My object is neither to sustain the Executive, nor to strengthen the Opposition, but simply to discharge an important duty to the country. In 1530 he returned to Mexico, where he remained for 11 … The conquest of Mexico began with an expedition to search for gold on the American mainland. A once great civilization, the Mexica Empire was left in ruins when the Spaniards razed Tenochtitlan to replace it with a Spanish capital, Mexico City. Subscribe to our Mexico Newsletter - It's Free, See Also: Essential Skills for Expats Series, See Also: Articles about Learning Spanish, See Also: Articles about Mexican Beverages. And even in the savage state we scarcely find them anywhere with such government, except it be our noble savages—for noble I will call them. William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859) was an eminent American historian. Our knowledge of the defeat of the Aztecs (Mexica) is based on a rich array of firsthand accounts, both Spanish and native. For this purpose, at the last session, I suggested to the Senate a defensive line, and for that purpose, I now offer these resolutions. That error destroyed the social arrangement which formed the basis of society. Follow the inspiring story of Hernan Cortes and its journey to the conquest of the Aztec Empire in the 16th century is unbelievable. That was also the time that Spanish adventurers were swarming by the hundreds to the West Indies, following the discovery of the Americas in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. No example of such a line of policy can be found. It has been as successful as the Executive of the country could possibly have calculated. In offering a defensive line, I did it because I believed that, in the first place, it was the only certain mode of terminating the war successfully; I did it, also, because I believed that it would be a vast saving of the sacrifice of human life; but above all, I did so because I saw that any other line of policy would expose us to tremendous evil, which these resolutions were intended to guard against. Menu. Here be the review. What has been done? The object is not to blot Mexico out of the list of nations, for the President is emphatic in the expression of his desire to maintain the nationality of Mexico. Courtesy of Mcapdevila. The first contact with Mexico occurred in 1517, when explorer Francisco Hernández de Córdoba landed on the Yucatan coast. In offering, Senators, these resolutions for your consideration, I have been governed by the reasons which induced me to oppose the war, and by the same considerations I have been ever since guided. In the early stages of our Government, the great anxiety was how to preserve liberty; the great anxiety now is for the attainment of mere military glory. When I suggested a defensive line, at the last session, this country had in its possession, through the means of its arms, ample territory, and stood in a condition to force indemnity. Conquest of Mexico, Volume 3 William H. Prescott Limited preview - 2009. A. Conquest of Mexico: “The Meeting of Cortés and Montezuma.” Second half of the seventeenth century Mexico. By Nancy Fitch California State University, Fullerton. But when I come to notice those points in which I differ from the President, I shall do it with all the decorum which is due to the Chief Magistrate of the Union. For I hold it in reference to this war a fundamental principle, that when we receive territorial indemnity, it shall be unoccupied territory. We have conquered many of the neighboring tribes of Indians, but we have never thought of holding them in subjection—never of incorporating them into our Union. Has the avowed object of the war been attained? In short, the “conquest of Mexico” no longer refers merely to the toppling of Moctezuma but to a much broader and more complex process. Victory after victory has followed in succession, without a single reverse. Cortés made Moctezuma go onto the roof of the palace to tell his people to withdraw, but the Aztec chief was received with a barrage of stones, wounding him. The conquest of Mexico represents one of the most ofttold and epic sagas in the European conquest of the New World. The campaign has terminated. Have we conquered peace? Well, sir, the expense will be much more than that of the last campaign. The Conquest and Colonization of the Americas by way of Spain's military and its humanities was a multiple paradox. The Spanish Conquest The Aztec empire reached its height in the early 16th century, under Emperor Moctezuma . Within two years, the Spanish invaders had taken down the most powerful city-state in Mesoamerica, and the implications were not lost on the remaining city-states in the region. In June 1521, Cortés started the final assault on Tenochtitlán armed with small ships to use on the lake, and with thousands of local Indian allies. In 1522, Emperor Charles V named Cortes the governor, chief judge and general of the newly conquered lands, called New Mexico (Nueva Espaňa). The nations conquered have in time conquered the conquerers by destroying their liberty. These same civilizations were also witness to one of the worst demographic tragedies in human history seeing population losses of almost ninety percent, down to one million inhabitants a century after conquest (Marr and Kiracoffe). twenty million prior to Spanish conquest (Marr and Kiracoffe 2000). The President took a different view. There is not an example on record of any free State even having attempted the conquest of any territory approaching the extent of Mexico without disastrous consequences. Santa Anna was repelled and defeated, with all his forces. Cortés had more ambitious plans, however, and after landing on the coast of Veracruz, in 1521, made his way to Tenochtitlán—today, ruins of the Templo Mayor archaeology site in the center of Mexico City—the then center of power of the Aztec empire, which was built in the middle of a lake. I believe the love of liberty was never more ardent, but they have forgotten the tenure of liberty by which alone it is preserved. The conquistador Pero Guteres and 12,800 Indian warriors loyal to Spain left Mexico City and laid siege to the city of Ocotlan in Jalisco, facing Panitzin and 6,160 Nahua warriors in Ocotlan. It is a very difficult task to make a constitution to last, though it may be supposed by some that they can be made to order, and furnished at the shortest notice. April 21, 1519 — the year Ce Acatl (One Reed) by Aztec reckoning — marked the opening of a short but decisive chapter in Mexico’s history. You give to it, sir, such splendor, such ample means, that, with the principle of proscription which unfortunately prevails in our country, the struggle will be greater at every Presidential election than our institutions can possibly endure. Mr. President, I have examined this question with care, and I repeat, that I cannot support the recommendations of the President. “RESOLVED, That to conquer Mexico and to hold it, either as a province or to incorporate it into the Union, would be inconsistent with the avowed object for which the war has been prosecuted; a departure from the settled policy of the Government; in conflict with its character and genius; and in the end subversive of our free and popular institutions.”, “RESOLVED, That no line of policy in the further prosecution of the war should be adopted which may lead to consequences so disastrous.”. I opposed the war then, not only because I considered it unnecessary, and that it might have been easily avoided; not only because I thought the President had no authority to order a portion of the territory in dispute and in possession of the Mexicans, to be occupied by our troops; not only because I believed the allegations upon which it was sanctioned by Congress, were unfounded in truth; but from high considerations of reason and policy, because I believed it would lead to great and serious evils to the country, and greatly endanger its free institutions. Sir, this admirable Constitution of our own was the result of a fortunate combination of circumstances. They, for the most part, had free institutions, but they are easily sustained among a savage people. Episodes Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of… Dale Hoyt Palfrey. They have either been left as an independent people amongst us, or been driven into the forests. 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