Happy Anniversary!
Posted on 08/12/2021 2:02:01 PM PDT by Borges
Was the 1521 surrender of the great Indigenous empire to the Spanish crown a triumphant conquest, an existential tragedy—or even a genocide?
The remains of a massive cypress tree sits inside a small plaza in Mexico City, surrounded by fencing and illuminated by four spotlights at night. An old sign explains its significance: “This is the tree where Hernán Cortés wept after being defeated by the Aztec defenders.”
We Mexicans call it El Árbol de la Noche Triste, or The Tree of the Sad Night, and learn about it since grade school from government-issued history textbooks. The story goes something like this: In March 1519, a couple of hundred Spaniards, led by a stubborn but resourceful man with some legal training named Hernán Cortés, appeared on the Gulf of Mexico coast. They established contact with the mighty Aztecs of central Mexico and, after exchanging messages and gifts, made their way to the Valley of Mexico and the Aztec stronghold of Tenochtitlan (downtown Mexico City).
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalgeographic.com ...
Only America has to feel guilty about events in its past.
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Cortez and and Spanish soldiers arriving was like the allied armies rolling into maxi death camps. They were heroes for eradicating that pagan mass murder cult.
Canada is having a virtue-signalling melt down these days too.
To not mourn the tragedy of the Aztecs is really heartless :-)
On of the best things to happen to the peoples and tribes under Aztec oppression.
They were EATEN for God’s Sake!
Now I’ve seen everything. The Aztecs claim to be the victims of a Spanish genocide. Never mind all those people they cut their hearts out of, hundreds and thousands at a time. Never mind the nearby Tribes they eradicated and enslaved. No, it was the Aztecs who are the victims of a genocide. Are you freaking kidding me?
Most of the other tribes in Mexico allied with the Spanish to defeat the Aztecs.
Most of today’s Mexicans are descended from people who fought alongside the Spaniards to overthrow the hated Aztecs. I hope they remember that, although if Mexican public schools are politicized as ours, perhaps they don’t.
Cortes and a few hundred Spanish adventurers did not defeat the Aztecs. Cortes somehow catalyzed a revolt of most of the non-Aztec groups in the region, whose leaders undoubtedly saw the Spanish as a game changer on the battlefield. Since the alternative was having your heart cut out with a stone knife with your head decorating the skull racks, taking a chance on the Spanish alliance seemed a reasonable bet.
As a practical matter, the Spanish were so few in number that none of the Indians probably saw them as potential rulers. At the village level, little changed initially. Tribute that had formerly been paid to the Aztecs was still paid up the chain, with the Spanish taking their cut at the top. But the same village elders and local chiefs continued to run things locally.
The black swan event was the disease wave that killed perhaps 90 percent of the Indians. That changed everything, but that was only just beginning when Tenochtitlan fell.
Oh I forgot about Canada.
That pagan mass murder cult could not have been defeated by Cortez and his 300 something soldiers alone. The relatives of those murdered were more than eager to join them.
And this guy was one of the lucky ones who actually volunteered for the human sacrifice. Tens of thousands of members from conquered tribes had no say in the matter.
:)
What tree did Mexico’s best cry under when Texans kick their butt out and became a country?
I know it’s the trendy answer that the Spanish didn’t do much on their own. That’s not the case. Everywhere they went they prevailed. They didn’t have an alliance of friendly tribes to help them defeat the Incas.
The fact is, they usually prevail in open combat. And where they didn’t, they do used superior training tactics and equipment to organize the defeat of the main enemy. Basically a special forces mission. The Spanish soldier and his ability really was a thing back in those days.
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