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Chapter 3 focused on “New Spain” and how the Spanish went about colonizing the Americas. It focused on many different aspects of their methods while also focusing a great deal on the natives who were already there. I found the details and facts about the indigenous people very interesting. As Cortés finds himself charging through the Mexican countryside, he comes across the massive city of Tenochtitlan, which was bigger than any city he’d ever seen. It was the home of around 200,000 inhabitants, far more than the 70,000 of Seville in Spain. Nonetheless, Cortés decides that he needs to take it for Spain. Even though the city has over 200,000 people, the technology of Cortés’ army was able to overthrow the city in only a few months. This brings to light the power of technology in warfare: although the Spanish were vastly outnumbered, they took the city with relative ease. I think one thing that helped them was that they were able to gain not just the trust of the Aztecs, but the reverence as well. Aztecs saw the invaders as Gods and welcomed them into the city with open arms. Cortés was rightfully amazed by what he saw, but that didn’t deter him from taking the city with force. The astonishing thing is how easily he conquered 200,000 people. Both cities, Seville and Tenochtitlan, practiced agriculture and hunting, the only differences were the advancements that Europe made in the Renaissance. It resulted in better technology, including weaponry. If the two empires fought each other two hundred years earlier the outcome would have been very different.
Chapter 5 focuses on the east coast and mainly France’s experience with the natives of that area. Unlike the Aztecs of central Mexico, the natives of the northeast coast, the Abenaki and the Micmac to name two, were not very united and did not have a major city like Tenochtitlan. Their populations were not nearly as large and they minded their own business until Europeans arrived and sought something that they had. Fur trading was huge in the area and it served as a great way to create good relations between the Indians and Europeans. When Europeans saw that the Indians with all types of exotic fur, they instantly wanted them. More and more Europeans arrived in search for exotic furs. I think that this was a great way for the relationship between the two peoples to form. Trading formed a relationship based on trust that would have been great if it could have lasted. Eventually, though, the Indians didn’t have a need for more knives and other things that the Europeans could offer and trading was not exactly welcomed by them. What could have been a great relationship based on trading and helping each other out could not be sustained any longer and eventually, relations turned sour.