What we will learn  How does cultural contact between two societies affect their identity and worldview?  How can losing a war affect a conquered people’s worldview?  How can intercultural contact produce a new society that combines aspects of both original societies?

Consider these questions….  Most wars involve more than a physical struggle. Wars are often clashes in which one ideology, or set of values, challenges another.  What happens once a war is over?  Do the “winners” always make the “losers” give up their traditions and beliefs?  Or do both sides adopt parts of another’s worldview?  What happened in Mexico after the conflict between the Aztecs and Spanish?

Changing a Worldview  Spanish conquest was a catastrophe for the Aztecs  Affected nearly every aspect of their way of life  Forced them to rethink the way they looked at the world

A New Religion  Aztec priests told people during attacks to keep sacrificing and praying and gods would listen and lead to victory  Aztec people felt gods abandoned them  Cortes wrote to King Carlos to send “religious persons of goodly life and character”  3 years later, priests from Franciscan order landed in Veracruz

A New Religion  Franciscan priests vowed to live in poorest conditions, never get married, always obey superiors  Walked to Mexico City (aka Tenochtitlan)  When they arrived, Cortes knelt down and kissed the hem of their robes  Aztecs were amazed, they had never seen the conquistadors treat anyone with this respect

Destroying Aztec Temples  Many Aztecs were converted to Catholic faith  Franciscans and other missionaries destroyed temples and burned codices

New Economy  Aztecs forced into new economic system  Spanish changed economic system to the encomienda system  This system was set up in all the colonies

Encomienda System  Spanish had pieces of land, and settlers given a specific number of Aztec workers  Didn’t pay the workers, but they had legal rights  Landowners supposed to treat workers well and educated them in Christian religion  Aztec workers abused; Crown put laws in place but did little to stop abuse

Encomienda System  The economy no longer worked to make the Aztecs rich  The system resembled a ladder with the Spanish at the top and the Aztecs at the bottom

A New World Emerges  Both the Spanish and the Aztecs had to change their ways of thinking after the Spanish conquest

Plundered Gold  Cortes’s men threatened to rebel after Aztec conquest  Cortes didn’t give his men gold like he promised after past conquests, it went back to Spain  Fought for years with no pay except what they took in battle  Cortes agreed they deserved more  He needed to give them something so they would stay and make Mexico a powerful colony

Cortes’s Solution  Two policies: encomienda and the marriage law  Every Spaniard in New Spain had to bring his wife over or marry an Indigenous woman  didn’t marry within 6 months= lost encomienda

A Changing Worldview  Cortes’s men now could stay an colonize New Spain  By marrying Indigenous women, strengthened ties to colony  Children of these marriages were Mestizo, mixed- race people

The Independence Movement  King Carlos took governorship away from Cortes  Don Antonio de Mendoza became first viceroy in New Spain  King Carlos may have feared Cortes was too good at what he did and would declare himself king of the colony

Discontent in New Spain  Colony was under direct control of the Spanish Crown  Gold, silver, farm products went to Spain to pay for European wars  People in New Spain saw that what was good for the king wasn’t good for them  New Spain had shortage of roads, schools, and housing  Discontent arose; in 1821 Mexico became independent of Spain

Mexican Culture Today  Fusion of Indigenous, Mestizo, and Spanish traditions  Roman Catholic churches of Mexico: can see where traditions came together  Church festivals include Aztec traditions

Ethnic Origin of the Population of Mexico (2006)

Mexican Artists and Writers  Aztec and Spanish traditions fused together through art and written work

Frida Kahlo  Daughter of Mestizo mother and German father  Skilled and influential painter  Loved Mexican folk art, sculpture and architecture of Indigenous peoples

Octavio Paz  Best-known Mexican writer of the 20 th century  Studied history of Mexico’s Indigenous peoples to understand present-day Mexico