Assignment 4A

Assignment 4A
Colonial conquests means the act or process of conquering and or colonization of a land or region. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/conquests&fromAsk=true
The colonial period of Latin America was between 1492-1810. During this era The Spanish and Portuguese came to latin america to rid the area of pagen religion and spread christianity to all "hethans". They instead used religion to exploit the indigenous people and destroy all parts of their native culture. Of the 19 million people that were inhabitants only 2 million natives survived the colonization of their lands. The rest were completely wiped out mostly by the diseases that the Conquistadors carried with them on the boats. Unfortunately, the native codices,( form of books written on bark) were destroyed which makes it difficult to learn about the history of latin american countries. Not only that but, the native history was rewritten and made the earlier native leaders seem evil so that the Spaniards looked like heros who came to save the natives from themselves.
http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/coloniallatinamerica/p/colonialera.htm


http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124324682@N01/464174882/


Dona Marina also known as Melinche was the daughter of a noble Aztec family. When she was young her father died and her mother remarried and had a son with her stepfather. They wanted their son to be the next Chief and they gave up Marina to some passersby as a slave. Already as a young girl she had endured the death of her father and the rejection of her mother.
In 1519, Dona Marina was one of 20 slaves offered as a gift to Cortes by a Mayan Lord. When Cortes learned that she was fluent in Nauhtl and Maya he quickly made her a part of his translating team. At first she helped one of Cortes' translators A priest named Jeronimo de Aguilar Who was fluent in Spanish and Maya. She would translate Nahuatl to Mayan and the priest would translate to Spanish. After a while Dona Marina was able to learn to speak Spanish and therefore no longer needed the priest to translate for her.She became Cortes' cheif translator. She was able to use her communication skills to bring down the Aztecs peacefully. It has been said that if Cortes had not been able to comunicate with the Aztecs then he would have resorted to pure violence and the complete annialation of the Aztecs as he had done before when he wanted to colonize an area. This issue is still controversial and many have different views. On the other hand some may say that becasue of her communication skills she used them to trick the Aztecs and was the cause of the empire collapse. http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/history/malinche.html
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/slenchek/slmalinche.html
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She became Hernan Cortes's mistress and intrepreter during the colonization of Mexico. She could aways be seen by his side and Cortes was offered many slaves that he could easily have taken but he would only stay with her. She was as loyal to him as he was to her. The Indians called her La Malinche which meant "captian's woman". They knew that the words that she spoke ,were directly of Cortes' and not of her. She was able to negotiate with the neighboring tribes who were oppressed by the Aztec Indians and Cortes offered them freedom from the sacrificies and demands of the Aztecs. She ended up bearing one of his children. This child is said to be one of the very first Mexicans. In fact Dona Marina has been given credit for starting the Mexican race( Indian and Spanish children). Many wonder if she was a traitor or a victim of circumstance. I felt that she had no choice in the matter I don't think they really cared what she thought they just used her skills to bring down the natives. http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/history/malinche.html
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/slenchek/slmalinche.html. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQU4CXqrbDs&feature=related
In the end she was able to make peace with her mother and half brother who had come to visit her. She forgave them and sent them home with gifts of jewels and clothes. This was documented by Bernal Diaz who is one of few who was eye witness to what happened during the conquest of Mexico.
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/slenchek/slmalinche.html
I chose this topic because I thought it was interesting. I have never heard of Dona Marina before and found the subject interesting to read about. I believe that she was a hero and helped to save the lives of many Indians. I think she was meant for greatness and in that time period it was hard for Women to be as brave as she was. I enjoyed learning about Dona Marina and her accomplishments.

The sources I used are in bold Italic and I believe that these are credible because they also cite their sources and had similiar facts even though they are not from the same person. They cite actual writings and letters that still exist or are some of few artifacts left from that era.