Some of the characteristics of Mesoamerican cultures that influenced the processes of conquest of ancient America were internal struggles, artisanal weapons, religion, political organization and cultural manifestations.
The Mesoamerican cultures were a group of large pre-Hispanic indigenous tribes that were distributed by Mesoamerica , a socio-cultural territory that included part of Central America and Mexico.
The conquest of the Mexicas
The Mesoamerican Indians were integrated by a diversity of cultures, such as the Mayas, Mexicas, Mixtecs, Olmecs, Toltecs and Zapotecs, among others. Each tribe had its own territorial distribution, religious and ideological beliefs, knowledge, social system and government.
Characteristics of Mesoamericans during the colonization process
The Mesoamerican peoples shared several features in common, since they were sedentary indigenous civilizations with agricultural economies, which enjoyed a rich cultural wealth, full of cosmogonic thoughts and mythological rituals.
But, with the arrival of the Spaniards, the process of conquest began, with great battles to impose their culture and beliefs, which would lead the Mesoamerican civilizations to decay and collapse.
Some of the characteristics that influenced or facilitated the process of conquest were:
Internal struggles
The confluence and interrelation of the diverse Mesoamerican cultures favored the commerce, by means of a coexistence that, sometimes, was pacific, but that later became violent, propitiating wars and power struggles.
These struggles, among the same Mesoamericans, facilitated the intervention of the Spanish army, which established order and control over them progressively.
Artisanal armament
The Mesoamericans were great warriors who handled the use of artisan weapons such as macanas, slings, spears and arrows, with a capacity of impeccable precision.
However, the Spanish conquistadors favored military strategy, horse attacks, soldiers with swords and firearms such as guns, muskets, shotguns and rifles, whose sonorous destructive power caused a psychological and intimidating impact on the Mesoamerican Indians.
Religious beliefs
Mesoamerican religious ideologies were polytheistic in nature, each with its own gods, deities, myths and rituals.
In short, they believed that superior entities had created the world and they continued to govern it by basic principles and obligations that human beings had to fulfill, in order to maintain the stability of the universe.
Requirements that ranged from the construction of ceremonial centers, worship rituals, various blood offerings and even human sacrifices with their respective anthropophagy.
Practices that were considered wild, incomprehensible, terrifying, perverse and diabolical for the Spaniards, who saw in them the justification of their struggles to impose the indoctrination of the Catholic faith.
Political organization
Political organizations bore a magical aura with diverse versions of tribal government, multiethnic state, chiefdom, city-state and confederate kingdoms.
It was believed that the higher authorities had some kind of relationship with the gods, which allowed them to dominate and organize social plurality, through myths and manipulations of historical memory.
For the Spanish conquerors, the theocratic aura of the Mesoamerican governments contradicted the Catholic moral code and endangered the security of the communities.
Accordingly, it became necessary to modify the social structures that, in his view, fostered intolerable behavior and abominable acts of a demonic nature.
Cultural manifestations
The indigenous Mesoamericans presented different levels of cultural development, with their respective traditions, customs and languages, which were recorded in pictorial, sculptural and codicional representations.
They had a multitude of symbols and emblems, in writing, that gave details of their knowledge of the use of calendars, their religious and worldview systems, their version of laws, agriculture, astronomy and history, among other important topics.
Everyday life was greatly influenced by their gods, so Catholic evangelization and submission to Spanish rule inevitably modified the cultural and artistic manifestations of the region.
References
- Islamic Culture Corporation. (2003). THE MESOAMERICAN CULTURES: OLMECAS, MAYAS AND AZTECAS. THE CIVILIZATIONS OF ANCIENT AMERICA. Retrieved December 12, 2017 from: islamchile.com
- Edgar Franco Flores. (2011). CLASSIC PERIOD [200 A.C.-800 D.C.]. History of Mexican Art and Architecture. C-9 and C-10. Digital notes and questionnaires per class. Bachelor of Architecture Institute of Basic Sciences and Engineering. Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo. Retrieved December 12, 2017 from: repository.uaeh.edu.mx
- Enrique Florescano (nineteen ninety five). THE POLITICAL LEGACY OF THE MESOAMERICAN PEOPLES. Ethnicity, State and Nation. Test. Nexos Magazine. Retrieved December 12, 2017 from: nexos.com.mx
- Justo Fernández López. (2015). MAP OF THE MESOAMERICAN CULTURES. Mesoamerica (cultural area). Geography and maps of the American continent. Hispanoteca: Spanish language and culture. Retrieved December 12, 2017 from: hispanoteca.eu
- Marialba Pastor. (2003). THE CHRISTIAN VISION OF THE HUMAN SACRIFICE. Ancient Mexico. Mexican Archeology Magazine. No. 63. Human sacrifice. Retrieved December 12, 2017 from: arqueologiamexicana.mx
- Yolanda Mendoza Olguín. (2017). THE CONQUEST AND THE NOVOHISPAN CULTURAL CONFORMATION. Social Sciences and Humanities. Law and Jurisprudence. Collections Electronic presentations Autonomous University of the State of Hidalgo. Retrieved December 12, 2017 from: repository.uaeh.edu.mx