| 
| Current Site Visitors -> 
Book Review by the American Patrol Report
by Wilson Beck (Author) [Click here for other chapters in this review]
October 20, 2009
Chapter III - Mexico’s Collision with Europe
Following Christopher Columbus' arrival in 1492, Spain spent 25 years exploring, conquering and settling the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Haiti.
Beck notes that in 1527 the expedition of Hernandez de Cordoba that preceded Cortez, met with violence at each landfall along the Yucatan Peninsula, losing 60 men to ambushes into which they were drawn by trickery.
The other expedition that preceded Cortez, captained by Juan de Grijalva, began to learn of the brutality of the Mexicans. Beck quotes Bernal Diaz, one of the explorers in this expedition:
"Here we found five Indians who had been sacrificed to them that very night. Their chests had been struck open and their arms and thighs cut off, and the walls of these buildings covered with their blood."
Besides seeing these atrocities, the Spaniards traded trinkets for 20,000 pieces of gold. This was the impetus for the Cortes expedition.
Cortes, with 600 men and sixteen horses sailed eleven ships from Cuba on February 10, 1519. Beck notes that two and one half years later, on August 13, 1521, Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec tyrant, was captured, thus ending 500 years of Aztec tyranny.
Beck asks how 600 men, later enforced by an additional 600, were able to defeat an empire of 10 million Aztecs. The answer, Beck offers, is that the Indians of Mexico resented the Aztec tyrants and joined in their defeat. "Cortes," Beck writes, "saw the perversity of the Aztec culture and how it had turned the entire region into living hell. He realized the if he could convert the outlying city states into allies, he could defeat the Aztecs."
Beck also notes that "The decadence was so complete and compelling that all of the Aztec subcultures had adopted the barbaric and cannibalistic practices, and belief systems, of the Aztec." Beck says, "Every modern Mexican is a descendant of the horrific Aztec culture."
As Cortes moved toward what is now Mexico City, he encountered ever more atrocities. Explorer Diaz wrote:
"I must now tell how in this town of Talascala we found wooden cages made of lattice-work in which men and women were imprisoned and fed until they were fat enough to be sacrificed and eaten."
Cortes learned that part of the Indians mythology was a prophecy that fair-skinned blue-eyed gods would appear from the east. These gods, it was said, would become their new leaders. Another explanation for Cortes' victory, Beck argues.
As the Cortes expedition moved along it was common for the men to take on concubines, with the blessings of the Indian leaders. "This practice continued for centuries and eventually became of the most despised subjects in Mexican history," Beck writes.
As Cortes continued Montezuma planned an elaborate ambush, promising his allies that each would be given so many Spaniards to be eaten.
Countering Montezuma's treachery, Cortes practiced a little of his own and launched a surprise attack on Cholulans, killing thousands.
The Aztecs had seen this massacre and it frightened them and they fled back toward Tenochtlitan. "This ferocious, savage, cannibalistic culture seems to have bred an army of cowards," Beck writes.
"Montezuma began to wonder if Cortes was the reincarnation of Quetzalcoatl, the ancient god of Tula," Beck writes.
Beck describes in detail the incredible brutality of the Aztecs and Montezuma, whose name translates into The Angry Lord. In the 15th and 16th centuries Beck reports that experts believe that the Aztec culture was responsible for the sacrifice of 20,000 to 50,000 people a year. "Imagine, 50 to 150 people being brutally sacrificed and eaten every single day in the central valley of Mexico."
Montezuma's had planned to join with the Colulans to ambush Cortes. Cortes was aware of this but Montezuma refused to admit his treachery. "The idea of apologizing does not exist in the Mexican belief system," Beck observes. "This behavior existed 500 years ago and it still exists today."
Eventually Montezuma allowed Cortes to enter Tenochtlitan without resistance. He thought Cortes was either a god or the fulfillment of a prophecy.
Beck discusses at length the incredible architecture and city planning that Cortes encountered as he entered Tenochtlitan.
Explorer Diaz wrote, "When we saw so many cities built out of the water, and so many causeways that led toward Tenochtlitan, we were amazed and said this was like the enchantments."
Beck observes that the technology and engineering was that of the Teotihuacanos, not the Aztecs, who had learned skills but not advanced them.
Believing in the mystical prophecy, Montezuma even allowed Cortes to place him under house arrest. "He (Montezuma) could have killed and sacrificed the conquistadors. But he was not driven to save his culture."
In a six-month occupation, more than 600,000 pounds of gold and precious jewels were collected and turned over to the Spaniards. (This is about 10 billion dollars at today's value of 600,000 pounds of gold alone.)
Trouble began for Cortes when Spain sent a 19-ship armada to relieve him. Cortes took half of his men and ambushed the relief party as it came ashore. He convinced the men to join him.
Meanwhile, back at Tenochtitlan trouble was brewing. Upon entering the city, Cortes was attacked and forced to flee to another city. The Tlaxcalans came to his rescue, but Cortes was basically destroyed as a fighting force.
Owing to the strange relationships between different cities and peoples, Cortes was able to quickly establish allies amongst the indigenous people. (Beck cites Woodrow Borah, a leading expert on the demography of Mexico, who revised his estimate of the people sacrificed in central Mexico in the 15th century to 250,000 per year, possibly 1 percent of the population.) Explaining why there were no real political ties between various city-states.
Re-supplied by Spain, Cortes prepared to launch a counter-attack.
The siege of Tenochtitlan began on May 15, 1521. Cortez and his Mexican Indian allies were to retake the city. "The scope of the endeavor was now enormous," Beck writes.
"For the ensuing ten days Cortes and his officers "saw our comrades who had been captured... being dragged up the steps to be sacrificed."
As the battle turned poorly, Cortes cut off the Aztecs water. The lack of water, plus a smallpox epidemic and the resumed attacks of the Spaniards finally took its toll. "Ninety-three days after the siege began... the Aztec people were dead, dying or fleeing in all directions."
Beck writes: "This was a culture, a society, an entire subcontinent which had evolved without human spirit. There were no gods. There were only idols. The offering of blood to the idols was a sham. Everyone came for the meat, the arms, and the legs... . When an Aztec warrior went off to battle he was going to a barbecue.
"As I read the daily newspaper from Mexico City, I see the same dominant Aztec characteristics continuing to emerge again and again throughout the history of Mexico."
Beck goes on to cite reports from across Mexico that support his contention.
Cortes, Beck argues, was not a warmonger put a lover of piece. He ended 500 years of Aztec inhumanity.
| | Current Site Visitors ->