Florida Gulf Coast University Accounts of The Conquest of Mexico Questions
I’m working on a History exercise and need support.
Below is a link to excerpts from two documents about the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Hernan Cortés commanded an expedition to Mexico and arrived on the Mexican coast in 1519. He then marched to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlàn, where he received a friendly welcome from the Aztec king Moctezuma, who initially believed Cortés was a representative of Quetzalcoatl, a legendary and godlike feathered serpent of the Amerindian peoples. There were growing tensions due to Cortés’s efforts to persuade the Aztecs to renounce their native beliefs and accept Christianity. The Spanish took Moctezuma hostage and destroyed religious shrines, which led to a revolt against Spanish
The first document is an Aztec account of Cortés’s meeting with Moctezuma and his subsequent attack on the temple of Tenochtitlàn. The second account is a passage from Cortés’s correspondence describing his first meeting with Moctezuma. Please reading both accounts and answer the following discussion questions in no less than 200 words.
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/aztecs1.asp
Source: “Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico,” Internet History Sourcebook
Source: “Moctezuma’s Greeting to Cortes,” Internet History Sourcebook
Discussion Questions:
1. According to the Aztec account, how did the Aztecs initially view Hernan Cortés and the Spanish? How did Moctezuma treat Cortés?
2. How did the Aztecs later view the Spanish and justify rebelling against them?
3. According to Cortés’s letter, how did Moctezuma react to the arrival of the Spanish? How did he understand the appearance of the Spanish in Mexico?
4. After reading both an Aztec account and a Spanish account of the initial meeting between Cortés and Moctezuma, what can we learn about Cortés’s arrival at Tenochtitlàn?
