Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. ("Dictionary.com", 2017) Societies and cultures have changed greatly due to the influence of imperialism. Economics, society, and trade were just some of the things that were affected at the time of imperialism. The economy of the Aztecs was greatly affected after the Spanish arrived.…
This work does an exceptional job of explaining the entire history, customs, and culture of the Aztec people without reading like a fact book. It presents itself as a very readable narrative, a story of a people who built a civilization up to a climax of extraordinary greatness, and then witnessed a massive and unexpected fall from grace. This work is easily readable for an audience high school level or above and, while it does present a large amount of names and terms, it does not ever become overwhelming or dull to read. An understanding of the Aztec civilization is crucial to understanding the history of Latin America as a whole and this book is of great historical importance due to the fact that it can be used by anyone as a concise but thoroughly detailed history of an exceptional and controversial civilization whose existence still hangs on even…
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Christopher Columbus discovered the new world in his voyages, but by accident. The reason for Columbus’s voyage was to find an alternate trade route to the Spice Islands And at this time the passage required Spain to go through the Mediterranean Sea. The sea, however, was controlled by the Ottoman Empire and required a hefty toll. For this reason, Columbus did “not go eastward by land in the usual manner but by the western way” (Doc 1).…
1. Explain the factors (physical, political, social, technological) that made Native Americans vulnerable to conquest by European colonizers. The major factors that made the Native Americans vulnerable to conquest were their susceptibility to diseases like chicken pox, measles and smallpox. All of these disease the European conquerors had immunities to these diseases.…
Aztecs had much control over many nations and basically sacrificed their own people. They accomplished big things, though. When the Spanish showed up, trade held everything together. Due to disease, they conquered the Aztecs and Incas. They created their own empire created of the vice royalty of Spain and Peru.…
The article The Hidden History of Mestizo America was written by history professor Gary B. Nash to inform readers about the history of mestizo people. The word mestizo is used in a broad sense to cover all different types of mixed race people. The reasoning behind various historic interracial marriages, classifications of mestizo people, and the cultural and historical impact are discussed. The article begins in 1617 when King James I and Queen Anne’s guests at a performance distracted the audience entirely. The guests were John Rolfe and Rebecca, better known as Pocahontas.…
When the Europeans first embarked to the New World, they were unaware of major changes that they would carry with them. Disease traveled across the sea with them causing many native people in the New World to die. With no choice, new religions and ideas were forced upon the natives influencing their daily life. By forcing new religions and ideas, it also changed their culture completely. The European explorers affected the people of the New World by exposing them to diseases, forcing religions upon them, and the loss of their culture.…
When the Spanish first arrived in the New World they encountered two powerful empires: The Aztec and the Inca. However, the Inca and the Aztecs used different methods to control their empires, especially in the areas of economics and state religions. These methods, although different in structure, did contain some similarities. This demonstrates that empires can be equally powerful, but use different methods of organizing economic and religious systems.…
Along with other cultural elements, such as food, language, costume, festivals and celebrations constitute as an important role in displaying the syncretism and combination of indigenous traditions and customs and Catholic influence in Latin America. The Latin American festivals and celebrations especially are closely tied to religious practices of the Catholic Church so most of them take place on days according to the liturgical seasons in Catholic Christianity. In Latin America, Christian holiday celebrations include indigenous elements unlike the ones in Western Europe because in Latin America, there was a fusion of the Catholic beliefs and the indigenous folk beliefs. The extent/levels of religious syncretism varies according to the region. In the Andean areas, indigenous religious practices coexist with the ones of Catholicism.…
They took charge and were the go-to person when the Europeans wanted to buy fur and sell they goods they brought over from Europe. Then went through an assimilation process forced on to them when the Spanish conquest came to what is now America. Forcing…
Society and Culture The society of the Inca Empire was based on two classes: the ruling class and the peasants. The emperor was referred to as ‘Inca’ or ‘Sapa Inca’. His meals were served from golden dishes. The Inca never wore one cloth twice.…
The Spanish exploration of America brought many new foods, types of plants, and forms of wealth to the European world. The wealth brought to Spain from the Americas came at a cost that was paid for by the enslavement and the sufferings of Native Americans and eventually the Africans. The Spanish colonization from 1492 to 1700 was motivated by religious conversion of all peoples in America and the desire for wealth and profit that had a significant impact on the lives of Native Americans and Africans. First, colonization by the Spanish was motivated by religious conversion. Columbus first “discovered” America in 1492.…
The Mayan civilization had a remarkable culture and society in ancient Mesoamerica developed by the Mayan people. The advanced civilization encompasses modern day southern east of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western segments of Honduras and El Salvador. The Mayan civilization had a written language system of hieroglyphs, created the Mayan calendar, constructed pyramid-like structures to cherish its gods, had a polytheistic belief in gods that constitute by images of animals, and advancement in the areas of astronomy and mathematics. (Last Name 136) However, the Mayan civilization state of decline when the Spanish conquistadors invaded and colonized the Mesoamerican region in the sixteenth century and entirely ended of what is left of…
Many changes in trade, technology, and demographics were brought about by the cultural exchange brought about by European exploration. The Age of Exploration had far-reaching impacts on world history. Europeans and their descendants were the prime beneficiaries of the events in the early modern era. The new global economy stimulated Europe and helped to finance the Industrial Revolution, making these countries even wealthier compared to other regions. An innate sense of superiority soon emerged that allowed Europeans to financially and culturally dominate much of the world.…