Compare And Contrast Columbus And Cortes

Christopher Columbus and Alvez Nunez Cabeza de Vaca were both explorers for Spain, but under different rulers and different times. The more famous, Christopher Columbus, came before de Vaca’s time. Columbus sailed a series of four voyages between 1492 and 1504 in search for a route to Asia which led accidentally to his discovery of new land inhabited with Indians. Christopher sailed under the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella for his journey to the “Indies,” whom he was loyal to by claiming everything in their name. De Vaca , followed in Christopher’s footsteps and journeyed to Hispanionola for Spain’s emperor, Charlves V, the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella. Both, Columbus and de Vaca composed a series of letters addressing the

-1A COMPARISON OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS ENCOUNTERED BY COULUMBUS ON THE ISLANDS OF THE CARIBBEAN WITH THE ENCOUNTERED BY CORTES IN THE MESO-AMERICA.

The letter written in 1524 by the Aztec Priests in response to the Spanish was mainly for the Aztecs people to “defend the legitimacy of their own customs and how most Aztecs did not want to renounce their own religion in favor of Catholicism.” Also, if they did listen to the Spanish king’s rule, they would be going against their own God. The Aztec Priests made sure to list numerous of examples to why they went against the Spanish who were trying to change their religious believes. For instance, in the letter the Priests stated, “you say our gods are not true gods. The new words that you put utter are what confuse us; due to them we feel foreboding. Our makers [our ancestors] who came to live on earth never uttered such words. They gave us

Christopher Columbus and John Smith will always be remembered for their ego in their leadership. For many residence of Virginia, John Smith is considered as a hero. However, recorded documents provide varying evidence on his leadership and life in general. On the other hand, Christopher Columbus is seen as an explorer who encountered the Americans and was able to achieve immorality to satisfy his egos. He took advantage of every opportunity and is considered to be a leader who did not accept no as an answer which enable him to succeed and even come back to influence after a great misfortune. It is however clear that the success of Smith and Columbus as leaders of exploration can be attributed to their egos. Their writings were full of imaginations and fiction and are considered by some historians to be liars about the newly discovered world.

Many Historians and Anthropologists believed that Columbus definitely had more than one motive as to why he wanted to fulfill his first voyage to America. The first, most probable motive that should be discussed was Columbus’s desire for gold and spices. During the 15th century, and even today, gold was a precious metal, and was quite scarce. Spices were used for food flavoring/scenting, creating new colors and dyes, and also for religious purposes. Some Historiographical Authors considered more than one possibility as to why finding gold and spices was such an important reason for travel. In reference to the article Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress by Howard Zinn, the author writes, “The information that Columbus wanted most was: Where is the gold?... he expected would be on the other side

The native’s encountered by Columbus and those encountered by Cortes were similar in how they treated the newly arrived Spaniards. They were greatly different, though, in their religious beliefs. The Aztecs seemed to be a very religious group of people. In Cortes’ letter he says, “This great city contains a large number of temples, or houses, for their idols.” Cortes says that those in priesthood wear black and do not curl or comb their hair their entire time in priesthood. Cortes says, “I said everything to them I could to divert them from their idolatries and draw then to a knowledge of our God.” The Aztecs would not convert though, showing the strength of their beliefs. In contrast, those Native Americans encountered by Christopher Columbus did not exemplify any religious beliefs or practices.

Christopher Columbus and John Smith are both similar in the fact that they made their kin very proud and became famous of their accounts of unexplored territory. Though their ideas of what to do with what they encountered was different, they both were very brave men. They were different in a way though. Columbus believed that there was a great value in terms of wealth to the natural resources he saw on the islands and he used a different rhetoric to explain it. John Smith saw economic growth possibilities in the fertile New England area that had a vast amount of natural resources, he also valued different commodities than Columbus.

When Moctezuma met Cortes did not trust him at first. The reason being is because his looked very sketchy. But the Aztecs said to trust him. So Moctezuma trusted Cortes and passed the thrown down to him. The reason why it happened so fast they said that because there was a tail that said that one day their true leader so that’s what they thought about Cortes, he’s the one. From that point on it was fine until something happened. The Aztecs attacked Moctezuma. During the battle, Moctezuma was killed and at that very moment Cortes became the true leader and took his position. The aztecs lost that battle, they didn’t know how to react. The Aztecs became slaves for Cortes. All slaves were forced into becoming christians. Today, in spain, holds

As we arrived to the New World we were approached by foreign messengers who are from Mexico city claiming they were sent by their emperor Motecuhzoma. As they approached us I noticed they brought gifts, later on they began to smother Cortes with gifts by placing masks, vests, collars and even sandals on him. I was then relieved that these messengers did not come up to us and try to cause any harm. However,

Although the Spaniards and English were greeted with hospitality, food, and gifts they still sought war because it was not enough. Zinn mentions this quote,“They willingly traded everything they owned…”, which shows that Cortes and Columbus were both greeted by the Indians with kindness. However, they both used that to their advantage tricking them into slavery and oppression. “he was so anxious to please the King that he committed

Cortés also made sure to describe the Aztecs as primitive people who worshiped false gods and viewed the king as a "barbarous monarch". As a result, Cortés placed himself in a strong position to be the symbol of the crown that could bring a stable Christian society to save these people.[4: Cortés, and Pagden, In Letter from Mexico, 11][5: Arkenberg, Hernan Cortés: From Second Letter to Charles V, 1520][6: Arkenberg, Hernan Cortés: From Second Letter to Charles V, 1520]

In 1876, the Indian Act was passed. This act enforced a law that required all First Nations, children below the age of 16, to attend residential schools until they were 18. To elaborate, these schools were run by not only the church, but funded by the government. Children were dragged from their homes; their ways of life, family, and friends stripped from them. While attending these schools, the native children were forced to dress, talk, and act like the white people. Any trace of First Nations culture was stripped away, leaving a raw, abused Indian. Native children experienced sexual, and physical abuse. The Christian faith was forced upon them. If the did not speak English, or follow European customs, and ways, they faced cruel consequences.

The people of the lands Columbus and his crew touched down on were very welcoming. As said by Columbus in his journal “Presently we discovered two or three villages, and the people all came down to the shore, calling out to us, and giving thanks to God. An old man came on board my boat; the others, both men and women cried with loud voices: "Come and see the men who have come from the sky. Bring them victuals and drink.”

The success of the Spaniards' colonization of the Americas was partly a result of the condition of the natives. Columbus referred to the natives as "timorous creatures" without any weapons, so " the men who remain there alone sufficient to destroy all that land". In addition to this, the Aztec belief in the return of Quetzalcoat also played a significant role in the submission of the natives to the Spaniards. As the Spaniards were coming from the sea with their ships, the natives believed that they were the agents of the God and thus they showed their respect. Columbus recounted that "they all believe that power and goodness are in the sky, and they believed very firmly that I, with these ships and crew, came from the sky; and in such opinion they recevied me at every place where I landed..." Another, yet not the last, factor in the success of the Spaniards was their use of Indian tribes such

In the book The Conquest of America by Tzvetan Todorov, Todorov brings about an interesting look into the expeditions of Columbus, based on Columbus’ own writings. Initially, one can see Columbus nearly overwhelmed by the beauty of these lands that he has encountered. He creates vivid pictures that stand out in the imagination, colored by a "marvelous" descriptive style. Todorov gives us an interpretation of Columbus’ discovery of America, and the Spaniards’ subsequent conquest, colonization, and destruction of pre-Columbian cultures in Mexico and the Caribbean. Tzvetan Todorov examines the beliefs and behavior of the Spanish conquistadors and of the Aztecs.