La otra conquista

The Other Conquest

2000 1:50
Precolumbian Mexico
The Aztecs [who
called themselves
Mexica] were
originally a
nomadic people
who originated in
Aztlán.
The precise
location of Aztlán
is unknown, other
than it was in the
North.
The Aztec
travelling
merchants
covered large
 Predecessors
There were many civilizations that pre-dated the Aztecs in
the region, and many lived near them while their empire
expanded.

Expansion took place by means of conquering other

civilizations and incorporating the conquered into the Aztec
empire.

The Aztecs were both hated and feared by the neighboring

civilizations, which ultimately helped contribute to their downfall.
 The beginnings of the
Empire
Starting in the north around 1168, the Aztecs wandered south in
search of a sign that had been made manifest in a prophecy: when
they came across an eagle with a serpent in its beak, perched on
nopal cactus, they were to establish their capital there, in the early
1200s.
Lake Texcoco
An eagle doing just this was
spotted near Lago Texcoco, and the
foundations of the new empire
were laid.
 This was a hostile environment, surrounded by unwelcoming
neighbors.

The neighboring civilizations, knowing that the island was snake

infested, more or less accepted [or banished] the Aztecs to this
island, hoping to finish them off. Or at least put some distance
between themselves and the more aggressive Aztecs and their
violence practices.

Little did they know that the Aztecs ate snakes!

 TENOCHTITLAN
In 1325 the Aztecs took refuge on a previously uninhabited island
and began to construct what would become the capital of their
empire.
The construction of this city
is an impressive
accomplishment.
As the population grew, the island
was artificially expanded by means of
chinampas.
3 causeways [calzadas] connected the island to the
shore of the mainland.
 The empire
By 1519 the empire
had spread from the
Atlantic to the
Pacific, containing
around 500 towns
and 38 provinces.
Most of those living
in the empire were
not Aztecs but rather
peoples conquered
 Organization of the
Empire
The leader of the Aztecs was the Emperor, who was treated like a
god.
The Emperor was advised by a deputy, 4 generals and a council of
advisers.
Beneath them were the nobles, the “tlatoani”, who
governed the provinces, and lesser nobles who
controlled the cites.
The common people, the majority, were organized into clans
called “calpulli”. Each calpulli had a certain amount of land that
they were responsible for and which provided them with food.

The lowest category was that of the slaves. Some of these were
members of other peoples who had been captured, some were
Aztecs who had been caught stealing, or who had economic
problems such as debts or failed crops.
 Daily life

market
 Religion
The Aztecs had what seemed to be an enormous pantheon on
gods, but many of these gods had several names, depending
on what they were controlling and the time of year and/or
circumstances.
Most of the gods were “borrowed” from the Olmecand Toltec
civilizations. The 2 most ancient gods had 4 sons, who in turn
created the rest of the world. All 4 sons were named
TEZEATLIPOCA [“smoking mirror”] and had other names and duties
within the civilization, such as an association .

Red Tezeatlipoca—Xipe Totec [Flayed God]

Blue Tezeatlipoca—Huitzipopochtli [Blue Hummingbird]-tribal
god
White Tezeatlipoca—Quetzalcoatl [Plumed Serpent]
Black Tezeatlipoca [Lord of the Night Sky]
http://www.mindspring.com/~co
 Human Sacrifice
They believed that regular offerings of human blood and hearts
were necessary to keep the sun moving, and also to ensure that
the earth would continue to provide sustenance to the people.

Aztecs who were sacrificed considered it an honor, in that they

were helping their people and were going straight to the highest
reward.

Many of the victims however, were from neighboring

communities, and were captured as a result of a “guerra florida”
or “flowery war”—invasions to capture sacrificial victims.
For obvious reasons, the Aztecs were feared and hated by their
neighbors!
The Templo Mayor and
other structures
Writing system and
language
The Aztec language is Nahuatland there was no phonetic alphabet
but rather a system of glyphs that represented a unit of meaning.
Dots and glyphs were used in the calendar to signify a year and
days [the Aztec calendar was like the Chinese in that the years had
attributes-Year of the Rabbit.

The Aztecs wrote on bark and deer skin, and had records of their
history, conquests and religion, along with more mundane
information related to commerce and trading.

All of these writings were destroyed by the Spaniards during the

conquest. The examples of Aztec writings, called the codices [1
codex] now in existence were done at the bequest of Spanish
priests following the conquest.
Nahuatl is a rather complex language. The names of both
people and places tend to be composed of Nahuatl words
strung together, and the writing system combines these
glyphs.

at the water of
chili peppers
Hill with
ocelot
[wild cat]
 The Conquest
HernánCortés set sail from Cuba in 1519 with about 600 men,
some horses, dogs, and firearms. An advanced team had landed
first in the Yucatan, and encountered Jerónimode Aguilar, a
Spaniard who had been shipwrecked years earlier and had since
been living with the Mayans and had learned their language.
Aguilar joined Cortés’ expedition [a second Spaniard decided to
remain with the Mayans, as he had married and was more fully
integrated into the society], providing Cortés with an interpreter.

As the expedition moved north along the Atlantic /Gulf coast, they
encountered peoples who did not speak Mayan [a family of
languages as opposed to a single language]
 Malintzín, La Malinche
In the Tabasco region, the Spaniards encountered a woman known
by a number of names throughout history, but without whom the
conquest would have been much more difficult.

She had been born into a noble family but was given or sold to
another group, perhaps so that her more favored brother could rule.
She was from a Nahuatl-speaking region and was given to a Mayan-
speaking people, so she was fluent in both.
So when Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlán, he was able to
commuicate with the Emperor Moctezuma, albeit in a
complicated, roundabout way.

Cortés—in Spanish--
Aguilar

Aguilar-in Mayan--
Malinche

Malinche-in Nahuatl--
Moctezuma
 In the meantime, in
the background…..
Cortés had the great fortune to meet up with sworn enemies of
the Aztecs.

He also arrived in the same year that the god

Quetzalcoatl was prophesied to return.

Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, had been banished from

Aztec lands, and was said to one day return from the East,
over the water, in the guise of a white man with light
colored hair and a beard.

When the Emperor Moctezuma and his council of nobles first

heard of the newcomers to the East, their first thought was of
Quetzalcoatl. They later had doubts, long before Cortés actually
arrived in Tenochtitlán, but it was too late.
 How did the Aztecs
lose?
They had a lot of enemies who saw the Spaniards as the lesser of
2 evils.
The priests had become too powerful within the Aztec
society and had lost some support amongst the people.

Spears and cloth shields were no match for guns.

The Spaniards’ horses—an animal never

before seen-inspired fear and could outrun
any warrior.

The cyclical nature of the Aztec calendar called

for periods of destruction, leading to a sense of
fatality and acceptance.
 Post-conquest life
With their noblemen/gods vanquished, many Aztecs accepted
Christianity. Why?
Others fought the imposition of an alien lifestyle and belief
system.
Thousands fell victim to European diseases not previously known in the
Americas, particularly smallpox but also measles, the mumps and even
the common cold.

Unlike the British pilgrims who arrived with their families, the
Spaniards in the New World were men, and men who were either single
or who had left their families behind in Spain [like Cortés]. So there
was much intermingling between Aztec women and Spanish men,
sometimes by choice, sometimes by force.
More Aztecs learned Spanish than did Spaniards learn Nahuatl. The
priests were often the exception. They were also often the protectors
of the natives against the invadors [who were not always convinced
that the natives were actually humans with souls worthy of respect.]
¿Questions about the
readings or the
While you’re viewing, keep in mind & take notes on:

what readings or what parts of the readings helped prepare

you for this film [¿qué lecturas o qué secciones te prepararon
para esta película?

with whom did your sympathies lie during the viewing?

Why?
¿Con quién te simpatizabas mientras mirabas. ¿Por qué?

do we always have to respect the views and values of others?

Exlain.
¿Estamos siempre obligados a respetar las opiniones y los valores
de otros? Explica.
Explain the relationship between Tonantzin and the statue of
the Virgin Mary
Explica la relación entre Tonantzin y la estatua de la Virgen
María.