2 ENCOUNTER I ndigenous peoples inhabited almost every inch of the Americas when the Europeans and Africans arrived. Deserts and forests were less densely populated than fertile valleys, but no part of the continent lacked people who lived off the land and considered themselves part of it. The Encounter between native Americans and Europeans constitutes a defining moment in world history. Neither the Europeans' "Old World" nor the "New World," as they called the Americas, would ever be the same afterward. For Latin America, con- quest and colonization by the Spanish and Portuguese created pat- terns of social domination that became eternal givens, like the deep and lasting marks of an original sin.* The Iberian invaders of America were personally no more sin- ful than most. They came to America seeking success in the terms *In Christian belief, Adam and Eve committed the original sin in the Garden of Eden, and all their descendants later inherited that sin. ****CHAPTER 21 ENCOUNTER dictated by their society: riches, the privilege of being served by oth ers, and a claim to religious righteousness. It makes little sense for us to judge their moral quality as human beings because they merely lived the logic of the world as they understood it, just as we do. The original sin lay in the logic, justified in religious terms, that assumed a right to conquer and colonize. One way or another, the European logic of conquest and colonization soured the Encounter everywhere from Mexico to Argentina. The basic scenario varied according to the natural environment and the indigenous peoples' way of life when the European invaders arrived. PATTERNS OF INDIGENOUS LIFE The indigenous peoples of the Americas had adapted themselves to the land in many ways. Some were nonsedentary, an adaptation to food-scarce envi- ronments, such as those of northern Mexico. Nonsedentary people led a mobile existence as hunters and gatherers, and movement kept their groups small and their social organization simple. Often they roamed open plains. The early Spanish explorer memorably sur- named Cabeza de Vaca described nonsedentary people who lived in Texas and across northern Mexico, mostly in family groups, gather- ing annually to enjoy particularly abundant resources, such as the ripening of natural cactus groves. Plains occupy a wide swath of the interior of South America, then inhabited by tribes of hunters and gatherers. Not forests, neither were these exactly grasslands at the time of the Encounter. Instead, they bristled with various kinds of scrub that, as in the northeastern Brazilian area called the sertão, might be thorny and drop their leaves in the dry season. The Pampas peoples who gave their name to the Argentine grasslands were also nonsedentary. Other indigenous Americans were forest dwellers. Hunting was important to them, too, but the abundant rainfall characterizing most forest environments allowed them to depend on agriculture in 18 a way that the were often ser to thin tropic tropical forest these forests a pable fertility fecundity and ity of tropical as insects, tr no roots in t Amazon bas agriculture, only a few y ticed "shiftin of the way th villages but. reabsorbed cultivation- challenging forest-dwel history, org by social cl: Fina nent settle made thei empires, e all sedent were stat For examp Madrid on titlan wa waters th *William Lyt 1949), 28.CHAPTER ELENCOUNTER dictated by their society: riches, the privilege of being served by ers, and a claim to religious righteousness. It makes little sens us to judge their moral quality as human beings because they original sin lay in the logie, justified in religious terms, that s lived the logic of the world as they understood it, just as we do. The a right to conquer and colonize. One way or another, the Europes logie of conquest and colonization soured the Encounter everywhere from Mexico to Argentina. The basic scenario varied according to the natural environment and the indigenous peoples way of life when the European invaders arrived. PATTERNS OF INDIGENOUS LIFE The indigenous peoples of the Americas had adapted themselves to the land in many ways. Some were nonsedentary, an adaptation to food-scarce envi ronments, such as those of northern Mexico. Nonsedentary people led a mobile existence as hunters and gatherers, and movement kept their groups small and their social organization simple. Often they roamed open plains. The early Spanish explorer memorably sur named Cabeza de Vaca described nonsedentary people who lived in Texas and across northern Mexico, mostly in family groups, gather ing annually to enjoy particularly abundant resources, such as the ripening of natural cactus groves. Plains occupy a wide swath of the interior of South America, then inhabited by tribes of hunters and gatherers. Not forests, neither were these exactly grasslands at the time of the Encounter. Instead, they bristled with various kinds of scrub that, as in the northeastern Brazilian area called the serie, might be thorny and drop their leaves in the dry season. The Pampas peoples who gave their name to the Argentine grasslands were also nonsedentary. Other indigenous Americans were forest dwellers. Hunting was important to them, too, but the abundant rainfall characterizing most forest environments allowed them to depend on agriculture in 18 a way that the were often sem to thin tropies tropical forest these forests a pable fertility fecundity and ity of tropical as insects, te no roots in t Amazon bas agriculture, only a few y ticed "shiftin of the way th villages but. reabsorbed cultivation- challenging forest-dwel history, org by social el Fina nent settle made their empires, e all sedent: were stat For examp Madrid om titlan wa waters th William Ly 1949), 28.served by oth ttle sense for they merely a we do. The that assumed se European everywhere rding to the life when E selves to ce envi- people nt kept on they ly sur- ved in ather- as the of the sand at the Els of tão, pas also ng ng n PATTERNS OF INDSENDLIFE a way that the nonsedentary people could not, and a forest peoples were often semisedentary. Their agricultural practices were adapted to thin tropical soils. Thin soils? Yes The exuberant vegetation of tropical forests produces a misleading impression. Outsiders think of these forests as "Jungles," a word that suggests overpowering, unstop pable fertility. Thus a 1949 geography text speaks of "the relentless fecundity and savagery of the jungle." In fact, the breathtaking vital ity of tropical forests resides not in the soil, but in living things, wuch as insects, trees, and the various tree-dwelling epiphytes that have no roots in the ground. Particularly in the great rain forest of the Amazon basin, the soils are of marginal fertility. Once cleared for agriculture, tropical forest soils produce disappointing yields after only a few years. Therefore, forest-dwelling indigenous peoples prac- ticed "shifting cultivation," sometimes called "alash and burn" because of the way they cleared their garden plots. Semisedentary people built villages but moved them frequently, allowing old garden plots to be reabsorbed into the forest and opening new ones elsewhere. Shifting cultivation was thus a successful adaptation to one of the world's most challenging natural environments. Semisedentary societies, like the forest-dwelling Tupi, the best-known indigenous people of Brazilian history, organized themselves by tribes and by gender roles, but not by social class. Nor did they build empires. Finally, some indigenous people were fully sedentary. Perma- nent settlement, usually on high plateaus rather than in forests, made their societies more complex, and some constructed great empires, especially the fabled Aztec, Inca, and Maya empires. Not all sedentaries had empires, however. What all had in common were stationary, permanently sustainable forms of agriculture. For example, the capital of the Aztec Empire-more populous than Madrid or Lisbon-was fed by quite an ingenious method. Tenoch- titlan was surrounded by lake waters on all sides, and in these waters the inhabitants of the city constructed garden platforms "William Lytle Schurz, Latin America: A Descriptive Survey (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1949), 28. 19CHAFTEN ZEENCIC fertility. The builders of the Inca Empire had their own called chinampan Alluvial deposits periodically renewed th form of stainable agriculture involving terraced slopes, irrigati and the use of nitrate-rich bird droppings, called guass, te denser conglomerations of people, the construction of cities, great A permanent agricultural base allowed the growth of large labor specialization-all sorts of things. Not all were good things Whereas the non- or semisedentary people tended toward fairly egalitarian societies, in which outstanding individuals became lead ere thanks to their personal qualities, fully sedentary groups were strongly stratified by class. Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas all had hered tary nobilities that specialized in war. Note that the names Aztee and Inca refer to empires and not, strictly speaking, to their inhabitants at all. The rulers of the Antec Empire were a people called the Mexicas, who gave their to Mexico. The warlike Mexicas were relative newcomers to the fertile valley where they built their amazing city, Tenochtitlan, in the shadow of great volcanoes, but they inherited a civilization that had developed in Mexico's central highlands over a thousand years For example, the gargantuan Pyramid of the Sun, the largest pyrs mid on earth, was built long before the Mexicas arrived. In the early 1400s, the Mexicas were only one among many groups whe spoke Nahuatl, the common language of city-states in the region But they conquered much of central Mexico during the next one hundred years. Tenochtitlan, the imperial capital, was a vast and teeming complex of towers, palaces, and pyramids that, according to the flabbergasted Spanish adventurer Bernal Díaz, rose like a mirage from the waters of the surrounding lake, linked to the shore by a series of perfectly straight and level causeways. "We wen astonished and said these things appeared enchantments from s of Tenochtitlan. book of chivalry," wrote Díaz, describing the Spaniards' first sight From an imposing capital city in a high Andean valley far to the south, the even larger Inca Empire had grown just as rapidly and recently as had the Aztec Empire. The Inca capital was called 20 AIRIE THE GREAT TEMPLE walled ceremonial comm location of the cathedmnewed their wn elaborate irrigation, o, for fertil th of larger, cies, greater hood things. wwward fairly came lead. roups were sad heredi- pires and ers of the heir name rs to the titlan, in tion that nd years. est pyra. In the ups who region. ext one mst and cording like a shore were from a sight far to pidly called THE GREAT TEMPLE OF TENOCHTITLAN. The site of human sacrifice was part of a walled ceremonial complex, 300 meters square, at the heart of the Aztec capital, later the location of the cathedral of Mexico City. The Granger Collection, New York 21"The Incas, but the name Ines actually referred only to Cuan, meaning the navel of the universe Today the sp speakers, and they, ton, drew on a long history of previou peror and his empire. Ethnically, the people of Cusco were qu evolution in the Andes. Cuzco's architectural marvel-art resistant masonry walls with interlocking stones wereldk and Inca empires were Bewer and more tragile than they among Andean builders. Heirs to ancient civilizations, the At The Mayas were less imperially inclined. Beginning wuch earl ing ceremonial centers held away in Central America: Tikal, Cop than Tenochtitlan and Cuzco, various Maya city-states with impre Tulum, Uxmal. In cultural attainments, such as art, architectur Mayas did not create an empire to rival the Inca or Aztec empi and astronomy, the Mayas were second to none in Americs. But the And since the high point of the Maya Empire, if such a term really applies, was many centuries before the Europeans arrived, it plays little part in our story. At the moment of the Encounter, then, most of Latin Ame ica was inhabited by nonsedentary or semisedentary people, schw the Pampas of Argentina and the Tupis of Brazil. Today, few of the descendants remain. Instead, the large indigenous populations Latin America descend from the sedentary farmers, many of wh lived under Aztec, Maya, or Inca rule until the Europeana a Why did they survive when the others perished? The answer is plex, but it explains much about Latin America. It requires, first, so background about Spain and Portugal, joined under the geographi name Iberia. ORIGINS OF A CRUSADING MENTALITY In the 1490s, when Europeans clambered out of their cramped ing vessels to face indigenous Americans for the first time, the p est question was how each would react to the other. This was trys cultural encounter, a clash of values and attitudes. The Spanish 22 MAYAN CULTURAL ATTA sophisticated mathematics, ea ing called glyphs some of wh Portuguese outlook, shaped by the history Iberia is a rugg Ireland (very green, in from space, southern ern Africa. Historicall Africa, and the narro tinents had often been invaders. In the year 2 began to cross headingMar AH PATTERNS OF INDIGENOUS LIFE thy and Anne but the shndet s allowed them dependGiu11: !!!!!2 ENCOUNTER The Burian vaders They merkingCHAPTER ELENCOUNTER dictated by their society: riches, the privilege of being served by ers, and a claim to religious righteousness. It makes little sens us to judge their moral quality as human beings because they original sin lay in the logie, justified in religious terms, that s lived the logic of the world as they understood it, just as we do. The a right to conquer and colonize. One way or another, the Europes logic of conquest and colonization soured the Encounter everywhere from Mexico to Argentina. The basic scenario varied according to the natural environment and the indigenous peoples way of life when the European invaders arrived. PATTERNS OF INDIGENOUS LIFE The indigenous peoples of the Americas had adapted themselves to the land in many ways. Some were nonsedentary, an adaptation to food-scarce envi ronments, such as those of northern Mexico. Nonsedentary people led a mobile existence as hunters and gatherers, and movement kept their groups small and their social organization simple. Often they roamed open plains. The early Spanish explorer memorably sur named Cabeza de Vaca described nonsedentary people who lived in Texas and across northern Mexico, mostly in family groups, gather ing annually to enjoy particularly abundant resources, such as the ripening of natural cactus groves. Plains occupy a wide swath of the interior of South America, then inhabited by tribes of hunters and gatherers. Not forests, neither were these exactly grasslands at the time of the Encounter. Instead, they bristled with various kinds of scrub that, as in the northeastern Brazilian area called the serie, might be thorny and drop their leaves in the dry season. The Pampas peoples who gave their name to the Argentine grasslands were also nonsedentary. Other indigenous Americans were forest dwellers. Hunting was important to them, too, but the abundant rainfall characterizing most forest environments allowed them to depend on agriculture in 18 a way that the were often sem to thin tropies tropical forest these forests a pable fertility fecundity and ity of tropical as insects, te no roots in t Amazon bas agriculture, only a few y ticed "shiftin of the way th villages but. reabsorbed cultivation- challenging forest-dwel history, org by social el Fina nent settle made their empires, e all sedent: were stat For examp Madrid om titlan wa waters th William Ly 1949), 28.CHAFTEN ZEENCIC fertility. The builders of the Inca Empire had their own called chimpan Alluvial deposite periodically renewed th form of stainable agriculture involving terraced slopes, irrigati and the use of nitrate-rich bird droppings, called guass, te denser conglomerations of people, the construction of cities, great A permanent agricultural base allowed the growth of large labor specialization-all sorts of things. Not all were good things Whereas the non- or semisedentary people tended toward fairl egalitarian societies, in which outstanding individuals became lead ere thanks to their personal qualities, fully sedentary groups were strongly stratified by class. Aztees, Incas, and Mayas all had hered tary nobilities that specialized in war. Note that the names Aztec and Inca refer to empires and not, strictly speaking, to their inhabitants at all. The rulers of the Antec Empire were a people called the Mexicas, who gave their to Mexico. The warlike Mexicas were relative newcomers to the fertile valley where they built their amazing city, Tenochtitlan, in the shadow of great volcanoes, but they inherited a civilization that had developed in Mexico's central highlands over a thousand years For example, the gargantuan Pyramid of the Sun, the largest pyrs mid on earth, was built long before the Mexicas arrived. In the early 1400s, the Mexicas were only one among many groups whe spoke Nahuatl, the common language of city-states in the region But they conquered much of central Mexico during the next one hundred years. Tenochtitlan, the imperial capital, was a vast and teeming complex of towers, palaces, and pyramids that, according to the flabbergasted Spanish adventurer Bernal Diaz, rose like a mirage from the waters of the surrounding lake, linked to the shore by a series of perfectly straight and level causeways. "We wen astonished and said these things appeared enchantments from s of Tenochtitlan. book of chivalry," wrote Díaz, describing the Spaniards' first sight From an imposing capital city in a high Andean valley far to the south, the even larger Inca Empire had grown just as rapidly and recently as had the Aztec Empire. The Inca capital was called 20 AIRIE THE GREAT TEMPLE walled ceremonial comm location of the cathedmserved by oth ttle sense for they merely a we do. The that assumed e European everywhere rding to the life when E selves to ce envi- people nt kept on they ly sur- ved in ather- as the of the sand at the Els of tão, pas also ng ng n PATTERNS OF INDIA LIFE a way that the nonsedentary people could not, and a forest peoples were often semisedentary. Their agricultural practices were adapted to thin tropical soils. Thin soils? Yes The exuberant vegetation of tropical forests produces a misleading impression. Outsiders think of these forests as "jungles, a word that suggests overpowering, unstop pable fertility. Thus a 1949 geography text speaks of "the relentless fecundity and savagery of the jungle." In fact, the breathtaking vital ity of tropical forests resides not in the soil, but in living things, wuch as insects, trees, and the various tree-dwelling epiphytes that have no roots in the ground. Particularly in the great rain forest of the Amazon basin, the soils are of marginal fertility. Once cleared for agriculture, tropical forest soils produce disappointing yields after only a few years. Therefore, forest-dwelling indigenous peoples prac- ticed "shifting cultivation," sometimes called "slash and burn" because of the way they cleared their garden plots. Semisedentary people built villages but moved them frequently, allowing old garden plots to be reabsorbed into the forest and opening new ones elsewhere. Shifting cultivation was thus a successful adaptation to one of the world's most challenging natural environments. Semisedentary societies, like the forest-dwelling Tupi, the best-known indigenous people of Brazilian history, organized themselves by tribes and by gender roles, but not by social class. Nor did they build empires. Finally, some indigenous people were fully sedentary. Perma- nent settlement, usually on high plateaus rather than in forests, made their societies more complex, and some constructed great empires, especially the fabled Aztec, Inca, and Maya empires. Not all sedentaries had empires, however. What all had in common were stationary, permanently sustainable forms of agriculture. For example, the capital of the Aztec Empire-more populous than Madrid or Lisbon-was fed by quite an ingenious method. Tenoch- titlan was surrounded by lake waters on all sides, and in these waters the inhabitants of the city constructed garden platforms "William Lytle Schurz, Latin America: A Descriptive Survey (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1949), 28. 192 ENCOUNTER ndigenous peoples inhabited almost every inch of the Americas when the Europeans and Africans arrived. Deserts and forests + the continent lacked people who lived off the land and considered themselves part of it. The Encounter between native Americans and Europeans constitutes a defining moment in world history. Neither the Europeans' "Old World" nor the "New World," as they called the Americas, would ever be the same afterward. For Latin America, con- quest and colonization by the Spanish and Portuguese created pat- terns of social domination that became eternal givens, like the deep and lasting marks of an original sin." The Iberian invaders of America were personally no more sin- ful than most. They came to America seeking success in the terms "In Christian belief, Adam and Eve committed the original sin in the Garden of Eden, and all their descendants later inherited that sin. 17newed their wn elaborate irrigation, o, for fertil th of larger, cies, greater hood things. wwward fairly came lead. roups were sad heredi- pires and ers of the heir name rs to the titlan, in tion that nd years. est pyra. In the ups who region. ext one mst and cording like a shore were from a sight far to pidly called THE GREAT TEMPLE OF TENOCHTITLAN. The site of human sacrifice was part of a walled ceremonial complex, 300 meters square, at the heart of the Aztec capital, later the location of the cathedral of Mexico City. The Granger Collection, New York 21YOUSIF NISSOU 6194048676 910 S MAGNOLIA AVE UNIT F EL CAJON CA 92020 SHIP TO: RETURNS DEPT 3102998211 4 LBS 3960 LANDMARK ST CULVER CITY CA 90232-2315 BILLING: P/P DWT: 14,10,6 UPS GROUND TRACKING #: 1Z 3YY 408 03 0509 6416 Reference No.1: Order# 175475112 CA 902 0-14 XOL 20.01.33 1 OF 1 NV45 830A 12/2019 * IM"The Incas," but the name Ines actually referred only to Cuan, meaning the navel of the universe. Today the sp speakers, and they, ton, drew on a long history of previou peror and his empire. Ethnically, the people of Cusco were qu evolution in the Andes. Cuzco's architectural marvel-art resistant masonry walls with interlocking stones-wereldk and Inca empires were Bewer and more tragile than they among Andean builders. Heirs to ancient civilizations, the At The Mayas were less imperially inclined. Beginning wuch earl ing ceremonial centers held away in Central America: Tikal, Cop than Tenochtitlan and Cuzco, various Maya city-states with impre Tulum, Uxmal. In cultural attainments, such as art, architectur Mayas did not create an empire to rival the Inca or Aztec empi and astronomy, the Mayas were second to none in Americs. But the And since the high point of the Maya Empire, if such a term really applies, was many centuries before the Europeans arrived, it plays little part in our story. At the moment of the Encounter, then, most of Latin Ame ica was inhabited by nonsedentary or semisedentary people, schw the Pampas of Argentina and the Tupis of Brazil. Today, few of the descendants remain. Instead, the large indigenous populations lived under Aztec, Maya, or Inca rule until the Europeana a Latin America descend from the sedentary farmers, many of when Why did they survive when the others perished? The answer is plex, but it explains much about Latin America. It requires, first, so background about Spain and Portugal, joined under the geographi name Iberia. ORIGINS OF A CRUSADING MENTALITY In the 1490s, when Europeans clambered out of their cramped w ing vessels to face indigenous Americans for the first time, the p est question was how each would react to the other. This was trys cultural encounter, a clash of values and attitudes. The Spanish 22 MAYAN CULTURAL ATTA sophisticated mathematics, ea ing called glyphs some of wh Portuguese outlook, shaped by the history Iberia is a rugg Ireland (very green, in from space, southern ern Africa. Historicall Africa, and the narro tinents had often been invaders. In the year 2 began to cross headingpeaks of the em Quechua cultural hquake old trick e Aztec peared. earlier impos- Copán, octure, ut the apires. really plays Amer ch as their as of hom ved. me cal 1. ORIGING OF CRUTAING MENTALIT 85 MAYAN CULTURAL ATTAINMENTS are second to none in the Americas-including sophisticated mathematics, expressive sculpture and graphic art, and an evolving form of writ ing called glyphs, some of which are visible at top right. Alexandra Draghicistockphoto.com Portuguese outlook, along with their crusader rhetoric, had been shaped by the history of the Iberian Peninsula. Iberia is a rugged, mountainous land. Parts of it are as green as Ireland (very green, indeed), but most of it is dry. On pictures taken from space, southern Spain appears the same color as nearby north- ern Africa. Historically, Iberia had been a bridge between Europe and Africa, and the narrow Strait of Gibraltar separating the two con- tinents had often been crossed, in both directions, by migrants and invaders. In the year 711, Muslims from northern Africa, called Moors, began to cross heading north and seized most of the peninsula from its 23CHAPTER 2ENCOUNTER INCA STONEWORK. In the former Inca capital Cuzco, Peru, the Spaniards incorporated these earthquake-resistant foundations into their own buildings. O Jeremy Homen Cortis 24 Christian kings (wh from the Romans, w and so on). For mos multiethnic societie Both activities left- Along with t brought with them served in the Mid- who lived under M- from the remainin for the cultural achs cians, better engina tians, whose langu crops (such as bas substances (such as as carpeting), and eventually totaling Portuguese words. darker than Arals example, is a Moon a sophisticated an addition, on the ev Jewish minorities home to thousands and racial differens with it. Spanish ana from scorn to grudg maidens figure ero Wise (1252-84), am multicultural Iberi. hundred years of r drive for religious p The Christ the institutions e Iberian Christians tiago, Saint Jamesporated Corbs ORIGING OF A CROSSING MENTALITY Christian kings (whose predecessors, generations earlier, had taken it from the Romans, who, in turn, had seized it from the Carthaginiana, and so on). For most of the next eight hundred years, Iberia contained Both activities left their mark. multiethnic societies that intermingled but also fought one another. Along with the practical skills of the Islamic world, the Moors brought with them the learning of the Greeks and Romans, well pre- served in the Middle East during Europe's Dark Ages. Christians who lived under Moorish rule or who traded with Moorish neighbors from the remaining Christian kingdoms learned a healthy respect for the cultural achievements of Islam. The Moors were better physi- cians, better engineers, and better farmers than the Iberian Chris- tians, whose languages gradually filled with Arabic words for new crops (such as basil, artichokes, and almonds), new processes and substances (such as distillation and alcohol), new furnishings (such as carpeting), and new sciences (such as algebra and chemistry)- eventually totaling about a quarter of all modern Spanish and Portuguese words. Although speakers of Arabic, the Moors were darker than Arabs. Shakespeare's "black character Othello, for example, is a Moor. So the Christians of Iberia had long exposure to a sophisticated and powerful people who did not look European. In addition, on the eve of the Encounter, Iberia had one of the largest Jewish minorities in Europe, and Lisbon and Seville were already home to thousands of enslaved Africans. Not sympathetic to cultural and racial difference, the Iberians were nevertheless well acquainted with it. Spanish and Portuguese attitudes toward other people ranged from scorn to grudging admiration to sexual curiosity-dusky Moorish maidens figure erotically in Iberian folktales. The reign of Alfonso the Wise (1252-84), a noted lawgiver, represents a high point in this tense, multicultural Iberian world. In the end, however, the peninsula's eight hundred years of multicultural experience dissolved in an intolerant drive for religious purity. The Christian reconquest of Iberia powerfully shaped the institutions and mentality of the Spanish and Portuguese. Iberian Christians believed that they had found the tomb of San- tiago, Saint James the Apostle, in the remote northwestern corner 25CHAPTER ENCOUNTER INCA STONEWORK. In the former Inca capital, Cuzco, Peru, the Spaniards incorporated these earthquake-resistant foundations into their own buildings. O Jeremy Homen Cortis 24 Christian kings (wh from the Romans, w and so on). For mos multiethnie societie Both activities left- Along with t brought with them served in the Mid- who lived under M- from the remainin for the cultural achs cians, better engina tians, whose langu crops (such as bas substances (such as as carpeting), and eventually totaling Portuguese words. darker than Arals example, is a Moon a sophisticated an addition, on the ev Jewish minorities home to thousands and racial differens with it. Spanish ana from scorn to grudg maidens figure ero Wise (1252-84), am multicultural Iberi. hundred years of r drive for religious p The Christ the institutions e Iberian Christians tiago, Saint JamesCHAPTER ELEME Isabel was above all a Catholic monarch. Centures of reco created a true crusading mentality in Iberia, and the monarchies this fervor to justify their increasingly absolute power Moors who accepted Christian rule, Jews whose families had lived in close to a thousand years, and anyone suspected of relig ity found themselves objects of a purge. Moors and Jews were to convert of emigrate. In fact, in the very year of the su cause they refused to renounce the Jewish faith. And Mors d Granada, Isabel expelled tens of thousands of people from Spain le who did convert remained subject to discrimination as "New Ch tians. The famous Spanish Inquisition was established to imp religious purity During the 1500s, Catholics and Protestants began fighing bitterly in western Europe, and the monarchs of a unified Sp effort. Recall that in 1588 the Spanish Armada attempted to led the Catholic side, pouring prodigious resources into the w Protestant England. Overseas exploration also took on religious nificance. The earlier Christian reconquest in Portugal allowed the Portuguese to extend their crusading activities into Africa ahead d Spain. As Portuguese ships edged down the coast of Africa dur the 1400s, bringing back gold and slaves, they found religious tification in tales of a lost Christian kingdom that supposedly lay beyond the Sahara, waiting to be reunited with the rest of Christ dom. Isabel's decision to fund the voyages of Columbus was Spain's bid to catch up with Portugal. Thus the two Iberian menarchi strengthened politically by the reconquest, became the first in the Western Hemisphere neck and neck. Europe to sponsor major overseas exploration, and they arrived in Although the Spanish-sponsored expedition of Columbu arrived in America first, the difference was less than a decade Let us start with the Portuguese, who had pioneered the navip tional skills and naval technology needed to get there. The Porto guese colonization of Brazil exemplifies what happened when the Europeans encountered indigenous people who were not full sedentary. An initial look at Brazil will help us appreciate the 28 anique qualities of t encounter of the Spa indigenous Mexico an THE BRAZI The first Portuguese: bus a few years earlie Cabral was bound for ally did get there. Ce world. Instead, he was Africa and around its the best winds, he has southward voyage-se be bumped into Brazi what he had found, E ing Brazil the "Islane original destination. Brazil seemed Just a few years earl tical route to the fabl failed to do. For the on exploiting their e tuguese outposts els Indonesia, China, am perilously overloade (pepper, nutmeg, cle to mention gold and Portugal, for a time. nothing comparables cler, Pero Vaz de Ce he saw on Braziliar Eden, paying partic people there wore mconquest had marchies used oors who had in Iberia for gious infidel were forced surrender of m Spain be rs and Jews New Chris to impose in fighting Sied Spain the war to invade gious sig. owed the ahead of m during tous jus- edly lay hristen- Spain's archies, first in ived in ambus cade. aviga- ortu- the fully the THE BRAZILIAN CONTEMPLE unique qualities of the very different, and far more famous. indigenous Mexico and Peru. encounter of the Spanish with the fully sedentary peoples of THE BRAZILIAN COUNTEREXAMPLE actu- The first Portuguese fleet arrived in Brazil in 1500. Like Colum- bus a few years earlier, the Portuguese commander Pedro Álvares Cabral was bound for India, but in contrast to Columbus, ally did get there. Cabral had no intention of sailing around the world. Instead, he was sailing from Portugal down the west coast of Africa and around its southern tip into the Indian Ocean. To catch the best winds, he had swung far out into the South Atlantic on his southward voyage-so far out, in fact, that before turning back east he bumped into Brazil. Like Columbus, Cabral did not know exactly what he had found, but he knew that it was not India. After nam ing Brazil the "Island of the True Cross," Cabral hurried on to his original destination. Brazil seemed unimportant to the Portuguese at the time. Just a few years earlier, they had succeeded in establishing a prac- tical route to the fabled riches of South Asia-which Columbus had failed to do. For the rest of the 1500s, the Portuguese concentrated on exploiting their early advantage in the Far Eastern trade. Por- tuguese outposts elsewhere reached from Africa to Arabia, India, Indonesia, China, and Japan. Portuguese ships returned to Europe perilously overloaded with silks and porcelain, precious spices (pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon), and Persian horses, not to mention gold and silver. Monopoly access to these riches made Portugal, for a time, a major player in world history. Brazil offered nothing comparable to India in the eyes of Cabral or his chroni- cler, Pero Vaz de Caminha. Caminha's curious description of what he saw on Brazilian shores presented a vision of a new Garden of Eden, paying particular attention to the fact that the indigenous people there wore no clothes: "They go around naked, without any 29CHAPTER ELENCRU covering at all. They worry no more about showing their pr parts than their faces." The Portuguese sailors plainly found indi nous women attractive and inviting, but the only thing that see to have potential for sale in Europe was a red dye made from the "brazilwood" tree. nal name of "Island of the True Cross," just as economics up The name of this export product quickly replaced the on religion, overall, in the colonization of Brazil and Spanish Americ make me chaste and zealous enough to expand our Faith through Still, religious ideas must not be discounted. "Fathers, pray that God the world," implored the young Portuguese prince Sebastian, unquestionable sincerity, to his Jesuit tutors. Europeans of the 1500 believed in the teachings of their religion as a matter of course, and some Portuguese and Spanish men, especially those in holy orde such as the Jesuits, undertook quite perilous voyages around the world primarily to save souls. In sum, however, the vast majority of people had a mundane mix of motivations, and the lure of world success was constantly evident in their actions. The idea of spread ing Christianity provided, above all, a compelling rationale for lay ing claim to huge chunks of the "undiscovered" world. Consequently religious ideas became particularly influential at the level of formal rationalization. Whenever the invaders of America had to explain best light. and justify their actions, they invoked religious goals for reasons more sinister than the common human wish to present oneself in the Aside from their immortal souls, forest dwellers like the Tupi did not have very much that the Europeans wanted, so they were left more or less alone at first. Along the Brazilian coast, some mutually advantageous trade developed when Tupi men were will ing to fell the brazilwood and float the logs to trading stations in return for useful items such as steel axes. Occasionally, Portuguese castaways or exiles "went native," to live among the indigenous people, and found a different kind of worldly success, becoming influential figures in their localities and, in a manner foreshad owed by the chronicle of Pero Vaz de Caminha, fathering dozens 30 and dozens of child that has charactem was too preoccupi Brazil until the 15 the Brazilian coam them, he finally a Portuguese did w land. Now everyth To the Por forest and plantis major export pot concentrated, im fit easily into the high price in Eur ties made sugare Brazil and later- tropical America according to wha or less everywhe tion crop, requir force, a crop wh tion of cheap lab cheap agricultur cally loathe to d their model of w hunted and fish should indigenc meager wages L everything they life involved pem need for a fixed. To gain t the Portuguese enslaving each skirmishes, antheir private found indige that seemed ade from the d the origi es upstaged h America. y that God hroughout aan, with the 1500s arse, and y orders sind the Cority of worldly pread. or lay. ently, armal plain s no the the ey ne 1. 1 THE BRAZILIAN COUNTERREMPLE and dozens of children the beginnings of a process of racial mixing that has characterized the history of Brazil. The king of Portugal was too preoccupied with his Asian empire to think much about Brazil until the 1830s, when the appearance of French ships along the Brazilian coast made him fear for his claims there. To secure them, he finally sent Portuguese settlers to Brazil. Suddenly, the land. Now everything would change. Portuguese did want something that the Tupi possessed-their To the Portuguese, settling the land meant clearing the forest and planting crops, and sugarcane was the only crop with major export potential. It could be milled and boiled down into concentrated, imperishable blocks packed in wooden chests that fit easily into the small sailing ships of the day, and it brought a high price in Europe, where sugarcane did not grow. These quali- ties made sugarcane the cash crop of choice for centuries, first in Brazil and later in the Caribbean and throughout the lowlands of tropical America-anywhere landowners measured their success according to what they could buy in Europe. And that was more or less everywhere in the Iberian colonies. Sugar was a planta- tion crop, requiring plenty of capital investment and a large labor force, a crop where the profits of the planter were partly a func- tion of cheap labor. But no Portuguese settlers wanted to provide cheap agricultural labor. Indeed, Iberians in America were typi- cally loathe to do any manual work at all, because it contradicted their model of wordly success. As for Tupi men, they traditionally hunted and fished and regarded farming as women's work. Why should indigenous men or women hoe weeds and chop cane for meager wages under the burning sun when the forest gave them everything they wanted? In any event, their semisedentary way of life involved periodic movement incompatible with the plantation's need for a fixed labor force. To gain the land and the labor of forest people like the Tupi, the Portuguese resorted to force of arms. This meant attacking and enslaving each tribal group of a few hundred, one by one, in bloody skirmishes, an activity quite taxing to the limited manpower of the 31e-had done it d inclusive comm sest? The next step al systems geared to only made matters KEY TERMS AND VOCABULARY Encounter, p.17 Cabeza de Vaca, p.18 Pamp, p.18 sedentary, semisedentary, nonsedentary, p.18-19 Tupi. Tupinambá, p.19 Inca Empire, p.20 Astec Empire, p.20 Tenochtitlan, p.20 CHAPTER REVIEW Mayas, p.22 Iberia, Iberians, p.23 Reconquest of Tberis, p.25 Isabel of Castile, p.26 Hernán Cortés, p.39 STUDY QUESTIONS Mocteruma, p.39 Francisco Pizarro, p.40 encomienda, p.43 Bartolom de las Casas, p.50 1. Can you characterize various indigenous societies of America? How did their ways of life affect the Encounter and create the current diversity in national populations? 2. What formative historical experience did the Spanish and the Portuguese share before the Encounter? 3. Can you compare the initial colonization of Brazil and Mexico and the larger imperial projects of Portugal and Spain? 49 4. How did Africans come to play an important part in the colonization of America? 5. Overall, how was it possible for small Spanish and Portuguese contingents to lay effective claim to American empires in the 1500s?COUNTERCURRENTS FRIAR BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS CASAS CLB Cox Stue by Alejadho World Library 1967 Photograph by Michael Tague Brat Time A s our story makes abundantly clear, the European de extract labor and tribute explains much about the ni zation of Latin America. How could it be otherwise most basic level, conquest is always about exploitation the other hand, conquerors and colonizers rarely admit this e themselves. That is how the other, more idealistic, motives entr picture. Most Spanish and Portuguese people who came to the An cas in the 1500s believed that spreading the "true religion, et force, was a good thing. Like all people, they tended to give their actions the best possible interpretation. On the other hand, p idealism truly was the driving force for some; logically enough, the 50 www. were most often church people all-generated the most impom this age of raw exploitation. For example, some in Mexico as early as enous people. Several Francia information about Astec hist notable was Bernardino de m organisation and child-care pa Sahagún collaborated with I treasure trove of Aatee though nal language, Nahuatl. Gom enous style, his book, knowna essential for any interpretati can, Toribio de Motolinis, de forced labor as so many "plau this day, Motolinia is warmly the conquered. The first Jesuits in 1 digenous people against the measure, the Jesuits learne- was really a family of relate as French, Spanish, and I Tupi grammar and a standa lages. This Lingua Geral, by speakers of various Tup and separated the indigen to enslave them. But by far the great people was Bartolomé de la cal priests in Latin Ameri fortune-seeking young gent America in 1502. He got as lived the life of an early C people die by the dozen fre forty when, in 1514, he haTS COME S ean drive t ut the col erwise? At the ploitation. On this event ves enter the to the Amm ion," even by ve their own nd, relipi ough, the this age of raw exploitation For example, some members of the Franciscan order who arrived in Mexico as early as 1824 showed deep respect for the indig enous people. Several Franciscans carefully gathered and preserved information abou Autec history, religion, and daily life. The most notable was Bernardino de Sahagún, who wrote that Atec family organization and child-care practices were superior to those of Spain. Sahagún collaborated with his indigenous students to assemble a treasure trove of Astec thought, literature, and customs in their origi sal language, Nahuatl. Gorgeously illustrated in authentic indig- enous style, his book, known today as the Florentine Codes, remains essential for any interpretation of Astec civilization. Another Francis- can, Toribio de Motolinis, denounced Spanish tributes, torture, and forced labor as so many "plagues" afflicting the indigenous people. To this day, Motolinia is warmly remembered in Mexico as a defender of the conquered The first Jesuits in Brazil similarly worked to defend the in- digenous people against the depredations of the colonists. As a first measure, the Jesuits learned a number of the variants of Tupi (which was really a family of related languages as distinct from one another as French, Spanish, and Italian). They then devised a simplified Tupi grammar and a standard vocabulary for use in the mission vil- lages. This Lingua Geral, or "general tongue," was easily learned by speakers of various Tupi dialects. It facilitated religious teaching and separated the indigenous people from the settlers who wanted to enslave them. But by far the greatest religious champion of the indigenous people was Bartolomé de las Casas, prototype for a long line of radi- cal priests in Latin America. Las Casas was a university-educated, fortune-seeking young gentleman-no radical at all-when he came to America in 1502. He got an encomienda himself and for twelve years lived the life of an early Caribbean conqueror, watching indigenous people die by the dozen from exploitation and disease. He was about forty when, in 1514, he had a change of heart, influenced, apparently, 51by the Sery sermons of a member of the Dominican orde 1818 las Casas, now a Dominican himself, returned to begun to preach against Spanish exploitation of encomend proposed various ways to protect indigenous Americans f encomienda system. The reason for the death and destruction many souls at Christian hands, according to las Casas, was tive suggestions was to rely on the labor of enslaved Africana, greed: "gold, and the attempt to get rich quickly. One of his s he had a better idea: the recruitment in Spain of entire farming lies disposed to work for themselves. Las Casas dreamed that use of indigenous labor might be strictly limited and supervi and indigenous societies in America might be kept separat his pilot colonization project in Venezuela never got off the gr lications denouncing encomienda abuses, and he traveled th During the 1520s and 1530s, las Casas wrote a stream f the Caribbean and Central America defending the indigenous p In 1537, the pope issued a proclamation, partly inspired by las C saying that the indigenous people were exactly that: people, se human beings, as some claimed. In 1542, largely thanks to las C the Spanish Crown issued the famous New Laws of the Indies for Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians, immediately ing and eventually ending encomiendas altogether. The high- holders of encomiendas hated and vilified las Casas for the New L ties, had no intention of stopping. that clipped their wings, but the old crusader, already in his late In 1550-51, las Casas represented the cause of the ind nous people in a great debate held in the Spanish city of Vallad to determine, once and for all, the moral status of Spanish conqu in America. At Valladolid, las Casas passionately denied the chap that the indigenous people were naturally inferior to Europeans therefore deserved to be enslaved. Although the official result of t Valladolid debate was inconclusive, las Casas had made a strong pression on the imperial government. In 1552, he published the famous of his innumerable writings, A Brief Account of the De on of the Indies, full of grisly descriptions of Spanish cruelty the ically exaggerating a slaughter that was horrible enough in real 52 Few pamphlets have ever the most avid readers of w Catholicism in a Europe wa centuries, A Brief Account editions in Latin, three in 2 in German, and eighteen is Bartolomé de las C long life for the 1500s. A African slaves remains a nently repented of the ic Casas continues to inspire Latin America more thantion of encomiendas. Dominican order who h returned to pain us Americans from the h and destruction of las Casas, was sly. One of his site of entire farming fa ved Africans, but the dreamed that Spani cept separate and the and supervised. Bu got off the ground ote a stream of pub raveled throughou indigenous people pired by las Cass t: people, not sub anks to las Casas, the Indies for the amediately limi The high-flying r the New Law in his late sis of the indige of Valladolid nish conquest nd the charge tropeans and result of the a strong in ed the most the Destruc uelty, rhe in reality COUNTERCORRENTS Few pamphlets have ever found a wider European audience. Among the most avid readers of this tract were the Protestantenemies of Catholicism in a Europe wracked by religious wars. Over the next two centuries, A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies saw three editions in Latin, three in Italian, four in English, six in French, eight in German, and eighteen in Dutch, not to mention those in Spanish. Bartolomé de las Casas lived to be eighty-nine, a fabulously long life for the 1500s. Although his early error in calling for more African slaves remains a stain on his record, he quickly and perma ently repented of the idea. Overall, the spirit and struggle of las Casas continues to inspire idealistic churchmen and churchwomen in Latin America more than four hundred years later. 53CHAPTER 21 ENCOUNTER Spanish military advantages came from their Old World World microbes were Spanish allies, too. which included gunpowder from China and horses from As Imagine the horror of the Incas when Pizarro captured bering in the tens of thousands; Pizarro had only 168 Span Inca emperor, Atahualpa. Atahualpa had arrived with an army Atahualpa had reason to be overconfident, and he walked in ambush. Pizarro's only hope was a smashing psychological vie so he drew on the same tried-and-true tactic that the Spanish applied to the Aztecs, the surprise slaughter of indigenous within an enclosed space. At Pizarro's invitation, Atahualpa's titude of followers entered a square where the Spaniards had close range, creating gruesome carnage. Then Spaniards on den cannons. Without warning, the cannons fired into the crowd charged into the mass of bodies, swinging their long steel blade in bloody arcs, sending heads and arms flying, as no indig American weapon could do. Meanwhile, surprise and armor th tected Pizarro's men. Not one of them died that day, yet they we ceeded in taking Atahualpa prisoner, killing and maiming thousand of his men in the process. Atahualpa's people brought mountain of gold to ransom him, but Pizarro had him executed anywas divide-and-conquer" strategy. Depriving the indigenous defenders of leadership was part of the Neither the Incas nor the Aztecs could have been defeated with out the aid of the Spaniards' indigenous allies. In Mexico, Artee ta and tributes had weighed heavily on the shoulders of other Nabu speaking city-states. Tributary city-states had furnished sacrificial victims for the Aztec state religion, the ideology that glorified Ame imperial expansion and bathed the pyramids of Tenochtitlan in the blood of thousands. As a result, Cortés found ready alliances, most notably with the nearby indigenous city of Tlaxcala, an old rival of warriors to help Cortés. Tenochtitlan. Eager to end Aztec rule, rival cities sent thousands of Pizarro, too, used indigenous allies to topple the Inca Empi Unlike the Aztecs, the Incas had imposed a centralized power that 42 broke up rival city-stm the Astecs had merely building roads and w Asters, and like the Sp state religion that prow Unfortunately for the and his successor had ing along trade routes family, creating a suces Disastrously, an Inca and his brother Husse play the two sides aga tory for himself. Each. the greatest threat. Ha dition was only the ent the Atlantic? Astec and Inca thousands. The defeat step in establishing Sp Spanish had to coloniz- tions and sprawling te the Aztec and Inca en destruction. This was tions and contrasting the Brazilian coast. THE BIRT Even before the dust c Peru, the Spanish bega was treasure captured. called encomienda, whe ple. In this system, inc of the word encomiendeWorld heritags, from Asia. Od o captured the an army num 68 Spaniards alked into as ogical victory, Spanish had enous nobles ualpa's mul da had hid he crowd at son horses eel blades ndigenous mor pro they suc sousands puntains anyway. of the d with- taxes Buatl ificial Aztec the nost 1 of of THE BIRTH OF SPANIEN AMERICA broke up rival city-states and resettled their populations. While the Astecs had merely imposed tributes, the Ineas administered, building roads and storage facilities and garrisons. Like the Astecs, and like the Spanish and Portuguese, too, the Incas had a state religion that provided an ideological justification for empire. Unfortunately for the Incas, however, both the reigning emperor and his successor had died suddenly in the epidemic that, advanc ing along trade routes ahead of Pizarro, ravaged the Inca ruling family, creating a succession crisis just before the Spanish arrival. Disastrously, an Inca civil war had begun. Atahualpa led one side and his brother Huascar the other. The wily Pizarro was able to play the two sides against each other, achieving the ultimate vic- tory for himself. Each side in the Inca civil war saw the other as the greatest threat. How could they know that Pizarro's tiny expe- the Atlantic? dition was only the entering wedge of vast colonizing forces beyond Aztec and Inca treasures soon attracted Spaniards by the thousands. The defeat of Aztec and Inca power was only the first step in establishing Spanish dominion over the mainland. Now the Spanish had to colonize, to assert effective control over large popula- tions and sprawling territories, over the civilizations that underlay the Aztec and Inca empires and that remained in place after their destruction. This was a gradual process, requiring several genera- tions and contrasting markedly with the pattern of colonization on the Brazilian coast. THE BIRTH OF SPANISH AMERICA Even before the dust of imperial collapse had settled in Mexico and Peru, the Spanish began to parcel out the plunder of conquest. Some was treasure captured from indigenous royalty, but most took a form called encomienda, whereby the conquerors were rewarded with peo- ple. In this system, indigenous people were "entrusted" (the meaning of the word encomienda) to each conqueror, who had the responsibility 43CHAPTER TENER of Christianizing them and the privilege of making them work the Christian reconquest of Iberis, so it was a familiar Encomiendas of conquered Moors had been awarded plenty ing Spaniards Conquerors who received encomiendas became much European nobles, able to live from the labor of serflike farmers delivered part of their crops as regular tribute. For indigenous ers accustomed to paying tribute to imperial masters, the sit was familiar, too. Most often, the same city-states, villages, and that had once paid tribute to the Aztecs or Incas now paid trib the new Spanish overlords instead. Calamitous, repeated ep during the 1500s, comparable in severity to the Black Death medieval Europe, reduced native populations to a fraction of th former size. But, unlike what occurred in the Caribbean or along the Brazilian coast, indigenous villages did not disappear from Mi and Peru. Whereas Tupi society was swept away by disease and repla by Brazilian sugar plantations, the sedentary farming societies central Mexico and the Andes survived, shaken but intact, for the Spanish to take over. The Spanish normally created encomiendas o of already existing communities with their own indigenous nobles whom the Spanish called caciques." The Spanish conquerors cal vated relations with these nobles, sometimes marrying into the families. Gradually, however, Spanish conquest undercut the de feated warrior nobility of Aztec and Inca days, and indigenous people adopted Spanish-style village governments. In Mexico, village of cials with Spanish titles conducted their business and kept written records in Nahuatl. Hundreds of Spanish words came into Nabu nous worldview. of course, indicating the powerful impact of conquest, but the basic structure of the language survived, preserving a distinctly indip Mexico officially became "New Spain," but it was really t societies being grafted together, mostly by Spanish men and indig nous women. Spanish women, like Portuguese women in Brazil, wn later applied elsewhere. *Cacique is actually an Arawak word that the Spanish adopted in the Caribb 44 TH few. In the early years numbered Spanish wom indigenous women and of mestizo children, ex letter from Brazil. Ma of Tenochtitlan. What an intrigu of her indigenous nam slaves given to Cortés Artee Empire in 1519 she learned Spanish in self-possessed sixteen- and was instrumental her life has been read Mexico. It was neither. wife, who was waiting and turned her away. yet exist, unless one w good reason to hate th guage, her own family is how she learned the betrayer. Cortés marri a second child. She die The Aztec prin daughter of Moctezum ing the woman of indig band because of her w personal fortune and s attracted more than he husbands, she was ma tance in the last days o bore seven mestizo cha model of Catholic devo lived to the respectable As the Aztec a Spanish women incremhem work for him. ed aplenty during iar system to the ecame much like ike farmers who ndigenous farm s, the situation Bages, and clana paid tribute to ated epidemics lack Death of action of their an or along the from Mexico and replaced societies of stact, for the miendas out sous nobles, erors culti- into their ut the de ous people illage off not written Nahuatl, the basic indige- mally two indige il, were and few In the early years of the Encounter, Spanish men in America out numbered Spanish women roughly nine to one. So, within a few years, indigenous women and Spanish men became the parents of a legion of mestizo children, exactly as anticipated by Pero Vaz de Caminha's of Tenochtitlan letter from Brazil. Malinche had Cortés's baby soon after the fall What an intriguing figure is Malinche, a Spanish deformation of her indigenous name, Malintain. She was one of twenty female slaves given to Cortés as he sailed up the Mexican coast seeking the Autee Empire in 1519. She already spoke Maya and Nahuatl, and she learned Spanish in months. This astoundingly quick-witted and self-possessed sixteen-year-old girl became inseparable from Cortés and was instrumental in the capture of Moctezuma. Understandably, her life has been read as a romantic novel, but also as a betrayal of Mexico. It was neither. As for romance, Cortés summoned his Spanish wife, who was waiting in Cuba, then gave Malinche a bit of property and turned her away. As for betraying Mexico, that country did not yet exist, unless one refers to the Aztec Empire, and Malinche had good reason to hate the Aztecs. Although Nahuatl was her first lan- guage, her own family had sold her into slavery to the Mayas, which is how she learned that language. Malinche was more betrayed than betrayer. Cortés married her to one of his men, with whom she had a second child. She died, not yet twenty-five, only a few years later. The Aztec princess Techichpotzin, baptized Isabel, was the daughter of Moctezuma. She became "Isabel Moctezuma," exemplify. ing the woman of indigenous nobility who could attract a Spanish hus- band because of her wealth. As the legitimate heiress of Moctezuma's personal fortune and the recipient of a desirable encomienda, Isabel attracted more than her share of husbands. Before her three Spanish husbands, she was married to two different leaders of the Aztec resis- tance in the last days of Tenochtitlan. She outlived four of her spouses, bore seven mestizo children, adapted to her new life, and became a model of Catholic devotion and a benefactor of religious charities. She lived to the respectable age of forty. As the Aztec and Inca nobility declined and the number of Spanish women increased, fewer and fewer Spanish men married 45indigenous women. Ahhough Spanish men continued fathering umbered mestiso children, most were illegitimate and inherited in between" not Europeans or Africans or indigenous Amer or nothing from their Spanish fathers. These children were "pogle por relations, if recognised at all. Malinche's by Cortis, Sta Mestize children were second-class people in the Spanish word Cortés's son by his second Spanish wide. became virtually a servant of his half- brother, also nared Sta Spanish women usually arrived after the fighting was but that was not always the case. A woman named label Guevara helped conquer Argentina and Paraguay in the 1500s and 15-40s. Years later, in an attempt to gain an encomienda for her part in the conquest, she wrote a letter to the Spanish Crows, derog women of the expedition took over when lamibe killed two-th party. As the men lainted from hunger, wrote Govink, the began "standing guard, patrolling the fires, loading the c arousing the soldiers who were capable of fighting, sho se alarm through the camp, acting as sergeants, and putting the jers in order." The most famous "conquistadora" of all was Inés Suires, oman of thirty when she came to America in 1537, alone, looking her husband. She searched first in Venezuela, then in Pers, where he found her husband already dead. Suárez then became the mistress f the conqueror of Chile, legendary for her actions during an indigno attack there. Her plan was to terrorize the attackers by throwing the the heads of seven captured chiefs, and her most famous deed was to cut off the first captive's head herself. Despite (what was regarded a her heroism, the conqueror of Chile, who had a wife in Spain, put Ini Suárez aside when he became governor of the new territory Favorable marriages outweighed even extraordinary ability is the lives of women. The marriage contract was a pillar of the Spanish social structure, crucial to the distribution of property. Marriage w in the Spanish Empire. a religious sacrament, and religious conformity was serious busin Spanish conquest had meant an earthly and a spiritual quest, the defeat of the old gods. Spanish churchmen arrived 46 teach Catholic doctrine. that the indigenous peop old religions-idols," in of the encomienda stoo two representatives of 2 the Christianization of kings (or, in America, the church at once. In t torily sprinkled holy w nies that did little to t could remember the in for that was a pattern sedentary peoples, the on sites already sacred titlan cannot have bee the Astec Great Temple the same spot. The fully sedenta the Encounter infinitel as the Tupi. Still, the cultural societies, too. than had indigenous c provided a labor draft ter the conquest mita 1 in the shafts of deep s In addition, epidemic indigenous population. By the end of the ethnicities were establ and cultures had beg diversity, but the viol would sour the mix for region, Europeans and lations that were virtu. Nahuatl- and Quechu transformed. One wayideological jus ristianize them ence in Lisbon were suppos known practi certified just ered little to -nilly, with a ed them into ge would die the passage coast led to ade. Portu. as well as man cargo centuries Equiano, for more air when or of the ew other as being came to guages, Africa, gives ally to frica. cul- intu- iger uth ou- Ich INDIGENOUS GROUPS AND IBERIAN INVASIONS CHICHIMECAL AZTEC EMPIRE Cortés 1519-1521 former MAYAN EMPIRE Pacific Ocean Pizarro 1533 ARAWARS +CARTO CHIBCHAS SHUAR INCA EMPIRE MURAS Amazon ARAUCANOS MAPUCHES PAMPAS TAPAJOS ORAJARA CALAPOS BOROROS PAYAGOAS GUARANCES CHARROAS SPANISH INVASION TUPI YOW Cabral 1500 PORTUGUESE INVASION Atlantic Oceancamel caravans to excite the interest of medieval European, in gold. Enough of that gold had trickled north across the Saharss Portuguese undertook their exploration of the African cost p find the source of the precious flow. Communication across the also brought Islam to West Africa. Before the slave trade, the fabulous walled city of Timbuktu, with its bustling markets and powerful kingdoms arose inland on the upper Niger, where stond versity. In 1324, when Mansa Musa, king of Mali, made a pilgr to Mecca (as devout Muslims try to do at least once in their live caravan carried enough gold to cause oscillations in currency v in the areas it crossed. The fatal attraction of precious metals f value of human cargoes from this region eventually far out brought the Portuguese to "the Gold Coast" (modern Ghana), but the the golden ones. The British, the French, and the Dutch eventu established their own trading stations, finally breaking the Portug monopoly on the West African coast. Two other areas of Africa remained more or less monopo the Portuguese: Angola and Mozambique, where coastal stretched grassy, open land allowed the Portuguese to penetrate far inland actively colonize, in contrast to their more limited West African t ing strategy. As a result, Portuguese remains the language of ment in Angola and Mozambique today. These regions became d sources for the slave trade only after the Portuguese were edged gets ahead of our story. of West Africa by competition from other European countries. But th For now, having observed how Portugal's exploration of s African coast and its clash with the semisedentary Tupi laid the nic and demographic foundations for a black-and-white Brazil, t return to the sedentary societies of Mexico and Peru, where Artec Inca rulers boasted astonishing golden treasures. THE FALL OF THE AZTEC AND INCA EMPIRES While Brazil remained a backwater in the 1500s, Mexico and P drew the Spaniards like powerful magnets, becoming the two p poles of Spanish colonization. For three centuries, Mexico and P 38 THE FALL OF would remain the richest m but first their indigenous Ince emperors commandes material resources. Their hundred Spanish advent Several circumstances con In 1519, when the already knew a lot about passed since they began Columbus made landfall: H the Dominican Republic) there with the semisedent ent from the Tupi, had be into slaving. The outcom the Brazilian coast. Dism indigenous people within altogether, to be replaced The Spanish inva adventurers seeking priv to the indigenous inhabit. for the next wave of adv else. Operating from the to explore the coast of Ce and found the Pacific O indigenous groups and be rious empires in the mou by the time he found the Cortés had already bec fifteen years. In the conquest of outweighed the simple E happening, whereas Mem emperor, had no earthly For centuries the story the Spaniards were god. could be Quetzalcoatl, aross the Sahara is siropeans, and the an coast partly to across the Sahars trade, the most where stood the arkets and uni de a pilgrimage their lives), his aurrency values as metals fint hana), but the ar outstripped ch eventually e Portuguese nopolized by stretches of inland and frican trad of govern came chief edged out But that on of the the eth- l, let us tec and RES Peru great Peru THE FALL OF THE ACTED AND INEA ERIREE would remain the richest and most populous places in the Americas, but first their indigenous rulers had to be defeated. The Arte and Inca emperors commanded tens of thousands of warriors and vast material resources. Their precipitous defeat at the hands of a few hundred Spanish adventurers is unparalleled in world history. Several circumstances conspired to make it possible. In 1519, when they first set foot in Mexico, the Spaniards already knew a lot about America. After all, a full generation had passed since they began settling the Caribbean islands where Columbus made landfall: Hispaniola (today divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and Cuba. The initial Spanish experience there with the semisedentary Arawak people, who were not so differ ent from the Tupi, had begun with trading but rapidly degenerated into slaving. The outcome was similar to what had transpired on the Brazilian coast. Disease and abuse decimated the Caribbean's indigenous people within a generation. Soon they would cease to exist altogether, to be replaced by African slaves. The Spanish invaders were not soldiers but undisciplined adventurers seeking private fortunes. The first to arrive laid claim to the indigenous inhabitants and, eventually, the land, leaving little for the next wave of adventurers. These had to conquer somewhere else. Operating from the Caribbean bases, Spanish newcomers began to explore the coast of Central and South America, crossed Panama, and found the Pacific Ocean, making contact with many different indigenous groups and beginning to hear rumors of glittering, myste- rious empires in the mountains beyond the Caribbean. So it was that, by the time he found the Aztec Empire, the Spanish leader Hernán Cortés had already been dealing with indigenous Americans for fifteen years. In the conquest of Mexico, no other single Spanish advantage outweighed the simple fact that Cortés more or less knew what was happening, whereas Mexica leaders, including Moctezuma, the Aztec emperor, had no earthly idea who, or what, the Spaniards might be. For centuries the story has circulated that Moctezuma suspected the Spaniards were gods from Aztec mythology, that Cortés himself could be Quetzalcoatl, a white-skinned deity whose coming had been 39CHAPTER TEENCRET foretold in prophecy. That story now appears to be incorrect because it originated several decades after the arrival of the lands. Although repeated a thousand times, it should now Pected. On the other hand, the list of never before-see t the Spanish brought was long and intimidating tallmaste ships, ferocious attack dogs, horses of monstrous size, c ing fire and thunder, steel blades, and body armor. The Mexic never seen Europeans of Africans (who were always pre the conquistadors), and had no prior clue that sach trang people even existed. Logically, they regarded these outlandish to call the Spaniards, the Mexica used the Nahuatl word tral, wh ers as beings from outside the world they knew. Searching for a san at the time was routinely translated into Spanish as dios, or "p Since the word teul could be used for a spirit or demon, it did not m adoration, but it clearly implied supernatural power. The Spani humanity, vulnerability, and hostile intentions did not become de until Cortés and his expedition had been welcomed into Tenoch where they took Moctezuma hostage. By the middle of 1521, smal the Aztec Empire as a whole quickly collapsed. and indigenous allies had helped Cortés annihilate Tenochtitlan, a It took more fighting to overthrow the Inca Empire. Still, the stunningly rapid and complete Spanish triumph in both cases calls for explanation. Once again, experience was on the Spanish side. The leader of the Peruvian expedition, Francisco Pizarro, was another ses soned conquistador who, like Cortés (his distant relative), employed tried-and-true maneuver, something the Spanish had been practicing since their first Caribbean encounters with indigenous people, when he treacherously took the Inca ruler Atahualpa hostage in 1532. The too, the Spanish advantage in military technology must be recalled Horses, steel, and (less importantly) gunpowder gave the invaders devastating superiority of force, man for man, against warriors and only with bravery and stone-edged weapons. Spanish weaponry pro duced staggering death tolls. Indigenous warriors, meanwhile, focused on taking captives, if possible, unharmed. At one point, the Spani under Cortés massacred ten times their number in a few hours at the Aztee tributary city of Cholula. Later they did spectacular maybe s 40 THE FALL OF THE W TENOCHTITLAN AND ITS SURR the lake shore by causeways and was square ceremonial complex at the ci around the edge of the lake in this 15- the Aztec festival of Toxcátl, account exemplifies the grue They blocked th out their swords dancers and the to play lost both sword sliced off his body. Thenect, however, of the Span now be cor things that sted sailing non belch exica had e-looking h invad ra name J, which "god" timply niards e clear zitlan, allpox and the alls a D THE FALL OF THE ATTEE AND INCA EMPIRES TENOCHTITLAN AND ITS SURROUNDING LAKE. The Aztec capital was linked to the lake shore by causeways and was crosscut, like Venice, by a series of canals. Note the square ceremonial complex at the city center. Smaller cities and installations are visible around the edge of the lake in this 1524 map Newberry Library Chicago the Aztec festival of Toxcátl, to which they had been invited. An Aztec account exemplifies the gruesome impact of Spanish blades: They blocked the entrances to the sacred courtyard, pulled out their swords, and stepped immediately among the dancers and the musicians. One drummer who continued to play lost both arms at a single sword stroke. Then the sword sliced off the drummer's head, which fell far from his body. Then all the swords started cutting us apart. 41? 1: 向 圓 adid D 觉 BORN IN BLOOD & FIRE | 一幕像雪琴 JOHN CHARLES CHASTEEN |雪| 星 A oBORN IN BLOOD & FIRE A CONCISE HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA JOHN CHARLES CHASTEEN FOURTH EDITION RETURN RENTAL TEXTBOOKS DURING FINALS WEEK 6/1 BARNES&NOBLE COLLEGE a D O 0:16 BORN IN BLOOD & FIRE - JOHN CHARLES CHASTEEN FOURTH EDITION NORTON ADA O
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