8-26-09+about+cortes

Hernan Cortes Conquers Mexico (1519-1526) A- Hernan Cotes write this himself and it is from first person point of veiw and is how he experienced the events P- The letter was sent from Segura de la Frontera on october 30th, 1520--- was being sent back to the king in spain P- the spanish are in the process of conquering america, CC has already dicovered this "new world", cortes set out for gold and riches, he is being funded to spread the catholic word... but really isnt and is slaughtering the people, the aztecs are one the most intelligent beings on the planet at the time A- written to the king of spain (Charles V) and this affects the realiability of the source because he is __fluffing__ up the story for the king, so he will contue being funded R- The source was produced in 1520... not 1519 because cortes had to have a year to get settled, and also word might have gotten to the king about cortes killing the aztecs if he had sent the letter any later T- Cortes is telling the king that the aztecs fully welcomed him and gave him gold because they believed he was a god, they believed in many gods and they beliece he is one from their beliefs, he goes on to tell how they have many idols that they worship for almost everything they do, it is noticable that he makes the story all happy and in good manner when actually massacre is going on, he wanted to hide the truth in order to recieve funds S- this source is important because it show how cortes is covering up the real story, and it allows us to really contrast what the real story is

Aztec Chronicles Describe the spanish conquest of mexico (1519) A- Sabagun's witness (is an aztec) so he saw the truth P- source is produced in 1529 by an aztec looking back on events... he is telling everything to friar Bernardino de Sabagun P- the spanish come to the aztecs and are viewed as gods, then they get kicked out and kill a lot, and come back and all the aztecs are wiped out die to desease, cortes set out to spread the catholic word, but was actually just out for the gold A- the source is created for bernardino de sabagun and i dont think this affects the reliability of the source because the aztec knows no better and is telling the complete and absolute truth R- this is created in 1529 because it is after the fact and the aztec man had no chance to tell anyone during the troubled time, he had to wait until after, this is when the europeans started seeing what really went on T- the main idea is that the spaniards came to town, they were flowered with flowers and gold because cortes was thought to be a god, moctezuma gave cortes and his army almost half of the riches, then they had a big celebration/ fiesta and then all the spaniard surrounded them and killed them brutally S- this source is importent because it is 100 percent reliable because he has no reason to lie, it is important because we can now compare how cortes veiwed the cituation, and how the situation actually happened

How does this account from an actual aztec differ, either factually or interpretively from cortes's description? -Right away we can see a difference because the aztec focuses on the showering of flowers in his interpretation and cortes really focuses on the gold he is given. Also cortes's point of view is like "im being worshiped, this is cool im on top, im gonna take advantage" and the aztecs are really idolizing him and praying to him because they honestly believe he is a god. Another key aspect that is different is that cortes never mentions the killing of the aztecs, and the aztec witness spends a whole page telling us about how brutal the murders were and says so in detail. The only things that are the same are the overall plot line and the fact that they both recognized cortes was being idolized as a god.