1. Worldview in Conflict
How does cultural contact between two societies affect their identity and worldview?

2. Changing a Worldview
The Spanish conquest was a catastrophe, or disaster, for the Aztecs
It affected almost every aspect of their way of life, forcing them to rethink the way they looked at the world
We are going to be examining:
Structure of Aztec Society
Religion
Economy

3. A New Religion
During the final siege of Tenochtitlan, Aztec priests kept telling their leaders that if the Aztecs continued their sacrifices and prayers, the gods would lead them to victory
After defeat, many felt the gods had abandoned them
Cortes wrote back to Spain asking him to send “religious persons of goodly life and character” – he wanted to convert Tenochtitlan to his faith

4. Spanish conquistadors and Settlers
Structure of Society
The structure of society was greatly impacted
The Spanish Crown takes 20% of all gold and other valuables found in Spain
Collects taxes that support himself, the colonial government, and the Spanish Crown
Given econmiendas with Aztec workers. After paying taxes, they keep the remaining profits
Do all the actual work on the farms and in the mines in return for little more than the basic necessities
The Spanish Crown
Governor
Spanish conquistadors and Settlers
The Aztec People

5. New Economy
The Aztecs based their economy on farming, trade, war, and tribute
The Spanish changed the economic system in Mexico by introducing encomienda system
With each piece of land, the settlers were allotted a number of Aztec workers
The Aztec workers were, in theory protected by the law

6. Setting up a Colony
As soon as the Aztecs surrendered, Cortes’s men threatened to rebel
Cortes had promised them riches and gold but most of the gold had been sent back to Spain
Cortes’s goal was to stay in Mexico and make it a colony of the powerful Spanish Empire – he needed his fighting men to help him in this mission
Cortes’s Solution – enconmienda and a marriage law (every man had to either bring his wife over or marry an Indigenous woman)
He gave his men land grants and marriage – this shifted their focus from short-term goals to the long-term project of colonizing
The children of Spanish men and Indigenous women were called Mestizo – what is this group in Canada called?

7. Discontent in New Spain
The King appointed someone else as the new governor of New Spain
He may have thought that Cortes would try to rebel against the Spanish crown
Discontent eventually arose among every class of society in New Spain. In 1821, Mexico became independent from Spain