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History Mr Woodgate |Aztec Essay| |#2| “How can we save our homes, my people The Aztecs are deserting the city The city is in flames and all is darkness and destruction Weep my people Know that with these disasters We have lost the Mexican nation The water has turned bitter Our food is bitter These are the acts of the Giver of Life” - From the Informantes Anónimos de Tlatelolco, compiled in 1521. The claim that the Conquistadors left an indelible scar upon the Aztecs is an extremely valid one, when the definitions of the words ‘indelible’ and ‘scar’ are examined. A scar is ‘a mark on a surface caused by damage’. Indelible means ‘impossible to remove, therefore remaining forever’. Thus, an indelible scar is a mark left upon something that will and can never be removed; this statement is beyond dispute in terms of the Aztecs. This can be seen through the above statement from the Informantes Anónimos de Tlatelolco alone. The fact that the Aztecs lost their civilisation, the Mexican Nation, and that their city was destroyed. The main impacts that the conquest of the Aztecs had upon them are foremost, the deaths of thousands of people due to slaughter and introduced diseases. Also the destruction of the Aztecs’ extravagant architectural structures and the destruction of their culture and religion, that is the attempt on the Conquistadors’ behalf to convert the Aztecs to Christianity. What must be observed is that the Conquest not only had negative impacts on the Aztecs and other civilisations of South America, but through the introduction of crops and animals, they were benefited. The Spaniards also gained benefits from the Conquest, through the plants and animals found and the gold and other precious resources that they found in South America. The most substantial effect the Conquistadors had upon the Aztecs was, of course, the destruction of their culture, predominantly through the decimation of the majority of the Aztec population. A substantial population declination was observed during the conquest, by many authors. (see appendix 1). There are two main reasons the population declined due to the conquest. Both are instigated by the Conquistadors, they are the direct slaughter of Aztecs by the Conquistadors, and deaths due to the diseases introduced by the Conquistadors. There were many diseases that were introduced to the Aztecs by the European people; the diseases were the cause of many deaths. The diseases include, Pleurisy, Bloody flux, Smallpox, Typhus, Pestilence, Measles, Pneumonia, Influenza and Syphilis. Combined, these diseases were the cause of millions of indigenous casualties. (For statistics on amounts of deaths see appendix 2). The Conquistadors also took part in the slaughter of thousands of Aztec people, so that they were able to capture their civilisation for their own benefits. The following statement is testimony to the slaughter of the Aztec people, especially in the conquest of their religion. It is set at the Aztec Festival of Spring. “They began to sing again but without warning they were all put to death. The dancers and the singers were completely unarmed. They brought only their embroidered cloaks, their turquoises, their lip plugs, their necklaces, their clusters of heron feathers, their trinkets made of deer hooves. Those who played the drums, the old men, had brought their gourds of snuff and their timbrels. Jock Webb, 8A History Mr Woodgate The Spanish attacked the musicians first, slashing at their hands and faces until they had killed all of them. The singers - and even the spectators - were also killed. This slaughter in the Sacred Patio went on for three hours. Then the Spaniards burst into the rooms of the temple to kill the others: those who were carrying water, or bringing fodder for the horses, or grinding meal, or sweeping the floor…” The information comes from accounts collected by Father Sahagun regarding the event. It is one example of many regarding the un-provoked slaughter of Aztec people. It explicitly describes the severity of the killings. It is only one example of the carnage; there were many more situations like these. “Our commander here said smilingly, to Motecusuma: I cannot imagine that such a powerful and wise monarch as you are should not have yourself discovered by this time that these idols are not divinities but evil spirits, called devils. In order that you may be convinced of this and that your people may satisfy themselves of this truth, allow me to erect a cross on the summit of this temple; and, in the chapel where stand your Huitzilopochtili and Tetzcatlipuca, give us a small space that I may place there the image of the holy Virgin; then you will see that terror will seize these idols by which you have been so long deluded.” – Bernal Diaz. This demonstrates the attempts on the Conquistadors’ behalf to eradicate the Aztec religion, with the ultimate intention of converting them from their original religion to Christianity. This Diaz statement is almost patronising when it refers to the Aztec religion, it clearly shows Diaz’ resentment of the Aztec religion. The Aztec religion was closely related to its religious architectural structures, such as temples and shrines, due to what they contained and represented. The Conquistadors’ resentment of the religion was so powerful that it was motivation for them to destroy these structures, which was a substantial blow to the Aztec religion, and a major contributor to the eventual destruction of the religion. Another contributor to the eventual destruction of the Aztec culture was the destruction of their architectural structures such as homes, palaces, temples and shrines. As is previously said, certain religious structures had a close connection to the Aztec religion and so their destruction was a driving force behind the eradication of the religion, which was a key part of Aztec society. In fact, one of the main Cathedrals situated in Mexico City currently, sits in the former location of the Aztec Sun Temple, this is a perfect indicator as to how the Spanish attempted to convert the Aztecs, it was ‘destroy the former and rebuild the new’. Obviously the destruction of Aztec peoples’ homes was also a driving force behind their conquest, as if you have no place to live and therefore no place to go, you will probably be forced from one location to another. This is what the siutaiton was with many Aztec people. Another impact of the Conquest was a positive one for both the Spanish and the Aztecs; this was the exchange of goods such as food and animals between the two societies, which represented different continents, those being Europe and Middle America. This exchange is referred to as the Columbian Exchange. (See appendix 3). Appendix three refers to the gains in terms of food and animals that was enjoyed by both cultures, the most significant of which being the staple food crops, such as wheat (although Aztecs and other Indians generally refused to consume white grain bread) and rice from the Conquistadors of Europe, and beans, manioc, maize and potato from the Aztecs of America. Not only were these highly important and necessary Jock Webb, 8A History Mr Woodgate items gained, but also luxuries such as cocoa from America and Sugar from Europe. Another important aspect of the Columbian Exchange was the exchange of animals and livestock, predominantly originating from Europe. These animals include sheep, cattle, goats, camels, pigs, horses and mules. Many of these were used as beasts of burden and many as livestock to support groups as food and a source of income. There was one other animal introduced from Europe that was a stowaway on ships, it was the Black Rat. It served as a major hindrance, being a carrier of the Bubonic Plague and eating people from their dwellings. The Columbian exchange is an example of an aspect of the conquest that was generally beneficial to both nations. “(Spaniards) have a strange disease of the heart, for which gold is the only cure." – Hernando Cortes. Another aspect of the Colonial conquest of the Aztecs is a purely beneficial aspect for the Conquistadors, and did not have an impact on the Aztec people, as he Aztec civilisation had been almost decimated by the time the Conquistadors began to search and mine for gold. Precious metals, gold in particular, were a major attraction of America to the Conquistadors. It is not surprising why, considering that the Spanish were the most influential and economically stable country for many years to come due to their profits made from their endeavours in America. When the evidence is assessed, it can be agreed beyond dispute, that the colonial conquest of the Aztecs left an indelible scar upon their culture. The scar covered areas such as life itself, due to the slaughter that they were subject to by the Spanish, their religion, which was ridiculed and eventually eradicated by the Spanish and many of their architectural structures, which were destroyed. There were also beneficial aspects of the conquest, such as the introduction of plants and animals in the Columbian exchange, which was valuable to both cultures and the access gained to land, people and gold that was advantageous to the Conquistadors. Therefore, it can be concluded that the colonial conquest of the Aztec civilisation had a profound impact on both the Aztecs and the Spanish people executing the conquest. Jock Webb, 8A