Tribute under the Aztecs &

Differing Interpretations of the Conquest

(assignment 6)

 Notes:

1) This assignment, like ALL assignments in this class, must be typed. See handout on class expectations

2) You MUST use blackboards digital dropbox (details here) to submit this homework

3) BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE FILE-NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR THIS COURSE.

All files should be named as: your last name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by a your first initial, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the assignment number. So if a student named Saddam Hussein were to submit assignment number 6, the file name would be:

hussein_s_6.doc

 

THIS IS ASSIGNMENT 6

Questions 1, 2, 3 and 4 refer to a text by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdos describing Aztec society. See here.

Answer the following questions with a paragraph each. Organize your paragraphs around a claim that summarizes your argument. Then support your claim with evidence in the form of direct quotation from the text (if you don't know the difference between direct and indirect quotations, see here). After supplying evidence for your claim, write a warrant that explains why your evidence is relevant to your claim. Finally, you must label your claim/evidence/warrant: put a (CL) before your claim, a (EV) before your evidence, and a (WA) before your warrant.

Remember, the answer to these questions will require thinking analytically about the material; there won't be any one line from the text that will provide the answer.

Note: if you don't identify your claim/evidence/warrant, you will not receive credit for this exercise.

 

1) According to Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdos' description of Aztec society, into what groups was the society stratified and in what ways did these various strata interact with each other?

2) According to Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdos' description of Aztec society, how was surplus food distributed within the economy? That is, when families grew more food than they could consume themselves, how did Aztec society decide where that surplus food went?

3) Keeping in mind Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdos' description of Aztec society, how similar or dissimilar was the manner in which Aztec society was stratified from the stratification of feudal Europe?

(hints: (A) look back to p. 24 of your textbook, (B) you will need evidence addressing stratification in Europe as well as evidence addressing stratification in Aztec society)

4) According to Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdos' description of Aztec society, how might a member of Aztec society enter into slavery? (this is a simpler question and will require a shorter paragraph)

Question 5)

On page 97 of the textbook you will find a description by Cortés of his conquest of the Mexican capitol; on page 98 you will find the Mexican nationalist Diego Rivera's painting of the conquest from the 20th century, and next to Rivera's there is a native Mexican's rendition of the same event, this time drawn from indigenous oral traditions in the 16th century . Fill out the following chart comparing these three interpretations of the conquest.

Interpretation The basis or reason, according to the interpretation, for perceived Spanish superiority and/or the reason for the military success of the Spanish

Nature

of

Spanish

Nature

of

Indians (e.g., unified? divided?)
Cortés

 

 

    
Rivera

 

 

 

    
Native Mexican, 16th century      

Question 6) Which of the above interpretations comes closest to the textbook's portrayal of the conquest and why?