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1. Aztec was a term that the foreigners introduced for Mexicans in reference to their political alignment. Kings led the people of Aztec Empire who came from the ethnic group called Mexica. The Aztec believed in a god called Quetzalcoatl. The Empire had several ethnic groups in living in different cities a factor that made them susceptible to the attacking Europeans. It had a standardized tax system with proper collections and expenditure accounts.
The Africans had kingdoms as their systems of governance before the coming of Arabs and Islam as well as Europeans and Christianity. The kings had their armies that were to offer protection to them and the community. Africans believed in their gods who they worshipped in the caves. They valued togetherness as in the aspect of living in homesteads and shared food. They mainly relied on hunting of the wild animals and gathering the wild fruits and honey.
2. The African slaves in America and Indians in South America used different methods to resist the influence of their masters. The African slaves justified that they were equally human beings like their masters. This was by learning to comprehend their masters’ ideologies in order to counter them accordingly. In order to achieve this they complied with their orders to become friendly to them hence they could treat them with dignity. For instance, the Africans learnt to read and write in order to communicate accordingly and struggled to be part of leadership.
The Indians on the other hand, managed to justify their culture as regards gender roles and identities and related it to that of their masters. This gave a distinct inclination on which activities should each gender involve oneself in to earn a respective recognition in the society. This facilitated the embracement of Indians’ culture in the master’s system as it had its significance hence standing out as important beings.
3. It is important to note that the Europeans were unfamiliar with the terrains and inhabitations of accessed lands. In order to access the land, they had to incorporate different strategies and make assumptions regarding the people because of possible language barriers and hostility from the natives. The Europeans used their technologies to bribe the people and make them more comfortable with their presence. Developing relations with the natives was one tactic used and as they assumed the people would be more responsive with said forms of technology and other favors, the whites were able to settle among the natives.
4. The major form of technology that played a part in their exploration was the availability of ships. For instance, the discovery of Brazil happened by accident as Cabral was first to find the land before Vasco da Gama was sent for vengeance on the natives. On the other hand, the advancement of whites as evidenced by everything they brought with them to the expeditions was another form of technology that the locals had not seen before. A good example lay in their clothes and weaponry, which were much better and more sophisticated in comparison to those possessed by the inhabitants. The main example of technology helping the invading whites is perhaps the fact that they managed to sail across massive water bodies and gain access to other continents. In addition, during the conquest of Mexico, the natives believed the invading people to be gods. Technology was the main cause of this fact and in turn, instead of fighting off the trespassers the natives welcomed them warmly. With technology, the invading forces had an upper hand over all the people they met and with the same; they were able to access indigenous lands using the sea as the access point.
5. The coming of the slave traders disrupted all the cultural norms of the people and in turn, led to the distraction of their daily lives. For instance, they could not practice the traditional practices in the new land in which they landed. On the other hand, the white man’s argument that they had helped the indigenous tribes is refutable with the argument that instead of helping, all they brought was problems to the people. From freedom to slavery can never be the better choice for the people. With regard to historians whose argument finds basis on modernization and order the whites brought to the colonized regions, there was already an order that they disrupted and the people already had lives. Therefore, the Atlantic slave trade had a large impact on Africa as aside from taking the people from their homes and to unknown lands, it opened up the continent for further exploration and in turn saw more Africans taken as slaves.
6. This section will analyze the importance of cultural and social practices and beliefs with reference to the interaction between the Spanish and the Aztecs. They both had to familiarize themselves with their opponent’s systems for proper interaction as they expected. For instance, the Spanish had to conceptualize the Aztecs believed in a god called Quetzalcoatl in fact they referred to the Spanish as the white gods. These enabled the two to meet a point of convergence about their belief systems as in the case the Spanish understanding the Aztecs way of worship. The Spanish had also to conceptualize that the Aztecs had different ethnic groups that dwelled in various cities. The Kings led these ethnic groups and these Kings came from specific ethnic groups this understanding was to facilitate the achievement of their agenda which was to conquer them. They both understood that both women and men played different roles. This understanding enabled them the Spanish to interact with the Aztecs accordingly.
