The Spanish Conquest - Essay Example

Spanish Conquest The Spanish Conquest Introduction The Spanish conquest resulted from the Columbus setting forth commanding three small ships. After a long, drawn-out journey, Columbus landed on the coast of a Caribbean Island commencing the Spanish Conquest of America (Lane, 1996). He was thus given the title of Admiral Ocean Sea. Further, the voyage helped Columbus acquire royal patronage and, therefore, led three other expeditions to the Caribbean (Taylor & Pease, 1994). The Azteca alongside the Inca empires in Mexico was conquered by Spain in the 16th century. The Empire of Inca was conquered by Pizarro Francisco. The men of Pizarro kidnapped Emperor Atahualpa in exchange for a ransom of silver and gold. Unfortunately, Atahualpa was murdered immediately after the payment of the ranch. Also, the Mexican territory was conquered by Hernan Cortes since the people of Aztec believed that Cortex was their white-skinned god Quetzacoatlin (Sale, 1991). This belief favored the conquerors leading to rapid Spanish conquest in the region. After their arrival in Tenochtitlan in 1519, the Spanish fleet men were commanded by Cortes and arrested the Aztec Emperor, Moctezuma by the month of November. The conquerors only took two years to overthrow completely the Aztec Empire. Subsequently, they secured control of the Tenochtitlan together with its surrounding territories to build Mexico City upon the ruins. Effects Indigenous Economies The Spanish Conquerors changed many aspects of the Inca after the fall of the Inca Empire. These aspects of culture were systematically destroyed as well as irrevocably altered by the Spanish (Sale, 1991). The Inca people suffered a dramatic as well as sudden decline because of increased illness and diseases with many of the remaining people were enslaved. The cities and towns were pillaged culminating in the mass loss of wide amounts of traditional artwork, architecture as well as craft following the destruction of many aspects of their economic culture (Taylor & Pease, 1994). Moreover, the introduction of Christianity greatly impacted the art of the Inca people as this reflected the themes of Christians alongside taking the different art design instead of their traditional designs. The Spanish oil painting on canvas techniques was introduced to the Inca artworks fusing with the artistic traditions of the Inca people (León-Portilla, 2006). In essence, the conquest was a catastrophe to the people of Inca as well as their entire culture. The Spanish enslaved many people of Inca including the artisans and crafts to work forcefully in their silver and gold mines (Sale, 1991). The conquerors constructed new buildings using the designs as well as establishing new cities on top of Inca foundations. Religion The spread of Christianity greatly influenced both the people of Inca as well as their artwork. Particularly, Pizarro and the Spanish subdued the Empire and the entire region bringing it under their sole control (León-Portilla, 2006). Subsequently, the conquerors forcefully converted many to Christianity, and this quickly spread to convert the entire region to Christianity. Accordingly, the early art from the colonial period showed influences of both Inca and Christianity religious themes. Therefore, the traditional Inca designs of artwork were embraced and changed by the Conquerors to incorporate the themes of Christianity (Taylor & Pease, 1994). Political System The Spanish conquest greatly altered the political systems of the natives that were emperor-based. Many emperors were conquered and destroyed as the Empires killed or murdered. For example, Pizarro’s men kidnapped Emperor Atahualpa in exchange for a ransom of silver and gold and later killed once the payment for the ransom had been effected (Sale, 1991). Therefore, the Inca emperor was destroyed and collapsed after the death of their leader. Another emperor who was arrested is Aztec Emperor, Moctezuma and this also led to the collapse of the Emperor totally changing their political systems as they took over the control of Tenochtitlan and its surrounding territories to build Mexico City upon the ruins (León-Portilla, 2006). Responses of the Native Tribes The responses of the native tribes to the Spanish conquest were mixed. The enslavement and forced Catholicism a lot of rebellion amongst the natives as it was a catastrophic experience (León-Portilla, 2006). The natives such as the people of Inca and Aztec felt oppress and opposed their cultural erosion as well as artwork that had to take new designs of Spanish (Taylor & Pease, 1994). The conquest brought wars as a reaction or response strategy to oppose the oppressive and mistreatment leveled by the Spanish (Lane, 1996). Responses to forceful Catholic Conversion The Spanish believed that it was their God-given call to convert people to Christianity and particularly Catholicism. They, therefore, did not care even it called for severe mistreatment of people (Williams, 1999). Many natives felt disappointment by their forceful conversion to Christianity as they already had their cultural gods that they were worshiping. The misery that the natives faced from the forceful conversion led to fierce resistance to retain the religions. Responses to Economic Changes The economic changes in agriculture due to the introduction new crops and technology and enslavement were also opposed by the natives. The enslavement to forcefully work in the Spanish firms became a devastating experience to the natives (Lane, 1996). The natives were forced to work for long hours in the firms, and this was opposed as the work was tiresome. Responses to Cultural/Political Changes The Spanish conquest greatly focused on the cultural change of the native population. However, many people were never willing to let go their respective cultural practices and hence greatly opposed the Spanish (Williams, 1999). Also, the Spanish changed the political systems of the societies that conquered. They kidnapped and killed political leaders such as the emperor of Inca, Atahualpa. This was opposed fiercely as many emperors were destroyed by the Spanish. Legacy of the Spanish Conquest This section discusses Peru and Guatemala to showcase the legacy of the Spanish conquest. The indigenous profile of present-day Peru and Guatemala is discussed and subsequently linked to the specific ways in the Spanish conquest and colonization was executed Peruvian and Guatemala region. The legacy of the Spanish conquest is still felt in Peru and Guatemala (Williams, 1999). In the present day Peru, their cultural activities have been greatly shaped by the legacy of Spanish and Amerindian influences. Just recently, the Peruvian history has had an effect; the indigenismo of the early 20th century, as well as the regions more recent political struggles, have conjointly influenced the people of Peru alongside the culture. The geography of the country implies that the ethnic diversity has been preserved, and this is reflected in the diverse traditions of the culture of the Peruvians. Also, the customs of the people of Peru is similar to that of Latin America nations (Sale, 1991). However, the people of Peru make their culture appear slightly different. The syncretism of the native heritage together with the close alliance to Roman Catholicism makes the culture of the people of Peru quite interesting. This is particularly regarding the celebration of Christmas that has remained so important to the Peruvian society. Also, the Peruvian art is popular in the world (Poole, 1965). The pre-Colombian work evolved into religious art after the Spanish colonization. Also, the awareness of indigenous rights in modern Peruvian society has ensured that indigenous styles together with symbols remained significance increasingly in the artwork of the people of Peru (Lane, 1996). Moreover, the literature style follows the history of Peru with the oral story-telling of the pre-Colombian age through to the Latin American boom of the late 20th century. Such authors as Mario Vargas Llosa has ensured that the Peruvian literature increasingly become famous around the world (Williams, 1999). On the other hand, the history of Guatemala has greatly influenced the Guatemalan customs and culture. The Guatemalan people are mostly mestizo which is a blend of Spanish and Maya blood. However, many villagers are pure Maya descendants. The Maya civilization by the Spanish greatly influenced the history of Guatemalan as they lived throughout the modern day Guatemala for over six centuries before collapsing about 900 AD(Sale, 1991). Therefore, the country has been greatly influenced by the multicultural Guatemalan society customs, people, and cuisine. For instance, the Guatemalan cuisine varies per region but many native Guatemalan foods depend on Maya cuisine. The Guatemalan food ingredients are predominantly corns, beans and chilies resulting from the Spanish conquest (León-Portilla, 2006). The Guatemalan principle crop of the Maya was corn maize, and this has remained top in their feeding arrangements in the present Guatemala. Moreover, the Guatemalan people popular dishes include tamales, enchiladas and quesadillas which should be confused with the fellow Mexican dishes. Also, the music and fashion of the Guatemalan people is another legacy that has remained so important part of the Guatemalan culture. The people of Guatemala are thus known for their percussion bands featuring the national instruments, marimba (Lane, 1996). The fashion of Guatemalan people is also famous for its use if brightly colored yarn-textiles, shirts, capes, blouses, dresses, and skirts. This typically reflects the history of Guatemalan since the bright colored fabrics were very common amongst the Maya people. Conclusion The Spanish conquest was catastrophic to the Guatemala, Aztec and Peruvian people amongst others. The forceful conversion to Christianity and enslavement were oppressive, and many people suffered as a result. These drew resistance to oppose their activities that aimed cultural erosion, political systems destruction, land alienation and economic destructions. The conquest forced the Natives to work as slaves in the Spanish agricultural farms under poor conditions and long hours (Sale, 1991). Also, the culture of the natives was greatly interfered with socially, politically and economically. The contact brought about new art designs and architectural changes that had to be followed by the natives. They also took control over the land and the mineral deposits of the regions conquered and this worsened the economic status of these conquered territories (Lane, 1996). The discussion has been divided into two with the first focusing purely on the conquest and the effects. The Spanish conquest began around 1942 when Columbus set three ships and sailed to the Caribbean Island and commenced the conquest of the Latin America (León-Portilla, 2006). The conquest was done in expeditions that saw the Spanish taking control of the Guatemalan, Peruvian, Inca, and Tenochtitlan. The emperors were destroyed after kidnapping or arrest of the emperors such as Moctezuma. The conquest altered the cultural practices, religion, political systems as well as economic practices of the conquered regions (Williams, 1999). Also, the forceful conversion to Christianity and enslavement of the natives led to fierce resistance by the natives but led to the death of many people. The Spanish believed that they were sent by God to convert people in the New World and did not care about the extent of the mistreatment. Therefore, people were oppressed to accept the Catholicism and those who rebelled had to face the wrath. However, there has been a legacy of the Spanish conquest in Peru, Guatemala and in many other regions they conquered (Sale, 1991). The conquered territories have remained to practice their music and fashion as seen in Guatemala. The Spanish oil painting has also remained in the present day Peru artwork alongside the architectural designs. Reference Lane, K. E. (1996). Mining the margins: precious metals extraction and forced labor regimes in the Audiencia of Quito, 1534-1821. León-Portilla, M. (2006). The broken spears: The Aztec account of the Conquest of Mexico. Boston: Beacon Press. Poole, S. (1965). " War by Fire and Blood" the Church and the Chichimecas 1585. The Americas, 115-137. Sale, K. (1991). The conquest of paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian legacy. London: John Curtis Book from Hodder & Stoughton. Taylor, W. B., & Pease, G. Y. (1994). Violence, resistance, and survival in the Americas: Native Americans and the legacy of conquest. Smithsonian Institution Press. Williams, C. (1999). Resistance and rebellion on the Spanish frontier: native responses to colonization in the Colombian Choco, 1670-1690. Hispanic American Historical Review, 79(3), 397-424. Read More