Aztecs Chapter 11 Flashcards
What is Mexico’s society like with regards to its Spanish past?
Mexicans do not identify with Spain.
What is a catastrophe?
A disaster. Huge mess, terrible.
Why did the Spanish force the Aztecs to convert and used them as workers? (4)
- The Spanish believed it was their divine mission to spread Catholicism, so they forced the rest to convert.
- Driven by the greed for gold, they didn’t care about the rights of the Aztecs.
- They were not willing to do anything for the Aztecs that cost them money or interfered with their plans.
- The Spanish felt their culture was superior, so they were unlikely to assimilate (give up their religion, language, traditions, etc.).
Cause: Aztecs felt that the gods had abandoned them.
Effect: Aztecs suffered defeat.
Effect: Aztecs suffered defeat.
Cause: Aztecs felt that the gods had abandoned them.
Cause: Cortes asked the king to send priests and missionaries to New Spain.
Effect: Franciscan priests from the Franciscan Order came three years later and vowed to live in poor conditions, never to marry, and obey their superiors. They traveled to Cortes, who kissed their gray robes and knelt before them.
Effect: Franciscan priests from the Franciscan Order came three years later and vowed to live in poor conditions, never to marry, and obey their superiors. They traveled to Cortes, who kissed their gray robes and knelt before them.
Cause: Cortes asked the king to send priests and missionaries to New Spain.
Cause: The Franciscan priests went through mountains and jungles to Mexico City, arriving weeks later, having traveled 500km. CORTES WAS HAPPY THAT THEY HAD APPEARED.
Effect: Cortes expressed respect and thanks to the priests.
Effect: Cortes expressed respect and thanks to the priests.
Cause: The Franciscan priests went through mountains and jungles to Mexico City, arriving weeks later, having traveled 500km. CORTES WAS HAPPY THAT THEY HAD APPEARED.
Why did the Franciscan priests destroy the Aztec temples and burn all the Aztec codices they could find?
That there would be no trace of Aztecs ever-existing and that no one would find inspiration from them, in particular from their religion, for they found the Aztec’s religion barbaric toward their Catholic faith. This also forced the Aztecs further to abandon their beliefs.
Why was a featherwork design put on the cover of a chalice?
To pay homage to the Aztec belief system and as a way of apologizing for and acknowledging the past. Also because not all Aztecs were convinced about Christianity.
Something was taken from a group of Indigenous peoples and returned. When was it returned, by who, and who was it originally taken from? What was it?
Sweden returned the totem pole to the Haisla people in 2006.
Why did Sweden return the totem pole to the Haisla people in 2006?
They had found respect for that culture and now saw how important it is to the Haisla people and how it is a part of their identity.
After the Spanish conquest, what effect did religion have on the Aztec worldview?
They were forced to be educated in Catholicism and convert, which impacted their values, beliefs, knowledge, and more. The Aztecs were polytheistic while the Catholic religion was monotheistic. Some Aztecs questioned their gods and believed in the Catholic God, for He beat their gods in the battle. Was He more powerful than their gods?
How was the Encomienda System structured? (Ranks and what each rank did.)
Spanish Crown (Takes King’s fifth, 20% of all gold and valuables in New Spain) –> Governor/Viceroy (Collects taxes to support himself, the Colonial government, and the Spanish Crown) –> Spanish Conquistadors and Settlers (Given encomiendas with Aztec workers. They paid taxes and kept the remaining profits) –> Aztec People (Did work on the farms and in the mines for basic life necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter)
How did the Aztec system work?
With war, collecting tributes from the conquered countries, farming, and fishing.
Who benefited from the Aztec system and how?
Emperor was treated like a god, the nobility and priests were rich, the merchants, artisans, and soldiers were wealthy, and farmers, fishers, and women were poor, but they could work their way up the ranks.
Who was harmed by the Aztec system and how?
The tributes that were offered for human sacrifice and the peoples the Aztecs conquered.
Who benefited from the Encomienda system and how?
Spanish Crown got valuables and gold, Governor/Viceroy benefited from taxes, conquistadors and settlers got land, workers, and profits. They were wealthy in varying degrees.
