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THE CONQUISTADORS SEARCH FOR GOLD by an Aztec Eyewitness, 1550’s In the early 1500’s Spanish conquerors, known as conquistadors, explored both North and South America. One of these conquistadors was 34-year-old Hernando Cortes. Like Christopher Columbus, Cortes hoped to find gold and other riches. In 1519 Cortes and about 500 Spanish soldiers marched through present-day Mexico and conquered one of the largest empires in the world, the Aztec Empire. In the 1550’s an historian interviewed an Aztec eyewitness who had seen the Spanish conquest. This witness described how Cortes and his men acted when they seized the fabulous treasures of the empire’s capital city, Tenochtitlan. STOP 1 When the Spaniards were installed in the palace, they asked Montezuma, the emperor, about the city's resources and reserves and about the warriors' ensigns and shields. They questioned him closely and then demanded gold. Montezuma guided them to it. They surrounded him and crowded close with their weapons. He walked in the center, while they formed a circle around him. STOP 2 When they arrived at the treasure house ... the riches of gold and feathers were brought out to them: ornaments made of quetzal feathers, richly worked shields, disks of gold, the necklaces of the idols, ... gold greaves and bracelets and crowns .... The Spaniards burst into smiles; and their eyes shone with pleasure; they were delighted by them. They picked up the gold and fingered it like monkeys; they seemed to be transported by joy, as if their hearts were illumined and made new. STOP 3 The truth is that they longed and lusted for gold. Their bodies swelled with greed, and their hunger was ravenous; they hungered like pigs for that gold. They snatched at the golden ensigns, waved them from side to side and examined every inch of them .... The Spaniards immediately stripped the feathers from the gold shields and ensigns. They gathered all the gold into a great mound and set fire to everything else, regardless of its value. Then they melted down the gold into ingots. As for the precious green stones, they took only the best of them .... STOP 4 installed: settled Montezuma: Aztec emperor reserves: valuables ensigns: flags quetzal: kind of bird idols: statues of gods greaves: leg armor transported: carried away illumined: lit up lusted: wanted strongly ravenous: intense ingots: bars 1 Next they went to Montezuma's storehouse ... where his personal treasures were kept. The Spaniards grinned like little beasts and patted each other with delight. When they entered the hall of treasures, it was as if they had arrived in Paradise. They searched everywhere and coveted everything; they were slaves to their own greed. All of Montezuma's possessions were brought out: fine bracelets, necklaces with large stones, ankle rings with little gold bells, the royal crowns and all the royal finery, everything that belonged to the king and was reserved to him only. They seized these treasures as if they were their own, as if this plunder were merely a stroke of good luck. And when they had taken all the gold, they heaped up everything else in the middle of the patio. STOP 5 Paradise: heaven coveted: wanted finery: jewels and fancy clothing plunder: stealing patio: courtyard DIRECTIONS: Answer the questions below as you read the above article. STOP 1: Define the following term: Conquistador: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STOP 1: What did the conquistadors hope to find in the America’s? _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STOP 1: How many men did Cortes have with him when he conquered the Aztec Empire? ___________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STOP 2: Who was Montezuma? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STOP 2: Why did Montezuma lead the Spanish to the Aztec gold? ______________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STOP 3: In this section, who does the eyewitness compare the conquistadors to? ___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STOP 4: In this section, who does the eyewitness compare the conquistadors to? ___________________________________________________________________________ 2 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STOP 5: In this section, who does the eyewitness compare the conquistadors to? ___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STOP 5: Why do you suppose the eyewitness chose to make this comparison between the conquistadors and the animals? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STOP 5: How did the Spaniards react when they saw the gold? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ STOP 5: What types of “treasure” did the conquistadors find in the hall of treasure? _________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 READING ACTIVITY: BERNAL DIAZ: THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF NEW SPAIN DIRECTIONS: Read the selection on the Spanish in the New World and then answer the questions that follow. Background information: Bernal Diaz del Castillo (1492-1581) accompanied Hernan Cortes on his conquest of the Aztecs in present-day Mexico. Diaz wrote his history many years later to refute what he viewed as inaccurate accounts of the conquest. The following excerpt describes a meeting between Cortes and Montezuma, the Aztec King, in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. “When we climbed to the top of the great temple there was a kind of platform, with huge stones where they put the poor Indians to be sacrificed, and an image like a dragon and other evil figures, with a great deal of blood that had been shed that day. Montezuma, accompanied by two priests, came out from an oratory dedicated to the worship of his cursed idols…. Then Montezuma took him (Cortes) by the hand and bade him look at his great city and at all the other cities rising from the water, and the many towns around the lake…. There we stood looking, for that large and evil temple was so high that it towered over everything. From there we could see all three of the causeways that led into the city…. We saw the fresh water that came from Chapultepec, which supplied the city, and the bridges on the three causeways, built at certain intervals so the water could go from one part of the lake to another, and a multitude of canoes, some arriving with provisions and others leaving with merchandise. We saw that every house in this great city and in the others built on the water could be reached only by wooden drawbridges or by canoe. We saw temples built like towers and fortresses in these cities, all white-washed; it was a sight to see…. After taking a good look and considering all that we had seen, we looked again at the great square and the throngs of people, some buying and others selling. The buzzing of their voices could be heard more than a league away. There were soldiers among us who had been in many parts of the world, in Constantinople and Rome and all over Italy, who said that they had never before seen a market place so large and so well laid out, and so filled with people.” The scene described in this excerpt is of: a. a view of Tenochtitlan’s market from the top of a tall temple market place b. an indoor temple with many statues 1. 2. Which of the following best describes the author’s view of the Aztecs? a. generous and busy b. evil and prosperous c. a view of Tenochtitlan’s temple from the d. a view of the markets in Rome c. loving and kind d. athletic and loud 3. Which words and phrases in the excerpt above reveal the author’s opinion of the Aztec’s religion? Underline them