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Conquest

 

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             The story of the Massacre of Toxcatl begins with Cortes being called away from the capitol of Mexico, Tenochtitlan. He was called away to meet a man named Panfil de Narvaez whom had orders to seize Cortes. Cortes left the next commander in line, Pedro de Alvarado, in charge of the city with a number of soldiers. It is not quite known what happens, but during this time, Alvarado attacks the natives who were celebrating a festival kills them all. This causes a revolt of the natives and a big war to be waged. The reason why the truth of this story is not well known is because the sources historians have are personal documents, which may or may not be accurate.
             A primary source, such as those written by Diaz, Gomara, and Las Casas, can give a personal and detailed account of an event, principally because the author experienced the event in some way and has written about it. However, the information can be somewhat biased, depending on the stance and motives of the author. The writings of Las Casas were motivated by the injustice of natives by the Spaniards. He dedicated his life to protecting the natives of the Americas and attempting to persuade the Spanish crown to stop the Crusades. This negative portrayal of the Spaniards, especially Cortes, was the cause of Gomara's accounts. His motive was to persuade the Spaniards, the Spanish royal crown, and also other European countries, that Cortes had not committed heinous crimes on the natives nor disobeyed the crown, but that he actually was a hero who brought great advancement toward Spain. Once Diaz had found out about Gomara's accounts, he became outraged that Gomara had given all the credit to Cortes for the success of the Spaniards in the Americas. Diaz felt that the common soldier was the reason why the Spaniards were successful in the colonization of the Americas, not Cortes. The motive behind his accounts was to spread the "truth" about what really happened in the hopes of receiving reward for his accomplishments.


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