Transcript File
World Views in Conflict
Chapter 11
Ideology
What is it?
A set of values or beliefs
Ideology can effect how we think,
behave, and see the world
What are some examples of ideology?
To What extent was the
identity affected by the
conquest?
What did their identity consists of before the
conquest?
What happens after the war? Do the
“winners” make the “losers” give up their
traditions and beliefs? OR do both sides
adopt parts of the others worldview?
What happened? Did the Spanish worldview
compeltely take over?
Changes to the Aztecs
Worldview
Religion
After the battle, many Aztecs felt their
gods had abandoned them
Cortes asked the Spanish king to send
priests
When the priests arrived, Cortes knelt
and kissed the hem’s of their robes
– What do you think the Aztecs thought of
this?
Religion
Missionaries slowly converted many of the
Aztecs to Catholicism
They destroyed Aztec temples and burned
all signs of their religion
In your journals:
You know how important religion was to the
Aztecs. How might the destruction of their
temples have affected their sense of
identity?
Worldview
How is the Aztec worldview changing?
They are slowly becoming Christian,
they no longer have their traditional
religious beliefs.
They know share the same religion as
Cortes?
Economy
What was the Aztecs old economy
like?
The Spanish quickly changed their
economic system
Introduced the encomienda system
Spanish settlers were given a piece of
land
Each piece of land came with a certain
number of workers
Economy
The workers were not paid, they were
slaves
Landowners were supposed to treat
them well and educate them
However, many slaves were abused
Spanish
Crown
Takes 20% of all wealth
from New Spain
Governor
or Viceroy
Collects taxes to support
himself, gov’t, and King
Spanish conquistadors
and Settlers
After paying taxes, they
keep the rest
The Aztec people
Do all the work (mining,
farming). Are given basic
needs (food and shelter)
Economy
In your journals
What effect would such changes to
their economy have the Aztecs
identity? The way they thought of
themselves, and their position in the
world?
Page 245
Lets read it together!
What happened in Mexico has
happened hundreds of times
throughout history
Canada being a major example
The Canada we live into today is the
result of a very similar conquest
Setting up the colony
Cortes men were promised a great
amount of wealth
They had been fighting for years with
no pay
Cortes had a solution…
Setting up the colony
The first solution was the encomienda
The second was the “Marriage Law”
Every Spaniard had to bring his wife to
Mexico or marry an Aztec woman
A man who did not have a wife within 6
months lost his land
Why would Cortes do this?
What was he trying to
accomplish?
1: He shifted the focus from short term goals
(finding gold and going home) to long term
goals (colonizing new spain)
2: Marriages would strengthen their ties with
the colony
These marriages produced a new
generation of children. A mixed race of
Spanish and Aztec
This was the beginning of the Mestizo
The Mestizo now make the majority of the
population in Mexio
Mexico Population 2006
Mestizo 60%
Indigenous 30%
European 9%
Other 1%
What kind of worldview would the
Mestizo have?
Would it be mainly Aztec, Spanish or a
combination of the two?
You may be surprised that the Spanish
had some major changes in their
thinking after the conquest
Read page 248
Answer questions in your journal
The Independence Movement
Shortly after the conquest, a man
named Mendoza was made the first
Viceroy of New Spain
Why not Cortes?
The king feared Cortes would proclaim
himself king of New Spain
Or he would put his interests above
that of the kings
Independence Movement
Spain had direct control over Mexico
Extracting the majority of the wealth
Mexico had a shortage of roads,
housing, schools, hospitals etc.
Everyone, including the Spanish
settlers became angry
All groups in Mexico (Indigenous,
Mestizo, Creoles) rebel and fight for
independence
Mexico achieves independence
in 1821
How was independence possible?
After hundreds of years as colony, two
distinct cultures and worldviews came
together to form a new ones
Mexico grew to have its own culture
and own distinctive world view
– A combination of the Spanish and Aztec
worldview
Mexican Culture Today
Today Mexico is a fusion of Aztec,
Mestizo, and Spanish traditions
Family Altar
The day before Nov. 1
The day of the dead Nov. 2
Aztec and Spanish Mixture
Diego Rivera
Frida Kahlo
Famous Mexican painter
Painted a mixture of modern Mexican
and traditional Aztec
Is and excellent example of the mixture
of Spanish and Aztec cutlures
Frida Kahto