Michael McClanathan 5/11/2014 Colonial Latin America Victors and Vanquished An incredible clash of two civiliations in the earl! 1" th centur! leads to the death of one em#ire and the birth of another$ %he &#anish conquest of Me'ico decimated the Me'ica wa! of life and #aved the wa! for a new &#anish dominance over the re(ion$ %he advanta(es of the &#anish as well as the #olitics of central Me'ico allowed the &#anish to divide and conquer one of the (reatest em#ires in the western hemis#here$ %he record of these events varies to some de(ree de#endin( on the side that wrote them$ Victors and Vanquishedb! &tuart &chwartattem#ts to e'#lore di)erent accounts of the conquest of Me'ico throu(h the e!es of both the *ahua #eo#le and the &#anish conquistadores$ %his account retells the facts from an ob+ective #oint of view at most times but also (ives #rimar! accounts of the events from actual witnesses as well as code' documents collected after the conquest$ &chwartfocuses on the advanta(es the &#aniards had culturall!, technolo(icall! and those (ained b! the local circumstances$ %he &#anish #ossessed a culture that allowed th em to become (r eat conquerors$ %hrou(hout their histor! the! stru((led a(ainst Moorish o##ression and eventuall! defeated them in the -econquista$ %hese cam#ai(ns to reclaim &#anish rule .had mobilied thousands of !oun( men and convinced them to mae their fortune throu(h militar! #rowess, coura(e, and sill&chwart13$ %his created a militaristic culture far di)erent from other uro#ean countries$ n most uro#ean societies, onl! the nobilit! were #ro#erl! trained in with swords, horses and other militar! means6 however in &#ain .man! !oun( men new these sills and used
