SEVEN MYTHS OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST

Hist 140 Theme 5

Summer 2011

By: Le Thi My Ho

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The number 7 has almost mystical qualities The number 7 has deep roots and symbolic

significance in the history of the Americas, both Native American and Spanish

The origin myth of the Mexica included a tale of descent from 7 lineages, who emerged from 7 cages in a mythical location in the Mexican north

Las Siete Partidas (The Seven Items)- Medieval Spanish law code during the Conquest period

Rumored to be 7 cities of gold in Cibola

1 A HANDFUL OF ADVENTURES Las Siete Partidas (The Seven

Items/Aspects)1 The use of legalistic measures to lend a

veneer of validity to an expedition2 The appeal to higher authority, typically

and ideally the king himself3 The search for precious metals4 Need to acquire native allies5 The acquisition of an interpreter6 The use of display violence or the

theatrical use of violence7 The public seizure of a native ruler

3 INVISIBLE WARRIORS

The “invisible warriors” of this myth took an additional form, that of Africans, free and enslaved, who accompanied Spanish invaders and in later campaigns equaled or exceeded them in number

Cortes was successful exploiting native rivalries and divisions and gaining allies

Songs of Aztecs present the war as a kind of civil or local conflict, between rival city-states within the same ethnic and linguistic area

Black slaves were originally brought for labor, but most functioned as personal auxiliaries

7 APES AND MEN

We are still living in “the contact period” In colonial times, Spaniards sought to confine

history by harnessing it to what may be the simplest trope ever invented to explain human behavior, differences between peoples, and the outcome of historical events – the trope of superiority

Indigenous inferiority was expressed in terms that denied Native American their humanity

The opposition of man and native, the civilized and the barbarous, the advanced and the primitive, is seen everywhere, not only in colonial and early modern sources

7 APES AND MEN

Conquistador Hernan Cortes reasons why the Conquest was a “just cause”:1 We were fighting against a barbarian

people to spread our Faith2 To serve your Majesty3 To protect our lives4 Many of the natives were our allies and

would assist