reached a locality known as Xoloco, they were welcomed by the last of the Motecuhzomas, who had come out to meet them in the belief that the white men must be Quetzalcoatll and other gods, returning at last from across the waters now known as the Gulf of Mexico.

Thus Cortes and his men entered the city, not only as guests, but also as gods coming home. It was the first direct encounter between one of the most extraordinary pre-Columbian cultures and the strangers who would eventually destroy it. Cortes landed on the coast at Veracruz on Good Friday, April 22, 1519; the Aztec capital surrendered to him on August 13, 1521. The events that took place between these two dates have been recounted in a number of chronicles and other writings, of which the best known are the letters Cortes wrote to King Charles V and the True History of the Conquest of Mexico by Bernal Diaz del Castillo.

These two works, along with a few others also written by Spaniards, until now have been almost the only basis on which historians have judged the conquest of one of the greatest civilizations in pre-Columbian America. But these chronicles present only one side of the story, that of the conquerors. For some reason-scorn, perhaps-historians have failed to consider that the conquered might have set down their own version in their own language. This book is the fir

Long before the Spaniards came, the Philippines was already inhabited by natives. And among the natives of the Island were the Negritos. Characteristically, the Negritoes were short and dark skinned people. They had curly hair, small nose and were thick-lipped. These natives were barely clothed as clothing for them consists of the bahag and a jacket-like upper for men. They wore neither shoes nor slippers but go about barefooted. Their women adorn themselves with ornaments while their men usually tattoo themselves.

The natives of the Island lived in small huts more popularly known as bahay kubo. These small huts were usually made of bamboo and the roofs made of nipa, resources that are readily available and abundant in the Philippines. For their livelihood, the natives depended on fishing since the Philippines is mostly coastal. However, the natives also went hunting for food. This is because the Philippines is known for being rich in natural resources. Thus, food was never a problem for the natives as the island is abundantly endowed.

Like any tribe or group of people, the natives were very communal and thus lived in small communities known as the balangay. Each balangay was headed by a leader called the datu or raj. The Datu or the Raj was usually a brave and respected leader who is expected to protect his community from outside attack. It is also the leader’s responsibility to maintain peace and order within the community. Thus, the Datu or the Raj resolves whenever conflicts arise between and among his constituents.

This system is the earliest known form of government which has now been carried over to the present day Barangays. Even before the Spaniards came and who claimed to have civilized the inhabitants of the island, the natives were already literate and civilized people. Manifestations of their civilization and literacy can be seen from the rules that govern the balangay. And there have been many other indications especially in their communities that these natives were literate people.

During the creation of the Spanish empire, very many native tribes were destroyed.  They destroyed the people alongside their culture and in the case of the Incas and the Aztecs tried to eliminate every trace of these people because they were pagans.

The first attraction they had to these peoples lives were the treasure that they possessed.  The Spaniards lusted after these treasures and this led them to conquer various groups of people so that they may own what they had.  All these people were civilized when the Spaniards met them but were non -Christians.  The Spaniards greed and their devotion to Christianity let the led them to wipe out any trace of those civilizations and especially that of the Incas who were completely annihilated but some Aztecs are still around the maintain their culture.

The Aztec civilization started off as far back as the 12th and 13th century AD.  They migrated to the valley of Mexico around this time under the leadership of their chief named Tenoch.  Their god was Huitzilopochtli and he was the one who instructed the chief to lead to Aztec people to the valley of Mexico. They were to go Lake Texcoco and inhabit an island that was to be found there.

They were to build a city there and name it Tenochtitlan also as to hour their and they did this.  This city later became their capital city once they formed an empire.  The valley of Mexico therefore became the centre of their civilization since the capital city was based there.

Once they established the city, they were supposed to provide gifts to their god in form of human sacrifices. By the time they arrived in the swampy areas, they were destitute who were hired, poor and with no wealth or means to survival.

To make matters worse, they inhabited a swamp in a lake that was seen by others to be a waste that would not produce anything.  Due to the hardships that they faced, they were forced to use all means to get nutrition for themselves.  This meant they stole food from their neighbours used snakes and vermin for their meals and this did not in any way endear them to their neighbors.

This intense dislike by their neighbours was compounded by their practice of offering human sacrifices to their god Huitzilopochtli.  They were therefore segregated and no one wanted to be associated with them.  With so many odds against them and with no help, they had to come up with a way of improving their lives.

They built mud and batch houses in the swamp supported by strong poles.  They then transformed the uninhabitable land into a fertile productive land that provided them with more than enough through their mode of agriculture called chinampas. The city of Tenochtitlan grew and by using skilled craftsmen and common laborers, it expanded more.

There was need to gain respect from the neighbours and therefore in 1376, Acamapichli was made emperor because he was related to the last rulers of Culhuacan and also the Quetzalcoatl who was a great Toltec ruler.  In the 15th century, the tribe grew into a strong and disciplined military force and they formed the Triple Alliance with Texcoco and the Tacuba.

They conquered around 38 provinces which paid taxes to Tenochtitlan by the time the empire ended in 1520.  The Spaniards were able to conquer them easily because some of the boarder provinces maintained their independence.

Montezuma who was the ruler, than thought that Cortez the Spanish captain was a god returning.  He therefore offered golden presents which ignited Cortez’s lust for wealth.  The Aztecan priests tried to worn Montezuma but he did not heed their warning. The Spaniards conquered the Aztecs and wiped out traces of their existence and civilization because they were Catholics.  However, some survived and have maintained their culture up to date.

In 1527, Bartolome Ruiz on board his ship met a raft filled with expensive ornaments and textiles and realized need to establish contact with those who owned the treasure.  He left 3 men to become translators.  Francisco Pizarro was the leader of the group.  He and his men spent the winter in an uninhabited island and many died before spring.  From here they met therapist Inca city Tumbes where they found out that, these people were very wealthy and highly civilized.  Francisco then managed to convince the royal court in 15 months, the need to conquer the Incas and his idea was supported by Cortez, the “conquer” of the Aztecs.

Francisco and his men left Spain in January 1530 and marched his men along the Ecuador coast which was full of hardships and tightened their journey. While in the northern part of Peru, they established san Miguel which is near Piura.  In September 1532, they attacked the Inca and were lucky to have some events precipitate their attack.

Although their number was little, they found divisions caused by civil war by factions aligning themselves to either of two sons of the dead ruler.  Atahualpa who ruled the northern half of empire won but the Cuzco the capital city supported the other brother.  Since the Spaniards entered Inca from the north, they first met Atahualpa in his territory.

Atahualpa was attracted by the Spaniards horses and did not consider them to be any threat. He was invited by Pizarro to pay him a visit where he was based in Cajamarca. Atahualpa went on this visit with the intention of capturing the Spaniards but Pizarro had the same intention concerning him. It is in this place that the Indians were massacred.

Pizarro’s priest met them and explained the Christian doctrines to Atahualpa who did not heed them and instead threw the priests prayer book on to the ground. The priest was infuriated and it was on this pretext that the Spaniards attacked the Indians. They made it seem as if this was the reason but it had been an ambush that was clearly planned.

On this day, thousands of Indians died yet none of the Spaniards was hurt apart from a cut on Pizarro’s hand.  He intended to use Atahualpa to rule the Incas just as Cortes had done with the Aztecs so he made sure he did not die. He instead held him prisoner and this led to the Incas proposal to pay ransom for his release.

They offered to give a room full pf gold and this was to take them two months to do. This was to the advantage of Pizarro because he could now get additional troops from Spain. In March 1533, the artifacts from the temples started being melted down and this took around three months.

During this time, Diego de Almago arrived with troops in April the Spaniards did not release Atahualpa and instead charged him with treason in July the same year and was sentenced to die by being burned alive. Before his death, they managed to convert him to a Christian and his sentence was ‘reduced’ to die by garrote.

Through the destruction of artifacts and the killing of the rulers, the Spaniards ensured that the Incas of Peru were completely forgotten by the rest of society. They had nothing to show for the great civilization that they had been. Their empire was destroyed completely and up to date there is little to show for their existence.

Reference

1. History of the Incas a Glimpse of Inca Treasure: AD 1527-1532 24TH September 2007

<http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=3077&HistoryID=ac84>

Making a comparison between the Spanish and British methods of colonization can be useful to comprehend all the motives our ancestors had to impose its civilization in America and also to understand all the consequences of all this events that at the present time can be noticed. The Spanish colonization of America began with the entrance in the western hemisphere of Christopher Columbus in 1942, influenced by the necessity to find an alternative route for the trade of spices as well as the grown desires to find gold and silver.

Is well known that one of the most powerful purposes of Spanish was to take maximum advantage of the resources of America, especially the gold, in order to return to Spain and become a wealthy kingdom. One of the obstacles Spanish people found in their way to attain their goal were the extensive areas with huge quantity of native population that inhabited the American continent in addition to their different foreign language. Another important factor that limited the Spanish people was the diseases they brought with themselves. Since the native populations did not have any resistance to those diseases, the American population decimated.

The limitations they had were as important as the choices they decided to make. One of the actions they made was to displace the original cultures that already were established in the American territory in order to take their land and organize it under their sovereignty. Another aspect they established was that the Native Americans would not be submitted to a slavery regime, but to a regime of “Encomienda” (commission). The Encomienda established that the Indians had to work obligatorily for the Spanish person that was turning out to be their agent.

One of the most outstanding consequences of all of these events, was the slowly but surely destruction of most of the Natives because of the European diseases and the systems of forced labor (such as the Encomienda). Another result was the conversion of the American population to the Catholicism, forced by the Spanish Empire. This particular mission was widely successful since nowadays half of the Catholics of the world live in Latin America. Also is important to mention the Mestizo class formed by the Natives and the Spanish intermarriages. In the other hand, British colonization of America began in the late 16th century.

Unlike the Spanish, the British were looking for richness for themselves and not for their empire. Another difference is that the British came to America not with the intention to conquer and exploit this new land, but simply with the desire to settle themselves in it. The limitations that stopped the British to attain their goal are similar to the constraints Spaniards had. A few of those are the European diseases and the language as well as the native population that inhabited America, even though at that moment there was a small number of natives the British tried to colonize. The British made very different decisions than the Spanish did.

Instead of returning to Europe and make their country a wealthy nation, they preferred to begin a new life in a new land. They created farms and built cities. They also used a different regime called “Headright System” that consisted in granting every male head of household who came to the New World a land of 50 acres. The outcomes of the British method of colonization have one aspect similar to the Spanish: the destruction of the Indian culture, mainly because of the European diseases. But contrary to the Spanish situation, in the British sector the “mestizaje” was very low or non-existent.

Also, we can observe that the British were successful on having fulfilled their goal of beginning a new life in a new land. Finally I consider the Spanish were incredibly cruel in their colonization method. On the other hand I believe the British used a better method giving to their colonization a certain freedom of development and respecting their culture in a certain level. I believe that it was a more civilized way of having the natives calmed, and clearly the correct way. This can be noticed now when we see that the countries colonized by England have a more notable advance in technology and civilization.