Comparing Explorers' Perceptions of Native Americans

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Use the following readings. Links to the readings can be found in Lessons Module 2:

• Journal of Columbus

• Second Letter of Hernando Cortes to the Emperor Charles V

• An Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico

Answer and address each of the following questions in your essay. Make sure that you give specific examples from the readings and that you give a lot of facts and details from the readings to answer each question thoroughly.

1. How sophisticated and technologically advanced were the Native American societies encountered by Cortés and Columbus?
2. Of what were their weapons constructed?
3. What constituted their housing?
4. How sophisticated were their architectural structures?
5. Is there evidence in the narratives of religious practices or beliefs?
6. How did the Native Americans treat the newly-arrived Spanish? Is there evidence of animosity between the two groups?
7. Were the natives warlike? How did they respond to the arrival of the Spanish?
8. How did the Spaniards view and treat the natives? What seemed to motivate the Spanish?