Reading blog #1 8/30/12

"One very horrible and abominable custom they have which should be certainly punished..." (Hernan Cortes, Victors and Vanquished, 83)

This quote from one of Hernan Cortes's letters stood out to me. For several pages Hernan Cortes talks about why it is important that they are there to save the souls of the Mexica Indians and to bring them the Christian religion. In fact, he focuses more on the fact that they need to be introduced to the Catholic Church than they fact that he had just discovered an incredible land, plentiful with fruit and gold; that made me laugh. If you were to read Hernan’s letter and know nothing else about the conquest it would seem that the Spaniards conquered the Indians for religious purposes…and of course to save the Indians souls.

Reading Bernal Diaz’s letter, which I enjoyed the most of the three letters, gives a little bit of another perspective. I loved the description of almost every detail of what happened between the Indians and the Spaniards. The letter also shows the true interest that the Spaniards had in the Americas: gold. The presents that were given so freely to the Spaniards were absolutely incredible. The letter almost made me sad because it seemed like it was like stealing candy from a baby. While reading Diaz’s letter I tried to think what the Spaniards must have been thinking. They must have thought that the conquest of the Americas was going to be incredibly easier than they had prepared or thought. It also seems by Diaz’s writing compared to the other two letters that he had a soft spot for the Indians in his heart.