The New World vs The Old

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 The New World vs The Old World

Introduction and Background

The Age of Exploration is the era when people in the Old World explored and conquered new
territories in the New World that started during the 1400s. There were lots of reasons why people
wanted to explore to the New World. In particular, Europe explored the New World for three key
reasons: to spread Christianity, gain wealth, and gain fame from their discoveries. All of these
are associated with one general notion: power. Two Spaniards, Hernan Cortes and Francisco
Pizarro went on an expedition to conquer two empires in the New World, the Inca and the Aztec
Empires. Many approaches were used by the Spaniards to conquer these empires. First of all,
they used the Aztecs' belief that the Spaniards were "white gods" to their advantage, they had
advanced technology than the Native Americans, and they carried diseases that the Spaniards
were not resistant to. Due to these methods, a lot of power was gained by Spain while benefiting
from these expeditions.

Discussion

During the Hernan Cortes expeditions, he and his team of conquistadors gained power by
deceiving the Aztecs into thinking that they are "white gods". The Aztecs believed a prophecy
that the Aztecs will be visited and blessed by gods. When Hernan Cortes arrived to the New
World, prophecy of the Aztecs coincided with their influx, so they believed they were "white
gods" (Hemingway and Hemingway, 2004). Therefore, the Aztecs believed them, and Cortes
employed their belief to their advantage. Consequently, the Aztecs were surprise attacked by the
Spaniards and then they had an upper advantage because the Aztecs were not ready of their
attack (Aguilar-Moreno, 2007). It is also the fact that the Aztecs were celebrating the Spaniards’
arrival, but the Spaniards attacked them by surprise (Aguilar-Moreno, 2007). This establishes
that Spain had more power than the Aztecs because it reveals how they use their crucial power to
conquest them.

The Spaniards, during their exploration, gained their power not just by deceiving them, but they
also had superior weapon over the Aztecs that gave them a higher chance of conquering Mexico.
The Spaniards had guns, while the Aztecs had bows and arrows. The Aztecs primitive weaponry
gave them a huge disadvantage that made them lose their land. It is because of this huge
disadvantage that they were not capable of keeping their land. (Hemingway and Hemingway,
2004)

Another explorer, Francisco Pizarro, did the same exact thing as Hernan Cortes. Permission was
obtained by Pizarro from Spain to arrive at the Incan Empire in South America. Along with 160
men, Pizarro disembarked the Peru’s shores in 1532, and in their mission for seeking gold, new
surroundings was explored by them (Lamikiz, 2013). The outcome of which gold was discovered
kept in temples of the Incas. Pizarro with his team, in order to get these precious gold, treated
Incas very brutally. For example, the conquerors took the Incan women as sex slaves (Lamikiz,
2013). Some certain women, as an integral part of the Incas religious belief, were kept for the
temples’ high priests together with the leader, Atahualpa (Sonneborn, 2009). These women were
of the uppermost chain of command and they themselves felt self-importance in this. For this
very reason, this cannot be taken as the barbarism’s form on the Incas’ part, as these women
enthusiastically gave themselves for what they perceived be holy and sacred form of worship
(Lamikiz, 2013). What might be more brutal than the Spaniards, and some of them are in the
low position of Inca women without the consent of these elite women? For them, this is a shame
for their social status in the Incas (Meltzer, 2005). If the conqueror is civilized and some will
convince us, then this behavior will not be related to Inca women (Meltzer, 2005). With their
brutal behavior against the Incas, the conquerors expressed disrespect to them.

When Pizarro reached the Incan Empire, there was a civil war in advance of his arrival. Due to
this war, they were easily suppressed. In fact, a surprise and unexpected attack was launched by
Pizarro who abducted the emperor (McEwan, 2006). Moreover, a substantial amount of gold and
silver was paid to the Spaniards by the Icans, but the Spaniards killed the emperor even after
getting the gold and silver (McEwan, 2006). The Incan Empire speedily broke devoid of their
leader. It has been established that there was more power possessed by the Spaniards compared
to the people of the Americas. The Incas were along with these inhibited nations by the Spanish
and, it is revealed by many historical events that the Spanish was the barbarian and uncultured
group amongst the two due to their violence, lack of esteem, subjugation and scene of supremacy
with power over the Incas (Sonneborn, 2009).

Conclusion
Because of how the Spaniards conquered the Americas, it had a variety of both short-term and
long-term effects on the Natives and the Europeans. One short term effect of their exploration
was that the Spaniards took all of the gold and silver from the New World, while one long term
effect was that the smallpox and conquering of their territory caused millions of death in the
Aztec and Incan Empire. Indeed, this massive level of loss of population wiped out both the
Incan and Aztec culture.

Spain, in the end of the exploration, had more authority and power compared to the people of the
Americas. They gained this influence and power by deceiving the Aztecs that they were "white
gods" that came from the sky to visit the Aztecs, the Spaniards had more sophisticated yet
advanced technology that gave them and upper advantage in fighting the Aztecs, and ultimately,
they brought diseases that the Aztecs were not immune to, so they got infected and died from
illnesses. Thus, it is established that the Spaniards gained more power and benefitted more from
their exploration to the Americas than the Incas and the Aztecs.
 References

Aguilar-Moreno, M. (2007). Handbook to life in the Aztec world. Oxford University Press.

Hemingway, D. and Hemingway, W. (2004). The Bearded White God of Ancient America: The
Legend of Quetzalcoatl. Utah: Cedar Fort Inc.

Lamikiz, X. (2013). Trade and trust in the eighteenth-century Atlantic world. Boydell Press.

McEwan, G. (2006). The Incas: New Perspectives. ABC-CLIO.

Meltzer, M. (2005). Francisco Pizarro: The Conquest of Peru. New York: Benchmark Books.

Sonneborn, L. (2009). Pizarro: Conqueror of the Mighty Incas. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow
Publishing, LLC.