The Encounter

The Encounter

The importance of the archeological site of Tenochtitlan, the imperial capital, was for the Mexicas to build their amazing city. The land of Tenochtitlan was an extremely fertile valley inherited by the beauty of palaces, pyramids, and vast towers that shocked Spanish adventurer Bernal Diaz. The importance of the archeological site of Cuzco, the Inca capital, was for the earthquake resistant stonework walls. This type of building was an old hoax among the Andean builders.

The Spanish and the Portuguese decided to explore and conquer America to impose upon the people who inhabited the land religious impurity. They would take voyages around the world to save souls. The idea of dispersing Christianity throughout the “undiscovered” world of America provided motivation for the Spanish and Portuguese to lay down their religious values.

African slaves were brought to America for trading. The Portuguese established trading centers filled with various items of silks, linens, guns, tobacco, etc. for the African slaves in the 1400s. The Portuguese brought African slaves to America with an ideological justification that buying and selling them on the market while trying to change their religious values into Christianity was doing them a favor.

The Aztec and Inca Empire fell so easily to the Spanish conquerors when the Inca emperor, Atahualpa, was captured. A strategy used by the Spanish to defeat them was called the “divide and conquer.” Pizarro used indigenous allies as well to defeat Inca empire. That is when Pizarro used his deceitful tactics to put the two sides against each other, allowing himself to obtain victory.