Spanish Conquistadors Incas in Peru and Aztecs in Mexico

Another source of familiarity is from the Indian literature and arts maintained after the conquest, present that there is near continuity between what was and what is. Indeed, there be some in the region who still speak Nahuatl today, that existence the Aztec language, and their way of life as well has only been partially modified by four centuries of contact with Europeans. The Aztecs were Mongoloid peoples whose ancestors migrated from Asia over the Siberian-Alaskan route some 30,000 years ago. Before the Aztecs occupied the valley of Mexico, there was a series of distinct other Indian occupations, with the civilizations of the Chichimec and the Toltec the most clearly delineated. The transition was made from the nomadic hunting and gathering put to the sedentary agricultural and village stage between 9,000 and 3,000 years ago. the Aztecs were relative latecomers to the region. Their capital, Tenochtitlan, was on the site of the fresh Mexico City, and it was founded in the fourteenth century on an artificial island in the valley lake. The Aztecs gradually conquered and subjugated their neighbors and developed a host state that waged aggressive and continuous contendfare against surrounding tribes. The vox populi classes engaged in human sacrifice and a methodical exaction of tribute.

The civilization of the Incas was found in the Andean highlands of the western semivowel of South Ameri

Atahuallpa was the ruler when the conquistadors arrived. The Spanish were under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro. there were a total of 168 Europeans in this group, and they challenged an empire of 6 million people. The Indians were puzzled by the importance Europeans placed on gold, but avarice was only genius of the compulsions pressing the Spanish onward:

The Spaniards also were driven by a monumental faith honed in holy war against the Moors--Muslims who had occupied Spain for 700 years. For many, the conquest was a crusade. They called themselves "Christians" more often than Spaniards, and some referred to the Indians as "Moors" and their temples as "mosques.

"

Many of the natives were so profoundly discouraged by these events that they lost the will to live, and this remains a heartrending threat to primitive peoples who witness the collapse of their way of life. There was an accompanying decline in the birth rate as a result. Another problem facing the native community was simply that it was being ignored by the Spanish conquerors:

Gibson, Charles. The Aztecs low Spanish Rule. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1964.

I moved across a good portion of this land and saw terrible remainder in it. Having seen the land before, I could not help relish striking sadness. The sight of such desolation would move anyone to great pity.

Davies, Nigel. The Aztecs. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1973.

The efforts of the friars in the New world did bring virtually the elimination of a number of non-Christian elements in Indian society, such as pagan temples, the Aztec class of priests, and the acts of human sacrifice. The indians most promptly embraced the overt aspects of Christianity, such as the great churches and monastery buildings, the ceremonies, the processions, and the images of the saints. Many of these elements had correspondent elements in the Aztec religion, but the differences were so great that in no vase was it possible
Order your essay at Orderessay and get a 100% original and high-quality custom paper within the required time frame.