2. A Handful of Adventurers
Chapter 1
The focus on a few prominent characters
marginalizes the many other individuals who
played crucial roles in the events of history.
Christopher Columbus had important Portuguese
connections and had neither a unique plan or
unique pattern of previous experience.
Columbus’ discoveries were and accidental
geographical byproduct of Portuguese expansion
two centuries old.
Probanzas were reports written by conquerors
which were sent back to Spanish monarchs for
the purpose of gaining office, title, or pension.
The probanzas were biased and eventually
evolved into historical recollections.
One of the reasons Hernan Cortes became
idolized was because of his rapid publication and
wide circulation of letters to the king.
3. A Handful of Adventurers
Chapter 1
The Conquest pattern was a
procedure followed by many, which
included:
o Use legalistic measures to lend
validity to an expedition
o Leading vast expeditions
o Acquiring native allies
o Acquiring native interpreters
o The display of violence
Many of these aspects were already
part of Native American and
European expansion and warfare.
4. Invisible Warriors
Chapter 3
“Invisible warriors” were Africans, free and enslaved,
who accompanied Spanish invaders.
The Tlaxcalans provided the Spanish an ally against
the Mexica empire although they were virtually
unacknowledged and unrewarded.
The Spaniards exploited the native divisions and
smallpox emphasized that effect with the death of
the Inca ruler Huayna Capac and his heir.
Native people are everywhere in the Conquest
alongside the Spaniards.
Africans were ever-present to the conquest of Mexico
as well as the Spanish invasion and colonization of
the Americas.
Africans in the Americas were motivated to develop
martial skills as a means to acquire freedom, which
was a black conquistador’s standard reward.
5. Apes and Men
Chapter 7
The conquistadors had two great allies in the Conquest:
disease and native disunity.
Diseases such as smallpox, measles, and the flu arrived
from people and domesticated animals from the Old World
wreaking havoc on the Native Americans.
Native peoples saw themselves as members of a community
instead of a larger group of “natives” which created disunity
among them.
The Spaniard’s military advantages of guns, steel, horses,
dogs, and tactical skills were touted, but the natives
acquired the same technology during the Conquest.
The sword was the major weapon; longer and less brittle
than the obsidian weapons of the natives.
The differing culture of war between the Spanish and the
natives was also an important role in the Conquest.
6. Epilogue:
Cuauhtemoc’s Betrayal
The story of the Mexica emperor – Cuauhtemoc’s
death has been written from four different
perspectives.
The Cortes and Gomara accounts are similar in
reporting the captive lords were planning a
revolt to kill all Spaniards.
The Nahua nobleman Ixtilxochitl suggested
Cortes initiated the plot against the lords.
The Maya account showed truth to it because it
was devoid of stereotypes.
When the varying texts are compared it is hard
to tell who betrayed Cuauhtemoc.
With the communication barriers of language
and interpretation, the whole affair could have
been a tragic mess of misunderstandings.
