How Did Genocide Affect Central America

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The dictionary defines genocide as the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. Genocide is a strong word and one not used lightly. It is a word that can describe only some events. It is also a word that defines the Spanish Conquest exactly. These conquests started in 1492, when Christopher Columbus made landfall in Central America with the new discovery of transatlantic technology. Christopher Colombus’s initial goal was to land in China to find alternate trading routes to bypass the Silk Road, however, he ended up in an entirely new place. This is “The New World”. And though he didn’t find his valuable trade route, he found something much more valuable. This something else would fuel the …show more content…
This not only shows the effect of the Spaniards, but the mutilation and exploitation leading to the destruction and eradication of natives and the surrounding land, just for a bit of gold. This also brings up the last point being the effect the Spaniards had on the history of Central America for time to come. The Spaniards significantly affected the history of Central America. For when the 2nd and 3rd conquests of Central America started, they had one goal in mind. This goal was to accumulate the wealth of many Latin Civilizations who were rich with gold. Though the first conquistadors didn’t happen to find the wealth accumulation in Central America, the second conquistadors did. What they found, according to historians, “Was a huge trading centre with goods flowing in and out, such as gold, turquoise, foodstuffs, and slaves” 7. And that “The Spanish invaders, allowed to freely enter the city, were hugely impressed by its splendor,” 8. What followed this event was a series of attacks led by Hernan Cortes in the attempt to accumulate as much wealth and to colonize the …show more content…
This clearly shows just how horrific the Spaniards were and how in the attempt to control the indigenous and careless by greed, they caused the destruction of the sacred Templo Mayor. Another example of this was the building of a colonization on top of sacred Latin history. Proven by historians who are quoted as saying “From the ashes of this disaster rose the new capital of the colony of New Spain’’ 11. Which was only rediscovered “in 1978 when electrical workers in Mexico City came across a remarkable discovery. While digging near the main plaza, they found a finely carved stone monolith that displayed a dismembered and decapitated woman. Immediately, they knew they had found something special. Shortly thereafter, archaeologists realized that the monolith displayed the Mexica(Aztec) goddess Coyolxauhqui.” 12. This evidence furthermore proves the effect the Spaniards had on Central America but also proves how much they directly partook in the removal of this history. It also makes you wonder how much we have lost. And is what we know at this time really original Latin
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