2. How did the exchange of peoples, plants, animals, and diseases lead to environmental, cultural, and/or economic changes in the New World? Be specific and use examples.
Glory, God and Gold: The struggle for power in New Spain
1A. When Motecuhzomo greets Cortes what is his general demeanor towards him? Where does he seem to think that Cortes comes from?
He thinks Cortez is a god and he thinks he came from the clouds and mists to claim the throne. 1B Based on Cortes response to Motecuhzomo’s greeting what would the Mexican natives have expected to happen next? They could have expected peace and nonviolence.
1C How do you think the Mexican natives would have explained the reason for the actions of the Spaniards? That the people were being punished and the gods were making a mistake. 2A How does Bartolomé de Las Casas contrast the characteristics of the Hispaniola peoples to that of most Europeans? He says that the Hispaniola people are simple compared to the people of Europe. The Hispaniola people are without mallace and guile while some can argue that the Europeans are. 2B What do you think Las Casas wants to achieve with this writing? Who does he hope will read it? (NOTE: You will want to know a little about Las Casas and his occupation in order to answer this)I think he wants to show the Europeans the truth behind the explorations. He hopes that Europeans will read it and understand the devestation of the native people in the Americas. 2C How does he portray the Spanish actions in this writing? He portrays the Spanish people by writing bad against their actions to the indigenous people. 3A What is Aguirre’s basic complaint to the King of Spain?
He wants justice for the vassels and wants them to apprectiate the vassels. He is upset with the King because he is not keeping his words and is treating his vassels and the other indigenous people of the Americas bad and unfairly.
3B In paragraph 10 Aquirre states his particular feelings towards the Catholic clergy. How does he describe the clergy? He thinks that they don’t care about the natives.
What reason does he give for the low numbers of Indians converted to Catholicism? They were forcing them to convert.
3C The Indians are hardly mentioned