Reflection of Encounter Between Aztec and Spanish Civilization

Question: Discuss about the Reflection of Encounter Between Aztec and Spanish Civilization. Answer: Being a conquistador, it gives me an immense pleasure to explore new and unknown realms. This adds to my experience as a soldier. The word soldier binds me within the commands of my master, the emperor of Portugal. The period of discovery was a golden age for soldiers like me. This is in terms of excavating different trade routes for earning profit (Scolieri, 2013). The task that we are entrusted to perform is so strenuous; however, the provision of motivation and encouragement of the emperors generated an urge within us to expose our duties and responsibilities in an effective manner. Along with this, the diversified and cultural heritage of Mexico attracted me very much. Perceiving the whole scenario from the Spanish conquistador, I feel privileged that I along with my co-warriors have emerged successful in conquering the ravished capital of Aztec. I can give two connotations to this issue. The three things that struck me about the Aztec civilization are religion, architecture and its tragic collapse. In case of religion, I feel sympathetic to the native people as they are God-fearing and superstitious. It makes me wonder that for satisfying the Gods, the people do not even hesitate to sacrifice people. The mesmerizing artifacts make me wonder about the capability of the craftsmen at that time. The creations are an indication of the labour put in by the artisans to produce such masterpieces. Lack of control over such a rich cultural heritage resulted in the tragic collapse. Rebellions were a common feature in the Aztec empire. However, Tenochtitlan overpowered the Aztecs, which turned the rich cultural heritage into ruins. Herein, lays my sympathy for the helpless condition of the Aztec soldiers to preserve the culture, tradition, symbol of their native land. Delving deep into the issue, lack of consciousness of the soldiers towards the hostile intentions of the Tenochtitlan can be considered as the major cause behind the conquest of the Aztec civilization. Absence of the leader aggravated the complexities of the soldiers in terms of handling the crisis period. Scarcity of food and epidemics added to the already collapsed empire of Aztec. This situation is a typical example of how a rich, cultural heritage collapsed to ruins. On one hand, it enhances my personality in terms of overpowering upon the Aztec On the other hand, somewhere in the core of my heart, I feel sympathetic for the soldiers, due to their helplessness (Abad, Davies Zanden, 2012). Countering this, failure of the enemy is the only suess for a soldier. This motive qualifies me as an efficient soldier, which enhances my personality. However, my victory in Tenochtitlan is the one of the other shades of my victory. When I revert back to my performance at conquests, I feel that it is my responsibility to salute to my motherland, Spain. This feeling is the major drive behind penning down this reflection, which enables me to question my performance as a conquistador. Delving deep into the matter, conquests means an addition to the stock of territories in case of the emperors. This connotation bears resemblance with my case. My capability to conquest the capitals of Aztec and Tenochtitlan, glorifies the name of my emperor in the whole of the Spanish sands (Kennedy, Cohen Piehl, 2016). This signifies my broad mindedness in terms of my emperors success. Sometimes, I feel if it had been my success, I would have been happy and contended. Pondering upon my plight, returning back to Spain might open new avenues, before me. Effective utilization of these avenues might uplift my position from an ordinary soldier to a high ranking official. Behind this objective lies the vision to bring back the diversity and cultural heritage of Mexico, which vanished in the encounter with the Spanish emperors (Pennock, 2012). One thing that I want to bring back is the feather headdress, which has become obsolete due to the collapse of the Aztec civilization. This restoration would restore the lost glory and culture, which is the symbol of customs and tradition of the Aztecs. Viewing it from other perspective, restoration of the part of costume would simultaneously restore the lost glory and honor of the Aztecs in terms of their encounter with the Spanish soldiers (Len, 2012). The hope of restoring the diversity and cultural heritage enhances my individuality as a soldier. This motive might create a good image within the minds of my relatives, peers and others. As a sequential step, this would at as an opportunity for me to create history in terms of my individual existence. References Abad, L. A., Davies, E., Van Zanden, J. L. (2012). Between conquest and independence: Real wages and demographic change in Spanish America, 15301820.Explorations in Economic History,49(2), 149-166. Kennedy, D. M., Cohen, L., Piehl, M. (2016).The brief American pageant: a history of the republic. Cengage Learning. Len-Portilla, M. (2012).Aztec thought and culture: A study of the ancient Nahuatl mind(Vol. 67). University of Oklahoma Press. Pennock, C. D. (2012). Mass murder or religious homicide? Rethinking human sacrifice and interpersonal violence in Aztec society.Historical Social Research/Historische Sozialforschung, 276-302. Scolieri, P. A. (2013).Dancing the New World: Aztecs, Spaniards, and the Choreography of Conquest. University of Texas Press.