Conquest

Conquest The story of the Spanish conquest over the native peoples of the Americas is still a mystery as to what exactly happened. Beginning in 1492, the Spaniards came from Europe to the Americas in hope of gaining wealth and increasing their social status. The Spaniards who were in the Americas were supposed to be spreading the word of Christianity, but often found the lure of gold and money from encomiendas, which is a grant of authority over natives, to be more to their desire. There were many contrasting accounts written during the Conquest, each of which differed based on the views and the motives of the author. Some of the most widely believed accounts were written by Bernal Diaz and Bartolome De Las Casas. Diaz was a common foot soldier of the Spanish crusade who wrote books in an attempt to show his efforts in the conquest. Diaz worked alongside Hernando Cortes during much of the Conquest. Cortes was the leader of many important victories and led the Spaniards to the conquering of Mexico. Las Casas, a more controversial figure than Diaz, wrote books in the defense of the natives. Although natives, gomara, cortes, spaniards, diaz, because, casas, las, accounts, massacre, alvarado, account, about, different, much, conquest, spanish, written, show, reason, very, toxcatl, during, after, story, says, revolt, motive, men, event, crown, americas, three, tenochtitlan, out