How Did Latin America After 1492
Shortly after 1492 when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, death ravaged the great empires and civilizations that the Aztecs and Incas built. Women, children, and the rich culture suffered at the hands of the Spaniards. Despite all of the destruction, it lead to what many call today, Latin America. However, not just one event created Latin America, it was a large collection of many. All of the events that happened after 1492 were due to a difference of knowledge, technology, and immunity between the Spanish and Natives. The events may have unfolded differently if it was not for the prior knowledge, previous conquests, advanced technology, war strategy, and immunity to smallpox that the Spanish held. The most important piece of what
…show more content…
allowed the Spanish to conquer Latin America was the drastic difference between the knowledge of each culture. The Spanish had a history of conquering varying cultures including Hispaniola before directing their attention on Mesoamerica and the Andes. According to, Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas --famous historian, Dominican theologian, missionary, and bishop-- the Europeans obliterated the Native People. It started off as slavery and advanced to massacring the people of Hispaniola. 1. The Spaniards interaction with the indigenous cultures quickly taught them that their technology was far superior than the natives. In 1509 and 1511, the Spanish moved on to Jamaica and Cuba, “once again killing off these poor innocents to such effect that where the native population of the two islands was certainly over six hundred thousand…. fewer than two hundred survive[d] on each of the two islands.” (1.) After demolishing, the people of three different countries, it is no surprise that Mesoamerica followed this brutal ritual. Before Mesoamerica followed the fate of Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba, the Europeans who led the expedition spent some time sailing along the coast listening to the rumors of glittering cities. According to Bernal Diaz, spanish soldier and author, the chosen leader of this expedition was the strategic Captain Hernan Cortes, whole played a major role in conquering Mesoamerica (2.). After sailing along the coastline, learning about the indigenous people, and hearing the rumors of the glittering cities, Cortes decided to march inland. In addition, to his experience as a military strategist, the interpreters, who translated the native languages, provided a great deal of information. The more Cortes marched, the more he learned. Although the leaders of Mesoamerica heard about the Christians invading their land, they highly underestimated them. The Native’s knew very little about the Europeans, in fact, the Aztecs who first encountered Cortes, described the horses as deer, thought it odd that metal covered their bodies, and saw a canon for the first time (3.). The indigenous people had no idea where these strange people came from or if there were more of them waiting. Thus, the Aztecs assumed that since Cortes had such few men, they would be able to wipe them out with ease.
The lack of knowledge the Aztecs had about the Spanish may have set them up for destruction, but the difference in technology ensured that the Aztecs had no chance.
When the Aztecs surrounded Cortes and his men, they anticipated having the upper hand. Afterall, Cortes had under two hundred men, while they had thousands. However, when the battle began the cotton armor, bows and arrows, rocks, and javelins were futile against the metal armor, heavy metal swords, muskets, and canons. The Spaniards lost only two men, whereas the natives lost nearly eight hundred (2.). In another battle, a Franciscan missionary, Bernardino de Sahagun describes the accounts of native elders during a bloody festival. The Aztecs had invited the Spanish into their home to a ceremonial festival. Although completely unarmed, the Spanish proceeded to block the exits and, “they stabbed everyone with iron lances and struck them with iron swords” (4.). Even once the Aztecs gathered their weapons, their “barbed darts, spears, and tridents” (4.) were no match for the Spaniards technology. Due to the difference in weaponry, the Spaniards were nearly untouched while they demolished the indigenous …show more content…
people.
Of course, when one combines advanced weaponry with brutal war strategies, the rivals have little hope of defeating the enemy. Throughout the duration of this conquest, the Spaniards strategic thinking gave them even more of an advantage, in addition to the knowledge and technology. In fact, Cortes utilized the naivety of the natives to intimidate them. Since the natives had never seen a horse before, Cortes, “brought the horse and mare, and the horse soon detected the scent of her in Cortés’s quarters.” (2.) When the stallion could smell the mare, he began to go into a panic to reach the female. The rearing and franticness of the male horse, instilled fear into the natives. Plus, when the natives approached Cortes’s camp, he “...secretly... put a match to the cannon… and it went off with such a thunderclap as was wanted, and the ball went buzzing over the hills…and the Caciques were terrified on hearing it”(2.). Not only did Cortes successfully spark fear within his enemies, but Spaniards tactics when it came to battle were ruthless and merciless. For instance, in Hispaniola the Spaniards, “grabbed suckling infants by the feet and, ripping them from their mothers' breasts, dashed them headlong against the rocks” (1.). The Spanish murdered everyone they could, no matter how helpless someone was.
The times they decided to take a prisoner alive, it was usually for ransom or labor and they generally wound up dead. For example, when Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish Conquistador, captured Atahualpa, the Incan Emperor, Pizarro collected, “mountains of gold [from the natives] to ransom [Atahualpa], but Pizarro had him executed anyway”(5.). These dishonest and cruel tactics aided both Pizarro and Cortes during their crusades of obliterating both the Incan and Aztec Empires. On the contrary, the Incan’s preferred to utilize the people they conquered. After taking over another settlement they would take half of their population and resettle them. Similar to the Spaniards, they would also require tribute, however; they would not take nearly everything like the Spanish. Additionally, the Incans would take state distributions and store that food for times of drought and famine. (6.) Unfortunately, this food storage system proved to not be enough when disease ravaged indigenous populations.
Inevitably, the silent contributor that helped demolish native populations was disease. Although the Spaniards did not intentionally unleash smallpox as biological warfare, once the disease started to spread among indigenous populations, the Spaniards used it to their advantage. The natives described the disease as large bumps that covered the people's entire bodies and, “the pustules that covered people caused great desolation; very many people died of them, and many just starved to death; starvation reigned, and no one took care of others any longer” (4.). Due to the sickness, very few people could work and thus the production of crops, clean water, and caring for the sick became difficult. Those who did not die from the disease died from lack of food and clean water. When the reigning emperor of the Incan Empire died suddenly of smallpox, a civil war broke out between Atahualpa and his brother Huascar, giving the Spaniards an advantage. While the empire remained divided, Pizarro stepped in to ensure both sides continued to fight as he worked towards conquering the land. (pg 43 of blood and fire). Although technology and knowledge were the key to defeating the natives, the built up immunity to smallpox that the Spaniards had and natives did not, played a major role in conquering America. However, some might argue that it was not knowledge, technology, and disease that caused things to unfold the way they did, but rather it was the power of religion and pure belief that lead to certain events.
After all, religion drove the majority of the conquest. For example, after capturing a native lord they, “told him as much as [they] could in the short time... about the Lord and about our Christian faith, all of which was new to him. The friar told him that, if he would only believe... he would go to Heaven there to enjoy glory and eternal rest, but that, if he would not, he would be consigned to Hell, where he would endure everlasting pain and torment” (1.). Nearly every step of the way religion or belief was a part of the great conquest. The intensity of belief that each culture held may have caused a clash of religions. In fact, when Atabaliba and Pizarro first met a priest explained to Atabaliba that, “I am a Priest of God, and I teach Christians the things of God, and in like manner I come to teach you. What I teach is that which God says to us in this Book. Therefore, on the part of God and of the Christians, I beseech you to be their friend, for such is God's will, and it will be for your good” (5.). The Spaniards full-heartedly believed that God’s will backed what they were doing and justified their actions. One could argue that perhaps without such strong faith in religions, the initial greetings may have been different and without “God’s will” they may have
approached the situation differently. But, even without religion, the advanced technology, disease, and knowledge the Spaniards held is still what demolished the native populations. Even if one factored out religion, the Europeans may have found other reasons to obliterate the native cultures. For instance, after massacring the ceremonial festival that the Aztecs invited the Spaniards to, they searched for gold. The Spanish examined every inch of the town and person, desperately looking for the gold they desired. (4.) Additionally, without factoring out religion, if the Spanish did not have the high tech weapons, armor, immunity to certain diseases, and prior knowledge then the sheer number of native people would have been able to successfully fight off the Spaniards. For example, if both had only bows and arrows, little knowledge about each other, and were vulnerable to the same diseases, then the thousands of natives would have been able to wipe away the Spaniards the landed on their island. Despite years of culture and history, after 1492 the immunity, technology, and knowledge that the Spanish possessed, guided certain events that caused things to unfold the way they did. Sadly, the natives stood little chance against the strategic and powerful Spaniards that came to their lands and destroyed everything in their path. While one may argue what caused these events to unfold, they can agree that Latin America’s beginning, like most, started with death, disease, and destruction. One can only imagine the possibilities that could have changed the fate of many and transform the world it is today.
allowed the Spanish to conquer Latin America was the drastic difference between the knowledge of each culture. The Spanish had a history of conquering varying cultures including Hispaniola before directing their attention on Mesoamerica and the Andes. According to, Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas --famous historian, Dominican theologian, missionary, and bishop-- the Europeans obliterated the Native People. It started off as slavery and advanced to massacring the people of Hispaniola. 1. The Spaniards interaction with the indigenous cultures quickly taught them that their technology was far superior than the natives. In 1509 and 1511, the Spanish moved on to Jamaica and Cuba, “once again killing off these poor innocents to such effect that where the native population of the two islands was certainly over six hundred thousand…. fewer than two hundred survive[d] on each of the two islands.” (1.) After demolishing, the people of three different countries, it is no surprise that Mesoamerica followed this brutal ritual. Before Mesoamerica followed the fate of Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba, the Europeans who led the expedition spent some time sailing along the coast listening to the rumors of glittering cities. According to Bernal Diaz, spanish soldier and author, the chosen leader of this expedition was the strategic Captain Hernan Cortes, whole played a major role in conquering Mesoamerica (2.). After sailing along the coastline, learning about the indigenous people, and hearing the rumors of the glittering cities, Cortes decided to march inland. In addition, to his experience as a military strategist, the interpreters, who translated the native languages, provided a great deal of information. The more Cortes marched, the more he learned. Although the leaders of Mesoamerica heard about the Christians invading their land, they highly underestimated them. The Native’s knew very little about the Europeans, in fact, the Aztecs who first encountered Cortes, described the horses as deer, thought it odd that metal covered their bodies, and saw a canon for the first time (3.). The indigenous people had no idea where these strange people came from or if there were more of them waiting. Thus, the Aztecs assumed that since Cortes had such few men, they would be able to wipe them out with ease.
The lack of knowledge the Aztecs had about the Spanish may have set them up for destruction, but the difference in technology ensured that the Aztecs had no chance.
When the Aztecs surrounded Cortes and his men, they anticipated having the upper hand. Afterall, Cortes had under two hundred men, while they had thousands. However, when the battle began the cotton armor, bows and arrows, rocks, and javelins were futile against the metal armor, heavy metal swords, muskets, and canons. The Spaniards lost only two men, whereas the natives lost nearly eight hundred (2.). In another battle, a Franciscan missionary, Bernardino de Sahagun describes the accounts of native elders during a bloody festival. The Aztecs had invited the Spanish into their home to a ceremonial festival. Although completely unarmed, the Spanish proceeded to block the exits and, “they stabbed everyone with iron lances and struck them with iron swords” (4.). Even once the Aztecs gathered their weapons, their “barbed darts, spears, and tridents” (4.) were no match for the Spaniards technology. Due to the difference in weaponry, the Spaniards were nearly untouched while they demolished the indigenous …show more content…
people.
Of course, when one combines advanced weaponry with brutal war strategies, the rivals have little hope of defeating the enemy. Throughout the duration of this conquest, the Spaniards strategic thinking gave them even more of an advantage, in addition to the knowledge and technology. In fact, Cortes utilized the naivety of the natives to intimidate them. Since the natives had never seen a horse before, Cortes, “brought the horse and mare, and the horse soon detected the scent of her in Cortés’s quarters.” (2.) When the stallion could smell the mare, he began to go into a panic to reach the female. The rearing and franticness of the male horse, instilled fear into the natives. Plus, when the natives approached Cortes’s camp, he “...secretly... put a match to the cannon… and it went off with such a thunderclap as was wanted, and the ball went buzzing over the hills…and the Caciques were terrified on hearing it”(2.). Not only did Cortes successfully spark fear within his enemies, but Spaniards tactics when it came to battle were ruthless and merciless. For instance, in Hispaniola the Spaniards, “grabbed suckling infants by the feet and, ripping them from their mothers' breasts, dashed them headlong against the rocks” (1.). The Spanish murdered everyone they could, no matter how helpless someone was.
The times they decided to take a prisoner alive, it was usually for ransom or labor and they generally wound up dead. For example, when Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish Conquistador, captured Atahualpa, the Incan Emperor, Pizarro collected, “mountains of gold [from the natives] to ransom [Atahualpa], but Pizarro had him executed anyway”(5.). These dishonest and cruel tactics aided both Pizarro and Cortes during their crusades of obliterating both the Incan and Aztec Empires. On the contrary, the Incan’s preferred to utilize the people they conquered. After taking over another settlement they would take half of their population and resettle them. Similar to the Spaniards, they would also require tribute, however; they would not take nearly everything like the Spanish. Additionally, the Incans would take state distributions and store that food for times of drought and famine. (6.) Unfortunately, this food storage system proved to not be enough when disease ravaged indigenous populations.
Inevitably, the silent contributor that helped demolish native populations was disease. Although the Spaniards did not intentionally unleash smallpox as biological warfare, once the disease started to spread among indigenous populations, the Spaniards used it to their advantage. The natives described the disease as large bumps that covered the people's entire bodies and, “the pustules that covered people caused great desolation; very many people died of them, and many just starved to death; starvation reigned, and no one took care of others any longer” (4.). Due to the sickness, very few people could work and thus the production of crops, clean water, and caring for the sick became difficult. Those who did not die from the disease died from lack of food and clean water. When the reigning emperor of the Incan Empire died suddenly of smallpox, a civil war broke out between Atahualpa and his brother Huascar, giving the Spaniards an advantage. While the empire remained divided, Pizarro stepped in to ensure both sides continued to fight as he worked towards conquering the land. (pg 43 of blood and fire). Although technology and knowledge were the key to defeating the natives, the built up immunity to smallpox that the Spaniards had and natives did not, played a major role in conquering America. However, some might argue that it was not knowledge, technology, and disease that caused things to unfold the way they did, but rather it was the power of religion and pure belief that lead to certain events.
After all, religion drove the majority of the conquest. For example, after capturing a native lord they, “told him as much as [they] could in the short time... about the Lord and about our Christian faith, all of which was new to him. The friar told him that, if he would only believe... he would go to Heaven there to enjoy glory and eternal rest, but that, if he would not, he would be consigned to Hell, where he would endure everlasting pain and torment” (1.). Nearly every step of the way religion or belief was a part of the great conquest. The intensity of belief that each culture held may have caused a clash of religions. In fact, when Atabaliba and Pizarro first met a priest explained to Atabaliba that, “I am a Priest of God, and I teach Christians the things of God, and in like manner I come to teach you. What I teach is that which God says to us in this Book. Therefore, on the part of God and of the Christians, I beseech you to be their friend, for such is God's will, and it will be for your good” (5.). The Spaniards full-heartedly believed that God’s will backed what they were doing and justified their actions. One could argue that perhaps without such strong faith in religions, the initial greetings may have been different and without “God’s will” they may have
approached the situation differently. But, even without religion, the advanced technology, disease, and knowledge the Spaniards held is still what demolished the native populations. Even if one factored out religion, the Europeans may have found other reasons to obliterate the native cultures. For instance, after massacring the ceremonial festival that the Aztecs invited the Spaniards to, they searched for gold. The Spanish examined every inch of the town and person, desperately looking for the gold they desired. (4.) Additionally, without factoring out religion, if the Spanish did not have the high tech weapons, armor, immunity to certain diseases, and prior knowledge then the sheer number of native people would have been able to successfully fight off the Spaniards. For example, if both had only bows and arrows, little knowledge about each other, and were vulnerable to the same diseases, then the thousands of natives would have been able to wipe away the Spaniards the landed on their island. Despite years of culture and history, after 1492 the immunity, technology, and knowledge that the Spanish possessed, guided certain events that caused things to unfold the way they did. Sadly, the natives stood little chance against the strategic and powerful Spaniards that came to their lands and destroyed everything in their path. While one may argue what caused these events to unfold, they can agree that Latin America’s beginning, like most, started with death, disease, and destruction. One can only imagine the possibilities that could have changed the fate of many and transform the world it is today.