Conquistadors: Chanca and Cortes

Spanish Reactions: Chanca and Cortés

The European’s were the one to colonize the Americas, and namely the Spaniards were the first one to do so. The discovery of the Americas was made by Christopher Columbus. On his second voyage there in 1493 Dr. Diego Alvarez Chanca joined him on his journey to recount his tales from these newly discovered lands. The land explored was the Caribbean, Mesoamerica region. This land was explored by Hernando Cortés, with the permission of the Spanish crown, he was going there to retrieve the riches that the land had and convert the native “savages and beasts” ,as they called them , to Christianity so that they may become men. The European views of the world at this time and were narrow-minded and were intolerant of other people’s views and practices and how religion influences their views and actions. Both Cortés and Chanca show these biases in their retelling of what they encountered and how they were received by the indigenous people that occupied the lands.

Chanca accompanied Columbus on his his second journey to the Americas in 1493. Chanca was a doctor to Isabella, which is how he was introduced and appointed to go with Columbus. Chanca was interested in telling a titillating tale of the people and places he saw in the new world, to entice his Spanish readership. Chanca in this sense already has a bias towards the people and the land. In Chancas account he called the people and their way of life in the caribe bestial. He noted that the warring tribes would eat each other that they have conquered, but didn’t eat the females and that they would oft cut off the genitalia of the younger men that they have conquered. He also made note of the fact the Spaniards were far more advanced than them when comparing the native people’s weaponry and armament to their own. Stating that their bows and arrows were not to be feared.

Cortés made his trip to the Americas in 1519 and took over operations there. When he arrived he found that all...