Final - November 5 - The Conquest of Mexico and Peru

Question 1

A Wild Frontier? The first attempts at legislating the Conquest (Brief Review)

Answer 1

A conquest Without an Army: The “conquistador” model, an Early Modern Private-Public “partnership”?
Creating a legal framework for cohabitation: The Laws of Burgos (1512) and the regulation of colonial society
Forced Labor and Religious Salvation: The birth of the Encomienda system (Trust/Grant system)
The (cynic?) birth of the “rules of engagement”: The Requerimiento (the Demand/Requisition) (1513)

Question 2

explain Encomienda system

Answer 2

was as brutal as slavery but had a religious connotation that slavery didnt… was managed by priests later

Question 3

explain The (cynic?) birth of the “rules of engagement”: The Requerimiento (the Demand/Requisition) (1513)

Answer 3

document
attempted to justify exploiting the people
states what to do before engaging in battle… legally

Question 4

The Catholic Queen (Isabella) is dead (1504): what happened after

Answer 4

The Succession Problem in Castile and its impact on the Americas
who will inherit the crown? chasers I came as king (as a child)

Question 5

explain America, an afterthought?

Answer 5

King Ferdinand and the Search for Iberian and European Hegemony
Ferdinand’s main concern was not the americas

Question 6

explain Violence, social disruption, and disease

Answer 6

The unfulfilled promise of gold and the beginning of the indigenous demographic collapse

spread of small pox

Question 7

What about the Indes?

Answer 7

Charles I (also known as Charles V), The “Comunero” revolt and the Holy Roman Empire

takes him a while to realize what is happening in americas

Question 8

explain Surprising news arrive

Answer 8

the Hernan Cortés’ letters and the conquest of Mainland America

this is what catches charles’ attention

Question 9

The Conquest of Mexico (full slide)

Answer 9

The rise of the Aztec empire
The situation in Cuba before 1519
Cortes’ gamble: From Disobedience to (unexpected) Success

The European advantage in retrospect:
Weapons and military tactics
”Divide and Conquer”: The Alliance with other Indigenous Groups
Understanding the “Other”: Language, Knowledge, and Conquest – The figure of La Malinche
Disease and the decimation of the indigenous population

A “miraculous” victory or a Catastrophe foretold? Spanish and Indigenous accounts of the Conquest
Legitimizing the Conquest: Cortes’ Letters to Charles V
Imposing Royal Authority: Charles V reaction to the Conquest of Mexico

Question 10

explain Cortes’ gamble: From Disobedience to (unexpected) Success

Answer 10

he didnt have official approval to do an of this so he as a traitor who it happened

Question 11

explain The European advantage in retrospect

Answer 11

Weapons and military tactics
”Divide and Conquer”: The Alliance with other Indigenous Groups
Understanding the “Other”: Language (had a translator), Knowledge, and Conquest – The figure of La Malinche
Disease and the decimation of the indigenous population

Question 12

explain Legitimizing the Conquest: Cortes’ Letters to Charles

Answer 12

able to legitimate fact that he did all this and disobeyed… he wrote letters to the king about dicoveries

Question 13

explain Imposing Royal Authority: Charles V reaction to the Conquest of Mexico

Answer 13

Charles V forgave cortes, acknowledged the the lands Cortez controld, made cortez leader but stripped him of political power

cortez was a powerful man in exico at the time, why wasn’t he the king of mexico? How did charles impose himself? next class

Question 14

Hero or Villain? Hernan Cortés in the Historical and Popular Imagination (full slide)

Answer 14

The Hegemonic perception of Cortés (until at least the 19th Century):  A Christian Knight, a Military Genius, and a self-made “hero”
In Historical Accounts
In Painting
In Drama and Opera
During Francoism

From Hero to Tyrant: The multi-faceted challenge to the hegemonic perception
Spanish and Indigenous alternative Accounts: From Bernal Díaz del Castillo to he Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico
During the European Wars of Religion
The Independence of Mexico, the Mexican Revolution, and the questioning of the figure of Cortes
The Decolonization Movement and the Rise of Latin American Indigenism

Understanding Cortés beyond commonplaces :
On Religion: The Conquest as a Crusade
On Fame: The (perversion? of) the Chivalric Ideal
On Power: Cortes, Machiavelli, and Early Modern Political Thought
On Military Tactics: Conquest and Reconquest

Question 15

explain The Hegemonic perception of Cortés (until at least the 19th Century): A Christian Knight, a Military Genius, and a self-made “hero”

Answer 15

In Historical Accounts
In Painting
In Drama and Opera
During Francoism (dictatorship in america)

Question 16

explain cortez From Hero to Tyrant: The multi-faceted challenge to the hegemonic perception

Answer 16

Spanish and Indigenous alternative Accounts: From Bernal Díaz del Castillo to he Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico
During the European Wars of Religion
The Independence of Mexico, the Mexican Revolution, and the questioning of the figure of Cortes
The Decolonization Movement and the Rise of Latin American Indigenism

Question 17

Understanding Cortés beyond commonplaces :

Answer 17

On Religion: The Conquest as a Crusade
On Fame: The (perversion? of) the Chivalric Ideal
On Power: Cortes, Machiavelli, and Early Modern Political Thought
On Military Tactics: Conquest and Reconquest

Question 18

The Conquest of the Inca Empire (full slide) next class

Answer 18

The Rise (and Crisis) of the Inca Empire: The Death of Huayna Capac and the civil war between Huascar and Atahualpa
The Pizarro and Almagro expedition
The conquistadors: Social origins and aspirations
The events at Cajamarca and the capture of the Inca

Question 19

After Cajamarca (full slide)

Answer 19

Atahualpa’s ransom
The Conquest of the Empire
Resistance in Vilcabamba
The Battle for Control: The Death of Almagro (1538) and Pizarro (1541)
The New Laws of the Indies and the limitation of the Encomienda (1542)
The Defeat of the Conquistadors: Civil War (1542-1548) and Royal Authority
Tupac Amaru, the last Inca, and the fall of Vilcabamba (1572)