JDB+APPARTS+Method+Primary+Source+Responses-

Summer Source Book Assignment -

Hernan Cortes Conquers Mexico

A- Hernan Cortes is the author of this primary souce. He is one of the most famous Spanish conquistadors. He was the one to invade Mexico, and get as much gold as he could off the native people. Cortes shows that the Aztec culture was welcoming to him because they thought he was a god. They believed in many gods which Cortes tried to change. P- This letter was wrote on October 30, 1520. It was supposed to be sent to Spain from the country of Mexico. P- The Aztec people believed that Cortes was a god for many reasons. He came from where the sun sets; he wore armor; he also had weapons of fire in his hand; these things were all thought to be like a god in the eyes of the Aztec. Therefore, the Aztec were very welcoming to Cortes, and they offered to give half of the entire gold that they had had to avoid war with the Spanish. But, Cortes wanted all of the gold, and he would get it by force if he had to. A- This was created to be read by the eyes of the Spanish Emperor. This makes the source more reliable because Cortes was employed by the emperor. He most likely had to keep up with knowledge that Cortes had found. Then he knew what Cortes was up to at all times. R- This letter was produced because Cortes wanted to tell the emperor of his sucess. He was bragging about his finds and all the gold that he was going to bring back. He wanted to show the Spanish emperor that he was doing his job well enough to be considered a god. T- This source is trying to say that Cortes is going to suceed on this expedition. He is showing that foreign countries are courteous to guests and he was able to make new relations with the natives. He was able to persuade the natives to get what he wanted such as cleaning up the homes and giving him gifts. S- This source shows that the Spanish will be able to colonize in the new found world. This shows the wealth that the Spanish can gain from the native people of Mexico. He is showing that the Aztecs are able to pay for alliance with the Spanish.

Aztec Choroniclers Describe the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

A- This account was written by a Spanish friar after he had learned the language of Nahuatl. One of Sahagun's witnesses describes the encounter to him. He translates this to Spanish to be easier to be read. This account was supposed to be from the Aztec's perspective. P- This encounter took place in Mexico. This was written in 1529, even though it took place in 1519 at the time of the fiesta of Huitzilopochtli.The Spanish wanted to see how this was performed to get a better knowledge of the Aztec culture. P- This source would be better understood if the reader knew about the first encounter with the Aztecs. If you had known about the first welcoming, you would not be as suprised about this welcoming. I knew from the first encounter that the Spanish empire would do something to take all of the Aztec's possessions. However, I did not expect that the Spanish would kill the Aztec people in their celebration. I knew that the Aztec culture was very technoligical for that century. They were a very advanced culture that was ruined by the Spanish killing them by sword and disease. A- This encounter was written for a journal kept by the friar. He wanted to keep a history of the encounters between Spanish culture and Aztec culture. It was written to keep the history new at that time of the year. R- This was written because the friar wanted to have more people know about the reasons the Aztec culture was wiped out. He wanted to let people know about the violence that was put into effect against this welcoming society. This journal entry was made to show the negative effect of the Spanish people on the Aztec culture. T- The main idea of this entry was to show the nature of different societies. It was to show how far the Spanish people would go to get what they wanted. The Spanish would go to any measure to get the thing that they wanted. If they wanted the gold, they would use any force necessary to get that gold. S- This is important to show the relationship between the Spanish and Aztec people. This is most likely why the Aztec women would not mate with the Spanish men. It shows that the Spanish will do anything to gain power over anyone. They will get wealth and power from destroying the Aztec power.