The Aquilar and Sahagun Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Aquilar and Sahagun Culture - Essay Example The account of the Spanish conquest and contradictory opinions on the role of small pox and virgin soil displays how personal interests, ethnic biases and political thoughts can largely influence the outcome and historical understanding of historical events. The Spanish account of the Mexican conquest is intertwined in propagating Spanish prowess and strategies leading to their victory. In many Spanish memoirs, the concentration is settled on how the Spanish employed tactical strategies with extraordinary technology to conquer the Aztec empire. More often than not, Spanish conquer of the Aztec is largely premised on the introduction of smallpox in Mexico in what is commonly referred to as â€Å"Black slave†, with the subject appearing in most of the Spanish chronicles and historical memoirs as having spread from Tepeaca, towards Tlaxcala and finally to Tenochtitlan. (Schwartz, 2000) Arising from the devastating effects of smallpox, Mexican populations died and reduced considerably, neighboring towns of Mexico were enveloped and, ruling elites ravaged while their diplomatic and military cadres abated. Moreover, Schwartz (2000) has also supported that the Spanish view holds that while the Spanish mainly used the Mexicans as slaves and laborers, they were made to believe that the Spanish were gods, who would then take advantage of the opportunity to conquer the Mexicans. Nevertheless, there is progressive emphasis on the deadly firearms, snort, and armored horses used by the Spanish as having aided their victory in the war. On the other hand, alternative opinions on the events that led to the victory present a different approach to the Aztec defeat. The work of Franciscan Friar Bernardino de Sahagun for instance, holds out conspicuously representing a natives view on the accounts of the events. The Sahagun hypothesis posits an excessive and deliberate Spanish