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Spain Builds An American Empire. Chapter 20 Section 1. Cortez the Killer- Neil Young 1975. He came dancing across the water With his galleons and guns Looking for the new world In that palace in the sun.
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Spain Builds An American Empire Chapter 20 Section 1
He came dancing across the waterWith his galleons and gunsLooking for the new worldIn that palace in the sun
On the shore lay MontezumaWith his coca leaves and pearlsIn his halls he often wonderedWith the secrets of the worlds
Montezuma- Ruler of Tenochtitlan (capital of the Aztec Empire)
And his subjectsGathered ‘round him Like the leaves around a treeIn their clothes of many colorsFor the angry gods to see.
Deals with Cortes' first arrival in Tenochtitlan, when the Aztecs believed that he was the god Quetzalcoatl (the god of light, mercy and wind).
"Montezuma came down the middle of this street with two chiefs, one on his right hand and the other on his left. When we met I dismounted and stepped forward to embrace him, but the two lords who were with him stopped me with their hands so that I should not touch him; and they likewise all performed the ceremony of kissing the earth. When at last I came to speak to Montezuma himself I took off a necklace of pearls and cut glass that I was wearing and placed it round his neck; after we had walked a little way up the street a servant of his came with two necklaces, wrapped in a cloth, made from red snails' shells, which they hold in great esteem; and from each necklace hung eight shrimps of refined gold almost a span in length. And after he had given me these things he sat on another throne which they placed there next to the one on which I was sitting.”- Cortez
And the women were all beautifulAnd the men stoodStraight and strongThey offered life in sacrificeSo that others could go on.
"The romanticizing of the Aztecs begins in the opening lines, when Young claims that all of these native peoples were beautiful and healthy, a condition which has probably never prevailed in any civilization at any time. • From the article American Educator - Cultural Literacy Rocks by Matthew Davis
The next verse deals with the struggle between the Aztecs and the Spaniards. • Young also glides over the subject of human sacrifice. It is true that the Aztecs "offered life in sacrifice / So that others could go on." They believed that such sacrifices would appease the gods. But the lives they sacrificed were human lives: sacrificial victims were tied to an altar, whereupon their chests were sliced open and their still-beating hearts offered to "the angry gods." By avoiding the fact that the Aztecs killed human beings and emphasizing the unselfish motives behind these sacrifices, Young puts a cheerful face on a terrible practice and presents a one-sided view of the Aztecs.
Hate was just a legendAnd war was never knownThe people worked togetherAnd lifted many stones.
This verse shows the great Aztec civilization that existed before the arrival of Cortes. These verses bring about the idea that violence and conflict were just a thing of myth amongst the Aztec people until Cortes brought those qualities out in them in the lines, "Hate was just a legend/And war was never known."
They carried themTo the flatlandsAnd they died along the wayBut they built upWith their bare handsWhat we still can’t do today.
These verses also suggest that the Aztec civilization was one of the greatest in history that has yet to be surpassed
And I know she’s living thereAnd she loves me to this dayI still can’t remember whenOr how I lost my way.
Hernando Cortés? • Killer or good man?
The Voyages of Columbus • 1492- Caribbean • Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria • Los indios • San Salvador- “Holy Savior” • Interest? • “it was my wish to bypass no island without taking claim” • Colonies- lands controlled by other nations
The Voyages of Columbus cont. • Portuguese- Pedro Alvares Cabral- Brazil • Italian-Amerigo Vespucci- • “America” • Magellan- southernmost tip of South America • Circumnavigate • Balboa- first European to see Pacific Ocean
Spanish Conquests in Mexico • Hernando Cortés- • Mexico (American mainland) • Conquistadors-Spanish explorers • GOLD AND SILVER! • Mexico, South America and the United States • Spanish-first to settle • Result?
Spanish Conquests in Mexico…cont. • Montezuma-agreed to give away some of remaining gold supply • “disease of the heart that only gold can cure” • Killed Aztec warriors during religious festival
Cortez Conquers the Aztecs • Key factors: • Key factors: • 1. superior weaponry • 2. native groups (Malinche) • 3. disease