What factors contributed to Spains conquest of the Aztecs? How did life change for native people after the Spanish conquest, in terms of religion, labor, government, and/or gender roles? Were the changes for the better or not? Why or why not? Explain and include facts to support your answers.
There were many different factors that contributed to the Spanishs conquest of the Aztecs, many of these factors were based on the desire for more goods and to gain more trade. After the Spanish conquest, life for the Indians in return was changed drastically. They were affected in many kinds of ways from their religion to their government and labor. These changes were bad for the Indians, whether they were against or for the Spanish, they were all affected negatively. The Indians were forced to adapt to changes that were worse for them and their society.
The original start to the Spanish conquest began from the desire for goods from the Europeans which then ignited an age of expansionism, the Spanish was then influenced by this. Once the defeat of the Moors occurred, there was an opening for opportunities of commercial relations. Navigational science developed because the search for riches and commercial ties with the East had made the age of discovery and exploration possible. Adventurous expansion became fashionable and more ideal for the Spanish. However, Spain wanted to build an empire instead of expanding trade, and under Cortes, the Spaniards set out to conquer immediately as they arrived in Mexico.
Life began to change for the Indians because Cortes and the other Spanish were able to quickly take control and conquer. Cortes gained translators on his side as well as some of the Indians who turned against their ways and helped in the Spanish conquest (hoping for a better outcome for themselves, which would not occur). Montezuma (ruler of the Aztec Empire) and the other Indians believed that Cortes was a god-man, in result Montezuma misread the motives of Cortes. Finally, it was made clear that the more offerings or gold the Spanish were given, the more they would keep pushing forward nonetheless. The Spanish conquests victory over the Aztecs came from the factors of their technological superiority (weapons), their psychologically astute diplomatic strategy, and their temporary alliances with dissident Indians overpowering this empire, most important of all, was that the Indians were eager to help Cortes hoping that they would benefit in the end result. In addition, many Aztec customs weakened the Indian cause and added to the Spanish advantage. (Vigil, 52)
As for the changes that the Indians experienced, it involved the changes in religion, labor, and government. The biggest change that also took the longest was the conversion of religion. Many of the Indians’ religious sites were destroyed and their native religious roles and activities were banned. Many Indians attempted to balance by worshiping the old and the new religions and symbols.(Vigil, 54) At first Christianity was accepted with hesitance and despite all efforts the Indians conversion was slow. Eventually there was a mix of both ancient Indian and Catholic rites and cults into Mexican Catholic ideology, his religion is known as syncretic.
Other changes that were implemented by the Spanish was how the government handled land ownership and social classes. Land ownership began to change drastically and there were many debates on who owned the land. Besides the ownership of land, there was also a relocation of the Indians to make it easier to own land and take it over. Indians were understood to be an easy source of cheap labor. With this being understood by the Spanish, they created different labor and landholding systems with different changes in attempts to make it better; the natives remained oppressed in all of these systems and were forcefully placed and stuck in this system.
The motives behind the socioeconomic class structure implaced by the Spanish can be based on the establishment of a centralized, crown-controlled economy. There were different systems, all with different changes to make the system better; they were called encomienda, repartimiento, or hacienda. (Vigil, 61) From the text, it goes into further detail of these three structures that changed overtime. Encomienda was from European practices that guided how the Indians fit into the new colonial social organization. Repartimiento was created for a change to seek a way to prevent the decimation of the natives, under this policy laborers were to work for wages a limited number of days per year and thus have time for their own needs and enterprises. The hacienda system was started by the mechanism that established a bonded landowner-laborer network which was the practice of advancing Indians’ money or credit for future work.
With the other systems there were also different ways of social classes. So, into further detail for the social classes, socioeconomic class rankings were defined usually by color-class was entangled with labor-class. This caused many problems because it was unjust to base someone off of their color. In addition, the Spanish based the social class off of race, place of birth, and occupation determined social status. Because of this everyday life was affected and there were many differences among society and labor.
Government was changed and had an impact on the way society was controlled which ultimately controlled and changed the cultural aspect of the Indians lives as well. The Spaniards dominated the political institutions and took over full control for it, these were all further linked to the economic practices put in place and linked with the fragmentation of the Indian state. The Spaniard’s use of Indian cultural tradition to govern town members was very effective and was put in place to try to handle things in a better way for the Indians which would begin to shape their culture. Cultural life during this time period was complex and full of contrasts and loaded with strains. (Vigil, 83) Many natives were influenced by the dominant culture the Spanish brought and adapted to it as the new social norm, however some remained Indian and to their original ways of life with their same culture and practices.
In conclusion, from the start of Spanishs conquest of the Aztecs, even to the end of this somewhat “unstoppable conquest”, there was an overall decline to it. However during this conquest life for the Indians was changed completely. The Indians went through changes of religion for being forced into other religions and being forced to give up their own practices because they were considered “wrong” to the Spanish. Their government was overtaken and their empire was destroyed and their rulers were overthrown and eventually would become strictly handled by the Spanish. There were different systems of labor, all worse for the Indians by oppressing them and taking advantage of them, only thinking of them as “cheap and easy workers”. These changes were overall not better for the Indians and only had a good affect for the Spanish. Throughout the text it is shown that the Indians went through bad changes once the Spanish came there.
