A Difference Of Prospective: Miguel Leon Portilla's The Broken Spears

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1 A Difference Of Prospective: Miguel Leon Portilla's The Broken Spears "The Spaniards gave beasts of burden to relieve the natives of drudgery... meat to eat which they lacked before. The Spaniards showed them the use of iron and oil lamps to improve their ways of living... They taught them Latin and other subjects which are worth a lot more than all the silver taken from them... it was to their benefit to be conquered and, even more, to become Christians." ~ Francisco López de Gómara, chaplain and secretary to Hernán Cortés Throughout history, there are different sides to every story while dealing with conquest, exploration and the relations of people from disparate cultures. One of the most notable is that of the Spaniards and Aztecs. By reading the literature of the varying perspectives, contrasting the viewpoints of the two can provide an understanding of what set these two cultures apart, and eventually led to the fall of the Aztec empire. There is a distinguishable difference between the conventional narratives of the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs and Miguel Leon Portilla's The Broken Spears. Firstly, concerning the more conventional narratives, there is a belief that the Aztecs were much less civilized than the Spaniards. Many narratives suggest that the Spaniards provided the new people of the land they came across with technological advances and a more developed sense of political and economic structure. In some ways, it may be true that the Spaniards brought political and economic structure, but it was more so a different type of political and economical structure, not necessarily a more developed, or "better" one. The

2 Broken Spears provides facts of the Aztecs flourishing empire. It depicts their vast empire which consisted of writing, literature, education, branches of government, merchants and Tenochtitlan's majestic architecture. As expressed in the introduction of The Broken Spears: The population of Tenochtitlan at the time of the Conquest has been the subject of considerable controversy, but beyond question it must have amounted at least to a quarter of a million. The activities were many and colorful. Fiestas, sacrifices and other rituals were celebrated in honor of the gods. Teachers and students met in various calmecac and telpuchcalli, the pre-hispanic centers of education. The coming and going of merchant canoes and the constant bustle in the Tlateloco market impressed the Spaniards so much that they compared the city to an enormous anthill(portilla, xxxvii). The description continues to provide the details of the well constructed military, inter-state commerce, and intelligent usage of transportation throughout the streams, streets and canals. Also, one of the most common narratives concerning the conquest is based on the idea that economically, it provided a plentiful abundance of food, land and other riches for Spain. This indeed is true, but the suffrage that it caused the Aztecs is utterly disturbing. When the Aztecs presented gifts to the Spaniards, according to The Broken Spears, "The Spaniards immediately stripped the

3 feathers from the gold shields and ensigns. They gathered all the gold into a great mound and set fire to everything else, regardless of its value(69)." The Spaniards also captured and questioned King Motecuhzoma regarding their value and amount of their resources. Motecuhzoma and his people were confused because they did not perceive the land and its resources as possessions, as the Spaniards had seen it. The Aztecs believed they belonged to the Earth, whereas the Spaniards had a much different perspective upon the Earth and its resources. The Spaniards believed that God provided the Earth to serve their economic desires. As Christians, the Spaniards conception of resources as commodities that were of value for who was willing to take it, or better armed to take from another. Although the Aztecs had enemies before the Spaniards, economic prosperity over another culture was not a typical issue. This made the Aztecs unaware of the Spaniards intentions. In addition, the Spaniards had a great deal of advantage concerning their weaponry and usage of such ammunition. The Spaniards weapons were made of iron and stone, but the Aztecs were only of wood and far less advanced. Moreover Howard Zinn provides an essential part of the debate in his book entitled A People's History of the United States: The Aztec civilization of Mexico came out of the heritage of Mayan, Zapotec, and Toltec cultures. It built enormous constructions from stone tools and human labor, developed a writing system and a priesthood. It also engaged in (let us not overlook this) the ritual killing of thousands of

4 people as sacrifices to the gods. The cruelty of the Aztecs, however, did not erase a certain innocence, and when a Spanish armada appeared at Vera Cruz, and a bearded white man came ashore, with strange beasts (horses), clad in iron, it was thought that he was the legendary Aztec man-god who had died three hundred years before, with the promise to return-the mysterious Quetzalcoatl. And so they welcomed him, with munificent hospitality(12). This led to the Aztecs believing the Spaniards were some sort of Gods that possessed magical abilities. As illustrated in The Broken Spears, as the Spaniards fired their cannons for no apparent reason, "The people scattered in every direction; they fled without rhyme or reason; they ran off as if they were being pursued. It was as if they had eaten the mushrooms that confuse the mind, or had seen some dreadful apparition(66)." It also led to the Aztecs submission to that of the Spaniards, as they thought themselves subhuman, or less than the mighty power they believed the Spaniards possessed. Motecuhzoma quickly became subservient to the Spaniards which led to the Aztecs loss of respect for their king. This was another significant aspect of how the Spaniards overpowered the Aztec empire. In conclusion, The Broken Spears expresses how the Spaniards conquered the Aztecs due to a variety of factors. When the Spaniards arrived in what is now known as Mexico, they did not only have an indubitably desire to proliferate Christianity; but they brought disease, and array of ammunition and soldiers which in turn, provided the Spaniards with much more clout than that of the

5 Aztecs. Furthermore the Aztec's rituals, such as giving warning before war, gave the Spaniards an unfair advantage, as the Spaniards did not do the same. As disease spread through the city and soldiers attacked by any means necessary, the Aztecs had the odds against them. Additionally, there was a level of respect that the Aztecs had for the Spaniards that was not returned to the Aztecs. This alone, made it quite difficult for the Aztecs to accomplish their goals without resistance. The Spaniards were out to plunder and annihilate. These alternating opinions of one another led to the Spaniards ability to ultimately catch the Aztecs off guard. According to The Broken Spears, the Aztecs were regularly tortured, humiliated and massacred by Spaniards. They left no stone unturned, as they continued their conquest across the new land. In the more conventional narratives, this is rarely discussed. Thus it is imperative that different sides of particular moments in history are discussed, so that the overall understanding of historical events are reached by the reader.

6 WORK CITED Leon-Portilla, Miguel. The Broken Spears. Boston: Beacon Press Books, Print. Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins, Print.

Clash of Cultures: Two Worlds Collide By UShistory.org 2017

Name: Class: Clash of Cultures: Two Worlds Collide By UShistory.org 2017 The Aztec empire was an advanced civilization that ruled in Mexico before Spanish explorers arrived. This informational text discusses