Indian Conquistadors

By Brent Day

The idea of the Spanish

conquest in America was that the Spaniards had completely overpowered the natives with no help from anyone

This idea was popular but it began to fade when questions were asked and there were no satisfactory answers

The new idea is that it was from disease, native disunity, and metal weapons that helped the Spaniards conquer the Americas

Fading of Believes

The Spaniard’s native allies

outnumbered their main force at about 5:1 or more

In later years not as many natives accompanied the Spaniards on their expeditions but they still out numbered the Spaniards

The natives were taken with the Spaniards to other countries to aid their conquering as well

Native Support

Native warriors were not the only

ones that helped out in the Conquistadors conquest

The Conquistadors also had guides, cooks, translators, and porters

The native porters were of extreme importance due to the fact that the Conquistadors brought with them few beasts of burden

They also were the ones that carried sick and wounded from the battle field and during marches

Native Network

Cortez’s conquest

strategy composed of repeating the same thing

When Cortez conquered a new city he would use it as a spring board for his next attack

He would then pray on the local people and intimidate them to keep them under his control

The Pattern of Conquest