1. The Encounter

2. Hispanic Exploration and Conquest 1492 -- 1542
In one generation Hispanics explored and colonized over half the earth & waters
During the period of exploration, in one generation, approximately 300,000 Spaniards had emigrated to the New World
They established over 200 cities and towns throughout the Americas.
In one generation Hispanics acquired more new territory than Rome conquered in five centuries .

3. Major Hispanic Explorations and Conquests
: Columbus’s 4 voyages to New World
1500: Pedro Cabral discovered Brazil
: Amerigo Vespucci (Italian) after accompanying Spanish conquistadors decided that what they had discovered was not Asia, but new continents
: Juan Ponce de Leon explored Cuba, Jamaican and Florida –Cuban conquest: 1508
1513 -Vasco de Nuñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and named the Pacific ocean
Detailed chronology of Spanish explorations and conquests

4. Major Hispanic Explorations and Conquests
: Ferdinand Magellan's crew & ship, completed voyage of circumnavigation.
: Hernando Cortez’s conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico
1531: Pizarro’s conquest of the Incas in Peru
1540: Vasquéz de Coronado explores California, Kansas, Arizona, New México, Texas, Oklahoma.
Detailed chronology of Spanish explorations and conquests

5. Central American Civilizations at the time of the Conquest

6. MAYANS
Although there was never such a thing as a Maya Empire, the diverse peoples and politico-religious formations that in the past occupied Yucatán and modern day Belize, Chiapas, Guatemala and Honduras, all had common cultural characteristics:
a highly developed calendar
a rich complex writing system, and sophisticated mathematics..
Archeologists and historians recognize several periods in the history of these cultures:
Preclassic bce-100ce
Classic ce
Postclassic 900 ad-1500 ce

8. MAYA Classic Era ca ce
The Maya, a Native American people of Mexico and the northern part of Central America, produced intricate relief carvings (sculpture in which the figures project from a background surface), such as this piece from the late classical period of Maya civilization (7th to 9th century). The relief art either adorned buildings or stood alone as stelae (inscribed stone slabs and pillars). Maya sculpture frequently depicted rulers and gave dates and other information about these rulers. Sculpture and other art forms were also used to record important events and to portray deities and their activities

10. Ritual Bloodletting by Nobles “Shield Jaguar” Lord of Yaxchitlan
Sun God on mosaic collar
Barbed rope
Blood-spotted paper
Basket

11. Mayan Royal Audience
One of the most common themes painted on Maya vases is the royal audience. The ahau, seated characteristically with legs folded, receives visitors. At times the names of the ahau and his visitors are given in glyphs. Most interesting are the details: clothing styles and decorative patterning, face painting, masks worn, gestures made and so forth. Many vases show vases as well as indicate the style of interior decor with its curtains, pillows, and thrones. Hats were of crucial importance to Maya social identity. Often the ahau receiving visitors wears a conical turban hat with a large flower in front of it and quetzal feathers behind; sometimes a hummingbird or fish is attached to the front of that large flower.

12. The Great Ballgame Olmec lords created a ritual ballgame.
A rubber ball was hit back and forth between two teams. The individuals could only return the ball by striking it with their hip, thigh or a cushioned belt adorned around the waist.
The ballgame became so important that by 1500 bce an Olmec ruler’s costume consisted of ballgame equipment as well as rulership emblems and religious emblems of fertility.
                

14. Mayan Ball Game

15. Mayan Hieroglyphics
The unit of the Maya writing system is the glyphic cartouche, which is equivalent to the words and sentences of a modern language.
Maya cartouches included at least three or four glyphs and as many as fifty.
There is no Maya alphabet.
Writing considered to be a sacred gift from the gods.
Knowledge of reading and writing was jealously guarded by a small elite class, who believed that they alone could interact directly with the gods
The unit of the Maya writing system is the glyphic cartouche, which is equivalent to the words and sentences of a modern language. Maya cartouches included at least three or four glyphs and as many as fifty. Each cartouche contained various glyphs, as well as prefixes and suffixes. There is no Maya alphabet. Maya writing is difficult to interpret for a number of reasons. First, glyphs do not represent just sounds or ideas, they can represent both, making it difficult to know how each glyph or cartouche should be read. In addition, many Maya glyphs can have more than one meaning, and many Maya concepts can be written in more than one way. Numbers, for example, can be written with Maya numerical symbols or with the picture of a god associated with that number, or a combination of the two. Some glyphs represent more than one phonetic sound, while also representing an idea. This means that a single idea can be written in many different ways. For example, the name of the Palenque ruler, Pacal, whose name literally means "Hand-shield", appears sometimes as a picture of a hand-shield, sometimes phonetically as pa-cal-la, and at other times as a combination of picture symbols and phonetics.
The Maya considered writing to be a sacred gift from the gods. Most ancient Maya could not read, because the knowledge of reading and writing was jealously guarded by a small elite class, who believed that they alone could interact directly with the gods and mediate between the gods and the common people

16. Maya glyphs were also painted on codices made of either deer hide or bleached fig-tree paper that was then covered with a thin layer of plaster and folded accordion- style.
Record rituals, chronologies and important events.
Most were burned by the Spanish during the 16th c.
Codices
4 Extant Codices:
Dresden, Madrid, Paris, Grolier

17. Popul Vuh Book of Council Sacred book of Quiche Maya
Lords of the great kingdom of Quiche had a way of seeing what could not be seen with the physical eye.
Their guide was Popul Vuh, a book that could allow the lords to know past and future events.
The book speaks of occurrences before the first sunrise.

18. Madrid Codex
Madrid Codex

19. Popul Vuh
Popul Vuh is titled “The Dawn of Life” because it describes the creation of the morning star along with the sun and moon.
Authors of Popul Vuh were from three families of lords, the Cauecs, Great Houses and Lord Quiches.
All three families once controlled the Quiche kingdom.

20. The Hero Twins
An imposter god named Gukup-Caqix appeared and claimed to be the sun, moon and light all rolled into one.
He was a giant with a sparkling face adorned with silver and emeralds.
The gods realized they had to get rid of this imposter before they could continue their time on the humans.
It was the hero twins, Hunapu and Xbalanque, who defeated the imposter.

21. Hero Twins
They also believed they had a duty to go into the underworld and revenge their father’s death and challenge the lords of the underworld to a ballgame.
This ballgame had started many years ago when their father, Hun-Hunapu, had not only been defeated but had his head chopped off and hung on a tree in Xibalba as a warning to any other challengers.
In honor of their victory over the underworld and the evil lords of Xibalba, the hero twins were reborn as the sun and moon and they have enjoyed the new earth in light ever since.

22. The Lords of Xibalba view the Ballgame

23. Aztecs
This is the Aztec Calendar, perhaps the most famous symbol of Mexico, besides its flag.
The original object is a 12', massive stone slab, carved in the middle of the 15th century. Many renditions of it exist and have existed through the years and throughout Mexico.
Historically, the Aztec name for the huge basaltic monolith is Cuauhxicalli Eagle Bowl, but it is universally known as the Aztec Calendar or Sun Stone. It was during the reign of the 6th Aztec monarch in 1479 that this stone was carved and dedicated to the principal Aztec deity: the sun. The stone has both mythological and astronomical significance. It weighs almost 25 tons, has a diameter of just under 12 feet, and a thickness of 3 feet.
On December 17th, 1760 the stone was discovered, buried in the "Zocalo" (the main square) of Mexico City. The viceroy of New Spain at the time was don Joaquin de Monserrat, Marquis of Cruillas. Afterwards it was embedded in the wall of the Western tower of the metropolitan Cathedral, where it remained until At that time it was transferred to the national Museum of Archaeology and History by order of the then President of the Republic, General Porfirio Diaz.

24. Aztecs
Aztecs came into the Valley of Mexico during the 12th and 13th century and rose to be the greatest power in the Americas by the time the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century.
According to myth, Huitzilopochtli told Tenoch to lead his people to a place of refuge on a swampy island in Lake Texcoco. When they reached their destination, they were to look for an eagle perched on a cactus.
At that location, they were to build their city and honor Huitzilopochtli with human sacrifices. The city they built was called Tenochtitlán, the city of Tenoch.
The story of the Aztecs' rise to power is awe inspiring one, and is one of the most remarkable stories in world history. They were a relatively unknown group of people who came into the Valley of Mexico during the 12th and 13th century A.D., and rose to be the greatest power in the Americas by the time the Spaniards arrived, in the 16th century. Little is known of the earliest Aztecs, they did not keep a written record. Their history was passed on by word of mouth from one generation to the next. Legend has it that they came from an Island called Aztlan, meaning White Place - Place of Herons.
In the Aztec codex Tira de la Peregrinacion, commonly called the Migration Scrolls. The scrolls have the Aztecs leaving Aztlan, which was described as an island in a lake with Chicomoztoc depicted as seven temples in the center of the island. The Aztecs felt they were the "chosen people" of Huitzilopochtli. The Aztecs believed Huitzilopochtli their war god was their protector, how had them search for their promised land. Sometime during the 12th & 13th century the Aztecs straggled into the Valley of Mexico, led by their chieftain Tenoch. They were a poor, ragged people who survived on vermin, snakes, and stolen food. They were hatred and rejected by all the surrounding inhabitants of the valley, for their barbarous and uncultured habits. They were driven from one location to another. Early in the 14th century, Huitzilopochtli told Tenoch to lead his people to a place of refuge on a swampy island in Lake Texcoco. When they reached their destination, they were to look for an eagle perched on a cactus, growing from a rock or cave surrounded by water. At that location, they were to build their city and honor Huitzilopochtli with human sacrifices. The city they built was called Tenochtitlán, the city of Tenoch.

25. Aztec Foundation Myth
According to the myth of the foundation of Tenochtitlan, the god Huitzilopochtli told his people to settle at the spot where they found an eagle holding a serpent in its beak and perched on a stone. This image, taken from a 16th century Hispanic codex (Codex Durán) , shows this event, although probable historical data indicate that when the Mexicas arrived at Lake Texcoco, there were already settled cultures here. One of them was the Tepanecs of the domain of Azcapotzalco. As foreigners, the Mexicas were forced to live on an islet where they would come to found their city, and they were forced to pay tribute to this empire, until they won their independence around the year 1428 A.D. under the leadership of Itzcoatl. After this event, the Mexicas joined with the cities of Tlacopan and Texcoco to form the "Triple Alliance," with which the territorial expansion of the Mexicas gained force.

26. Tenochtitlan
As the Aztec empire expanded, specialized craftsmen and common laborers were brought to Tenochtitlán to expand the city. Since it was built on swamp land, large wooden stakes were driven into the soft ground to provide secure foundations for the new buildings. They were able to use the stone Tezontli to construct the buildings on the unstable ground. Despite these precautions, the larger temples and palaces would often sink below ground level. As a result, the older building were continuously repaired or rebuilt with the newer structures built over the older core.

27. Tenochtitlán
Its site had been fixed by the god Huitzilopochtli, who sent a sign in the form of a great eagle
Codex Mendoza

28. Offerings to the Gods
Images of the gods Huehueteotl and Tlaloc, presided over most of the offerings found in the Templo Mayor.
Representing fire and water respectively, they symbolized the concept of "burning water," a metaphor for warfare

29. Human Sacrifice
Human sacrifice was conducted on a sacrificial stone with a flint knife
The most precious thing was offered, namely blood and life itself, so that by way of death life arose anew.

30. Aztec Creativity Aztec art often reflects the culture’s fierceness
Coatlicue, goddess of the earth embodies Aztec belief in the creative principal

31. Aztec Poetry “Flower-songs” Celebrated warriors
Endurance of warriors on the battlefield
Endurance of women in childbirth
At Aztec feasts guests were presented with flowers, Florentine Codex, late 16th century

32. The Conquest of Mexico During the year Ce Acatl ( One Reed) 1519

33. April 21, 1519 (Good Friday), Cortés landed on an island off eastern Gulf Coast with 11 galleons, 550 soldiers and sailors, and 16 horses
Staked claim for God and King and founded a settlement Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz
Sailed to Cozumel and rescued de Aguilar from the Mayas – valuable Mayan interpreter
Took Malintzin/Marina as Nahuatl interpreter and mistress
Burnt the remainder of his fleet and proceeded on to Tenochtitlán, making allies of tribes hostile to the Aztecs.
Hernán Cortés
                      

34. La Malinche c c.1529
Malinalli (Malintzin) was born to a noble family, but sold to a Tabascan chief by her mother to ensure her half-brother’s inheritance
Brought from her native Nahuatl-speaking home of Veracruz to the Yucatan, she learned the Maya language

35. La Malinche
Given to the Spaniards by the Maya, she was baptized as Marina in 1519.
She began to work for the Spanish as an interpreter between the Nahuatl and Maya and quickly learned Spanish.

36. La Malinche
She became Cortés’s interpreter, confidante and mistress, called "la lengua de Cortés" (Cortés's tongue, or interpreter)
Bore him a son, Martín, the first mestizo of historical note
“After God we owe this conquest of New Spain to Doña Marina.” – Cortés
José Clemente Orozco
Cortés and Malinche

37. La Malinche Diego Rivera, murales del Palacio Nacional
Malina, the homonym of the Spanish name, Marina, became Malintzin (the Nahuatl suffix "-tzin" denotes respect).
Then, attempting to pronounce this Nahuatl name, Spanish-speakers rendered the soft Nahuatl tzin-é sound as ch; the result was Malinche.
Today Mexican Spanish-speakers use the word "malinchista" to mean "one who prefers foreign things," and for many Malinche is synonymous with "traitor."
Others view Doña Marina, the mother of mestizo children as the Mother of the Mexican Nation

38. Malinche Here I am in the defendant’s seat you call me traitor
whom have I betrayed?
I was still a child
when my father –
my stepfather really –
fearing his son
would not inherit the lands
there were mine
took me to the south
and gave me to strangers
who did not speak my language.
I grew up in that tribe
Serving as a slave
And the white men arrived
And they gave me to the whites.
What do you mean
By the word treason?
Was I not the one betrayed?
Which of my people defended me
when I was raped by the first white man,
when I was forced to kneel
and kiss his phallus,
when I felt my body sundered
and with it my soul?
You demand that I be loyal
even though I’ve been unable
to be loyal to myself.
Before I flowered
my love withered:
a child in my womb
who never saw the light.
How did I betry my homeland?
My homeland is my people
and they abandoned me.
To whom am I responsible?
To whom?
Tell me.
To Whom.
Claribel Alegria (1924-)
Translated by D.J. Flakoll

39. Moctezuma
Emperor of the Aztecs, Moctezuma was aware of Cortés’s approach
He sent Cortés a cordial message and gifts but warned against approaching Tenochtitlan
The gold and finery whetted the Spaniards’ greed
Although Moctezuma commanded a huge army, he feared to greet Cortés with a hostile force because of ancient legend
17th C. portrait, artist unknown

40. The Prophecy of Quetzalcoatl’s Return
Ancient legend prophesied that Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, the bearded, fair-skinned Toltec ruler-god would return in the year Ce Acatl to reclaim his kingdom.

41. Omens of Return Lake Texcoco flooded Tenochtitlan
The temple of Huitzlopochtli caught fire
The voice of woman wailing in the night disturbed the city
Immense comets shot through the sky
A column of fire appeared every night for a year

42. Tenochtitlán
A great white city, lightly moored to the shores by three long causeways, floated on a shimmering lake. The last city they had seen was Seville, the largest in Spain, sheltering more than sixty thousand souls. This lake-borne city was almost four times as large, with thousands more people clustered in the "suburbs" fringing the mainland. And this city, unlike the cramped muddle of houses, streets, and byways that made up medieval Spanish towns, had been planned. Its habitations were neatly packed within a ruler-straight grid of canals and footpaths, so Cortès and his men could see four processional ways converging on a central precinct where temples and pyramids rose in the morning air like man-made mountains. No encrustations of smoke or dirt sullied these fairytale structures: they were brilliant with colored stuccos, and even the humblest dwellings, some of them crested with roof-gardens, shone with whitewash.
A great white city, lightly moored to the shores by three long causeways, floating on a shimmering lake.

43. Tenochtitlán
The last city the Spanish had seen was Seville, the largest in Spain, population: 60,000.
London, Europe’s largest city, had a population of 100,000.
Tenochtitlán was almost four times as large as Seville, with thousands more people clustered in the "suburbs" fringing the mainland.
Tenochtitlán, unlike the cramped muddle of houses, streets, and byways that made up medieval Spanish towns, had been planned.

45. Tenochtitlán
Priests were everywhere. Like Spanish priests, they wore long dark robes. But the robes were stained with human blood, and their long hair was clotted with it, and while some of the blood was their own, most came from the human victims they slew daily.
An essential part of the rituals conducted in the shrines crowning the shining pyramids was human sacrifice.

46. Sacrifice of Prisoners
To Huitzlipotchli
Códice Magliabecchi.,
siglo XVI

47. The Beginning of the End
Cortés met little resistence and on November 8, 1519 he crossed the causeway over Lake Texcoco to enter Tenochtitlán.
Moctezuma personally went out to meet Cortés and his men. Doña Marina interpreted what Moctezuma said for Cortés: "Lord, you are weary. The journey has tired you, but now you have arrived on earth. You have come to your city of México."
Then Cortés responded through Marina: "Tell Moctezuma that we are his friends and that there is nothing to fear. We have waited long to meet with him." (Florentine Codex)
Within a week Cortés seized the emperor, put him in chains and held him hostage.

48. Death of Moctezuma
Cortés had to leave Tenochtitlan to deal with a Spanish rival
In his absence, the Spanish attacked the citizens during a religious festival
The Aztecs rebelled
Cortes tried to use Moctezuma to appeal for peace, but the people hurled stones and arrows at him
The Spaniards threw the body of Moctezuma into a canal

49. La Noche Triste
Cuitláhuac, Moctezuma’s successor, besieiged the Spaniards
June 30, 1520, the Spaniards tried to escape but were attacked by the Aztecs – hundreds died
Cuitláhuac died of smallpox, succeeded by Cuauhtemoc
Cortés regrouped with Tlaxcalan allies

50. Cuauhtemoc Last Aztec Emperor
January, 1521, Cortés reentered valley of Mexico and demanded surrender
Cuauhtemoc refused
Cortés attacked with a newly built fleet and besieged Tenochtitlan
After a valiant resistance and an 80 day seige, the Aztecs, overcome by smallpox and famine, surrendered
The Spaniards lay the Aztec Empire to waste, burned Tenochtilan, and levelled the temples.