FREE ESSAY ON BROKEN SPEARS

BROKEN SPEARS

The author argues that the Spanish were completely at fault for the total destruction of
the Aztec Empire. In Broken spears, the author explains how many factors other than
Spanish power contributed to the downfall of the Aztecs. Not only did the Spanish have
many advantages over the Aztecs, but also they also exploited them and took advantage of
the cultural difference. The main key aspects to the Spanish victory, is that the Spanish
were viewed as gods at first because of their appearance, the Aztecs welcomed the Spanish
with gifts and festivities, which showed the Spanish had total control of people. The
Aztecs also held a ritual ceremony for the arrival of the "god" that included a human
sacrifice, which was seen by the Spanish as a disgusting act, this trigged Spanish hatred
for the Aztecs. When the Spanish saw the resources that the Aztecs had, they quickly
started taking advantage of the Aztecs weaknesses. The Spanish had more power; they were
better equipped than the Aztecs and more advanced. The Aztecs' leader Montecuhzoma was a
weak leader, he was more of a coward, more concerned with his well being and safety than
the safety of his people and kingdom so he quickly surrendered under pressure. The
Spanish used surrounding enemy tribes to take over the Aztec lands, then began to
massacre men, women and children. When the Aztec became angry and started to fight back,
they were quickly wrecked by the diseases the Spanish brought with them such as small pox
and measles. The Spanish were immune to these diseases because they were well known in
Europe and they had been exposed to them for years, but the Aztecs weren't so entire
villages were wiped out in just few weeks which cleared the way for the Spanish to
entirely conquer and destroy the Aztec empire.
Leon-Portilla based the stories told in this book upon old writings of actual Aztec
people who survived the Spanish massacres. The actual authors of the stories told in this
book are priests, wise men and regular people who survived the killings. These stories
represent the more realistic view of what really happened during the Spanish conquest.
Most of the history about the Aztec Empire was based on Spanish accounts of events, but
Leon-Portilla used writings from actual survivors to illustrate the true history from the
Indians' point of view.
The book focuses on how the Spanish slowly exploited the Aztec resources to the point
where they started killing people for no reason but to exterminate them. One of the
turning events during the Spanish conquest is the massacre in the main temple during the
fiesta Toxcatl. The Aztecs begged their king to hold festivities in honor of the god
Huitzilopochtli. After they got permission, they very carefully prepared for festivities
and sworn to do their best dancing at the festivities to show the Spanish the beauty of
their rituals. The Spanish showed that they are interested to learn more about the
festivities, but they were planning to murder all the celebrants. When the celebrations
began, the Spanish showed up in their armors and carried weapons. Soon after, they sealed
off all entrances to the palace so that no one can leave, and then they engaged in
massive killing of everyone that participated. They brutally murdered every living person
they could find. This event was very important, because it triggered the anger of the
Aztecs, the people no longer wanted to obey the king who advised them not to fight back,
they no longer believed that the Spanish were sacred. The Aztecs were angry and wanted
revenge, chaos reigned over the entire empire. From that point on, there was nothing but
battles between the Spanish and the Aztecs; it also resulted in the murder of the Aztec
king who was no longer useful after the massacre. This brings a logical explanation for
why the Chinese refused to let Europeans into their culture. The Chinese did not commit
the same mistake as the Aztecs, The Chinese strictly controlled all aspects of contact
between all European encounters and Chinese people, this is the main reason why the
Chinese people were not as badly exploited and exterminated as the Aztecs were. This
shows that wherever European powers got involved, they cause a great deal of damage to
the point of extermination to other cultures as in the case of the Aztec Empire.
Broken Spears offered detailed description of actual events during the Spanish conquests.
Although it seemed to be somewhat unclear, it was highly descriptive and had a high
probability of accuracy. The authors provided an excellent view of what really happened
during the conquest, the information provided was highly accurate from the Indian
prospective, as what they saw and experienced. 
I believe that this book presented a very excellent example of what happens when a
European power tries to exploit another cultures, and this is not the only time that we
will see this happen. There will many Aztec-Like exploitations and destruction. It
appears that the Europeans valued their interested over the outcomes of cultural clash