Dbq Essay On Christopher Cortes

Words: 973
Pages: 4

The Spaniards' views of the Natives stemmed from seeing them as people they could exploit for material wealth and labor, while the Natives welcomed the Spaniards with kind gestures until they were betrayed and brutalized then they started to fight back. Since the Spaniard looked down on the Natives this made it much easier for them to abuse and torture them, in turn when the natives realized what the Spaniards were doing they tried to resist the Spanish domination.

The Spaniards viewed the Natives as less human than them. Upon Christopher Columbus' arrival, he didn’t see the Natives' intelligence and ultimately looked down on them because they didn’t value materialistic things the same way as Europeans did. “.they are very simple and honest and exceedingly generous with all they have;. Thus they bartered, like idiots, cotton, and gold for fragments of bows, glasses, bottles, and jars.” (Document 1) In letting Spain know about the generosity and simplicity of the natives,
…show more content…
Cortes’s attitude is astonished because he believes that in order to have a successful and efficient community, it must be with the help of God. . “..considering that this is a barbarous nation shut off from a knowledge of the true god or communication with enlightened nations, one may well marvel at the orderliness and good government which is everywhere maintained.”(Document 2 ) He describes the large population and states that the people live just like anyone in Spain. Despite this being a barbarous nation shut off from a “true god” or enlightened nation, yet as well he discovers with surprise the large population of Tenochtitlan has created a very civilized and The reason his attitude is so shocking is because he saw the natives as more primitive than the Spaniards, because he didn’t see them as his equals, he was shocked to see them do things his fellow Spaniard’s could