Worldviews in Conflict

The defeat for the Aztecs was devastating: even though they believed they did what they believed the gods wanted, their civilization was defeated This was very similar to Europe going through the Black Death

Their worldview changed drastically...

The Aztec faith in their gods was weakened. Spain sent monks from the Franciscan order – a group of devout, dedicated monks They forced their religion on the Aztecs, particularly on the children Aztec language and religion was banned, and they were taught Christianity Spain destroyed any religious symbols and Aztec architecture they could find, replacing them with Christian ones

The Spanish settlers were given land in the New World They forced the Aztecs to work on the land Aztecs had no choice – they had no other way to make a living in the new world Spain was creating Spain created the encomienda system – just like the French seigneurial system in North America

Spanish King/Queen | Governor | Conquistadors / Settlers | Aztecs

The worldview of the Spanish settlers also changed: When Cortes convinced his soldiers to fight with him, he promised them they would be rich beyond their dreams When the conquest was finished, most of the gold was sent back to Spain

Cortes needed to convince the men to stay and make the colony strong He created a “marriage law”: every man who wanted to won land had to a) Bring a wife from Spain b) Marry an Aztec woman If they disagreed, they would lose their land The King of Spain disagreed with this system of land ownership – p.248

Cortes hoped that a strong colony would be created The children of Spanish/Aztec families became known as Mestizo – who now make up the population of Mexico

The King took the power of running the new colony away from Cortes and gave it to Don Antonio de Mendoza It is probable that the King feared that Cortes had too much power Cortes wasn’t happy...

As time went on, the Spanish settlers became unhappy with the King: Spain was taking all of the money/resources from Mexico, and not taking care of the colony They did not have good roads, schools, hospitals It eventually got so bad, that the colony revolted – Mexico declared itself independent of Spain P.251 Creoles – the descendents of Spanish settlers

Mexico is a mix of Aztec, Mestizo, and Spanish traditions Traditions today reflect all of these groups Ex: p. 252 “The Day of the Dead” Even today, traditional Aztec/Spanish traditions can be seen in music, celebrations, art, writing, diet, etc.