Worldviews in Conflict
Chapter 11 Notes

Encomienda- a Spanish system that gave Spanish settles land grants when they
arrived in a colony
o The encomienda system of landholding was started in Mexico by Cortes after
the conquest of the Aztecs
o The encomienda system of landholding was defended since the grants of
land given to Spanish settlers were necessary to give the Spaniards the means
to support themselves

The Spanish treatment of the Aztecs would be considered the most unfair was the
enslavement of the surviving Aztec people

Immediately after the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish took steps to
destroy all traces of the Aztec temples and religious symbols

Cortes’s treatment of the indigenous people of Mexico during and after the
conquest displayed the belief that the Spanish worldview should be forced upon
other cultures

The aim of the below changes was to create a colony which was based on a
Spanish Worldview and the changes that occurred in Mexico after the Spanish
conquest were:
o
o
o
o
Christianity was the only religion allowed in the new colony
The encomienda system was created for the production of crops
A Spanish governor or viceroy was put in charge of the colony
Gold, silver and other goods were sent to Spain as taxes and this change
was most opposed by the Spanish settlers in the colony

In the centuries which followed the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire,
creoles, Mestizos and Indigenous peoples are terms which best describe the ethnic
origin of the Mexican population.

In the years before Mexico became independent in 1821, the main cause of
discontent in the Spanish colony was the desire to stop the payment of taxes to
Spain.
Worldviews in Conflict
Chapter 11 Notes continued

Most knowledge of the Aztec Empire came from Spanish written accounts. The
Spanish conquistadors held little regard for the culture, religion or practices of the
indigenous peoples so their accounts tend to be patronizing at best and often full
of hostile references to “barbaric” customs, etc. it was in the best interests of the
Spanish to color the events to make the Spanish look good while the Aztecs
appeared very bad.

The events leading to the fall of the Aztec Empire include: Spanish looked
different, spoke, dressed and acted differently and who seemed to be constantly
looking for gold.

One main area of dispute today is the question of who owns artifacts from the past.
Is it the producers of the items or the conquerors? Most of the artifacts are in
museums in Spain. Recently many Indigenous groups have demanded that these
items be returned the Aztecs and Spain is not listening to the requests.