Columbus and Cortes Essay - 1060 Words

Matthew Johnson Lesson 2 Essay Assignment U.S. History One February 1, 2013 In the 16th century Spaniards Herman Cortes and Christopher Columbus set out on endeavoring journeys in search of new worlds. Christopher Columbus encountered, in the Caribbean islands, a group of extremely simplistic Native Americans. Herman Cortes however encountered a much more advanced Native American group in Meso America; we formally know this area to be Mexico. In my essay I will be comparing and contrasting several aspects between both of these Native American Civilizations including sophistication, technology, housing, weapons, religion and their reaction to the Spaniards. Letters written by Columbus and Cortes will be used to make these comparisons.†¦show more content†¦The Natives encountered by Columbus seemed to not be very warlike; although there were accounts about them having weapons. The warlike way in Cortes’ letter of the Aztecs was that the people were protected by their swords and sheltered by their shields. The native’s en countered by Columbus and those encountered by Cortes were similar in how they treated the newly arrived Spaniards. They were greatly different, though, in their religious beliefs. The Aztecs seemed to be a very religious group of people. In Cortes’ letter he says, â€Å"This great city contains a large number of temples, or houses, for their idols.† Cortes says that those in priesthood wear black and do not curl or comb their hair their entire time in priesthood. Cortes says, â€Å"I said everything to them I could to divert them from their idolatries and draw then to a knowledge of our God.† The Aztecs would not convert though, showing the strength of their beliefs. In contrast, those Native Americans encountered by Christopher Columbus did not exemplify any religious beliefs or practices. As mentioned in the past paragraph, the Aztecs had many temples and houses for their idols. The architectural structures of the Aztecs were of great sophistication. First, let me mention that their Province was built in the shape of a circle surrounded by rugged mountains. It is not stated in Cortes’ letter but it may have strategically been located there to beShow MoreRelatedColumbus and Cortes encounters Native and Meso Americans Essay1113 Words   |  5 PagesENCOUNTERED BY CORTES IN THE MESO-AMERICA. In the Age of Exploration these are two of the recorded encounters of Native Americans and here is my comparison of those encounters. Each encounter was by a different explorer and were 27 years apart as well as many miles apart. 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