Edgewood High School - HISTORY SS0601.02 A Pivotal Encounter Turn-It-In

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Historical Context Audience Purpose Point of View (POV) This source was created around 1520 when Cortes wrote the letters to King Charles V. It was created in Tenochtitlan, Mexico when Cortes was... exploring the area. A Historical event is the Spanish Exploration of the West Indies. This trend was started by Columbus. The Columbian Exchange also was prominent during this time. That was the exchange of goods including disease. It connects to Spain as Cortes was writing these letters to King Charles V who lives in Spain. Explorers changed how Europeans saw the world. Such as that there is more out there than just Europe. They also made Europe more aware of financial gains in the new world, ultimately leading to Europe’s economic growth. Exploration of new land also became the basis of conflicts predominantly due to religious conflicts. Cortes wrote these letters for King Charles V. It is reflected that he is the intended audience by how Cortes dwells into great detail on the new land. Because obviously King Charles would like to have a clear understanding of the new land. Also possibly for funding purposes, like, “Is this trip worth it?” Also how Cortes explains to the king about the converting process because that was one of the reasons of the conquest and the king would definitely be interested in hearing about that. Cortes is trying to show King Charles V what the new land is like. Cortes is informing and fulfilling a duty when composing these letters to the King. By describing the land he is most definitely informing. Lastly, by informing what he has explored he is fulfilling a duty. His duty being sent out to explore a new land and report back. Furthermore he is fulfilling his duty in converting the Aztecs and reporting progress to the King. Hernan Cortes was one of many Spanish explorers. He lived in West Indies for over 10 years. Cortes has been known for his ruthlessness. He conquered the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. Cortes is a Christian and the Aztec people are not they followed a Mesoamerican religion. Therefore causing Cortes to have a completely different perception than them. Because of differing religions this may cause Cortes to look at them differently, even seeing them as less than him. He clearly thought that Christianity is best or else why would he be converting them and writing to the king about it. https://www.coursehero.com/file/17119794/0102-A-Pivotal-Encounter-Turn-It-In/ This study resource was shared via CourseHero.com [Show More]

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