Strategies
Using Reading Strategies to Address CAPT and Standards
This unit will employ extensive use of reading strategies in order to communicate the content of the unit. The reading strategies presented were practiced at an Urban Literacy workshop I attended in June 2005 that was sponsored by the Connecticut Writing Project. At the workshop, 16 English and history teachers investigated, discussed, and applied strategies from the text Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content-Area Reading (Heineman Press 2004). Participants in the project will meet in the fall to review work done this summer and plan on integrating strategies into the classroom. A list of reading strategies appropriate for this unit is included in Appendix 2
Improving the level of participation and scores of students who take the CAPT, (Connecticut Academic Performance Tests) is a goal of the New Haven Public Schools District. The Connecticut Writing Project has been offering training in reading and writing strategies at Wilbur Cross High School in order to help teachers better prepare students in the skill areas needed to successfully complete the CAPT. Subsequently, including reading strategies that promote building the skills necessary to complete mandated test will help students toward a graduation requirement in addition to giving them academic skill and enriched content.
The Spanish Invasion of Mexico: Reading the Content of a Rich Historical Drama
The Spanish Invasion of Mexico offers a variety of content that lends itself toward teaching reading skills in addition to learning historical subject matter. Primary and secondary sources show that the Spanish invasion of Mexico utterly transformed Mexico forever. The Spanish invasion led to the demise of the Aztec Empire. Diseases unforeseen in the New World were introduced by the Spanish. Smallpox decimated Native American populations. The invasion also spearheaded the introduction of European culture, livestock, and plants onto the mainland of Mexico. Subsequently, vegetation from the New World broadened the palates of Europe and bolstered the supply of healthy foodstuffs. A mixing of Spanish, native, and African peoples produced a new population that adopted equally diverse blend of Native American, European, and African customs. Today the culture of Mexico still reflects many of the changes that occurred as a result of the Spanish Invasion.
Cortés, Sahagún, and Díaz: Narrators of the Spanish Invasion
Hernán Cortés: Letters\From Mexico
Spanish and Native Americans authors provide the primary source information from the 16th century from which students can examine the motivations behind the invasion. Hernán Cortés' Letters From Mexico, translated by Anthony Pagden, provides the most immediate source of reporting on the actions of Cortés and his men in Mexico. In his letters, Cortés explains the unfolding of events that lead him to Mexico, reports observations of the lands and people, and petitions for approval to deliver the land and its wealth to the Spanish sovereign's realm (and place Cortés in charge). It becomes apparent in reading the first letter that Cortés is undermining his superior Diego Velázquez, the Governor of Cuba. He often portrays Velázquez as shortsighted and selfish and suggests that Cortés is really looking out for the best interest of the Spanish realm. He states such in his first letter in describing why Fernando Cortés, the expedition leader, Hernán Cortés, and their 400 troops decide to disregard their orders of Cuban Governor, Diego Velázquez, to trade for gold and instead founding a town as a land claim on Mexican soil
"for these reasons, therefore, it seemed to us not fitting to Your Majesties service to carry out the orders which Diego Velázquez had given to Hernando Cortés, which were to trade for as much gold as possible and return with it to the island of Fernandina in order that only Diego Velázquez and the captain might enjoy it, and that it seemed to all of us better that a town with a court of justice be founded and inhabited in Your Royal Highnesses' name. For once the land has been settled by Spaniards, in addition to increasing Your Royal Highnesses' dominions and revenues, You may be so gracious as to grant favors to us and to the settlers who come in future" 5
The favors envisioned by Cortés involved being appointed viceroy over the lands that would be claimed. Of course, in addition to the social status of a higher title, Cortés could hope to gain immense wealth through the blessing of the Spanish Crown. Cortés' initial land claim and town founding set the precedent by which Cortés would move from the Yucatan toward Tenochtitlan. It was a daringly calculated move by Cortés who circumvented his superior Velázquez, who did not have his own permission to colonize new land. Velázquez, having placed his own petition to claim new lands prior to Cortés, later sends an unsuccessful expeditionary force out to subdue Cortés and his men and bring Cortés back to Cuba.
Cortés' letters also contain eyewitness descriptions of the Aztec and Tenochtitlan. Like Bernardino De Sahagún, Cortés often employs analogy to compare observations of Aztec people and architecture to Spanish and Moorish culture. While it may seem natural to describe something new in terms of something known, Cortes' analogy might also serve the purpose of luring the King's desire to be the ruler of new lands.
Bernardino De Sahagún
Credit for the Native American perspective in this historical drama rests very much on Bernardino De Sahagún, a Franciscan father, who compiled a unique encyclopedia about the Spanish Invasion in Nahuatl and Spanish. Sahagún arrived in Mexico (1529) ten years after Cortés' arrival. He died in 1590 in Mexico at the age of 91. De Sahagún and other Franciscans are the first to learn the language of the Mexicans that are conquered. At the Franciscan seminary at Tlatelolco, founded in 1536, Sahagún taught Latin to the sons of former Mexican nobility. Teaching Latin to natives of Mexico drew the criticism of other religious orders and many Spaniards. Yet Sahagún's work with native Mexicans helped him perfect his own understanding of Nahuatl. In 1558 he was able to initiate work on his 12 book history, an encyclopedia that when completed in the late 1560's was written first in Nahuatl with drawings and then translated into Spanish. Sahagún gathered the information for his work from native Mexicans who were recruited from dignitaries from various cities.6 As a result of reading Bernardino De Sahagún, Montezuma's reaction toward the aggressive Spaniards is better understood. Students can understand the forces that influenced Montezuma's decision making: his premonitions based on Aztec cosmology, the advice of his council members, and general Aztec culture and customs. Students can read Sahagún's work in English thanks to the work of James Lockhart who translates Book Twelve of Sahagún's work (the Florentine Codex) and other Nahuatl works in the We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico. . Miguel Leon-Portilla has compiled a similar yet simpler reading of the Aztec perspective in The Broken Spears: the Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico.
Bernal Díaz
Bernal Díaz, a subordinate to Cortés, also supplies detailed accounts of the invasion in his memoir The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico. Unlike Sahagún's students, Díaz writes from the perspective of the Spanish conquistadors. Hugh Thomas reports that while Diaz first reports his role in the invasion in 1539 at a sworn testimony called Informacion de Servicios y Meritos (I suppose it was something like being called in front of a Congressional Committee), he does not appear to begin writing his book until 1555 and then proceeds to edit it over the next thirty years. Thomas questions some details regarding Díaz' involvement in a couple of events. However he comments that "such things do not alter the magnificent sweep, and the value, of the book as a whole." 7 In addition to being written some years after the invasion, Díaz's work compares to Sahagun's in that it gives perspective on Cortés' interpreter Doña Marina. Cortés hardly mentions her despite having fathering one and possibly two of her children. Moreover, she is at his side during each of his successes.
The Players
Hernán Cortés is an observant and astute strategist who not only negotiates his way through foreigners and renders the strongest king in the area of Mexico helpless, but he also avoids almost certain ruin from his Spanish superiors for his audacious and selfish plan to render the Aztec submissive and grab Aztec gold. Cortés, perhaps influenced by Machiavelli, appears to be applying some Machiavellian principles to his own pursuit of power: better to be feared than loved. The Aztec king, Montezuma, haunted by bad omens, cannot seem to get rid of the overwhelmingly outnumbered but pesky Spaniards. His attempts to delay and derail the Spanish from coming to Tenochtitlan are ineffective. Ultimately, in light of his inaction and the cruelty and greed of the Spaniards, he is rendered a hostage to them before he dies in the chaos of a Spanish reign of terror on the Aztecs.
Doña Marina, a Native American interpreter for Cortés, plays an interesting role in the invasion. She gives opportunity to more closely analyze issues of gender during and after the Spanish invasion. While apparently marginalized by Cortés in his records, she is often praised by Bernal Díaz and attributed with important roles in Bernardino De Sahagún's Florentine Codex. It is clear that from the Nahuatl accounts and the account of Bernal Díaz that she was indispensable in negotiating with rival and friendly tribes. Díaz praises her considerably for her composure during Cortes and his men's early campaigns with coastal tribes in Vera Cruz.
"Let us leave this and say how Doña Marina who, although a native woman, possessed such manly velour that, although she had heard every day how the Indians were going to us and eat our flesh with chili, and had seen us surrounded in the late battles, and knew that all of us were wounded and sick, yet never allowed us to see any sign of fear in her, only a courage passing that of woman"8
Through Aguilar and Doña Marina, Cortés gained the vital information he needed about the Aztecs and neighboring tribes in order to make alliances, defeat hostile forces, and interact directly with Montezuma. She translated Cortés' orders to Aztec noblemen upon entering Tenochtitlan.
"And when the collection of all gold was completed, thereupon Marina summoned to her, had summoned, all the noblemen. She stood on a flat roof, on a roof parapet, and said, "Mexica, come here, for the Spaniards are suffering greatly. Bring food, fresh water, and all that is needed for they are suffering travail, are tired, fatigued, weary, and exhausted. Why is it you do not want to come? It is a sign that you are angry" 9
Despite her seemingly heroine qualities, Doña Marina's situation must have been rather difficult at best. Given to Cortés' superior as property and then taken by Cortés, she must have had few options to escape her situation. Scandalous and criminal by today's standards, it appears to have been common for native chieftains to offer the conquistadors their daughters and/or other beautiful women in the community. Doña Marina had one and possibly two children by Cortes despite his being married. She really did not have the options available to a contemporary woman. She had been offered up by her family and lived in the midst of an army of Spanish soldiers. How could she hope to survive if she did not cooperate? As one of few women among an army of men who were an ocean away from home, her choices of not being obedient or cooperative with Cortés could only have been desperate options. She makes an interesting figure to compare with other Native-American women who appear to have been thrust into similar situations. Sacajawea appears to have acted in a similar role for Lewis and Clark. Pocahontas was also an apparent offering for Captain John Smith. How these heroines compare is an excellent study of gender roles in major historical events.
Montezuma
Montezuma's legacy may or may not be fairly considered through the modern spectrum. In light of his military defeats he is cast as a superstitious and hesitant leader. At first glance it is absolutely incredible that a force of a few hundred Spaniards even with their muskets, could avoid defeat by thousands of native warriors. Of course one has to consider that the Aztec weren't without enemies and that enemy tribes allied with the Spaniards. Yet, it still seems implausible, especially when considering that the Aztec were not inept at making war, that the Spaniards were able to accomplish their military feats. Díaz and Cortés report that all initial contacts with natives resulted in some type of native attack on the Spaniards. This scenario creates opportunity for students to investigate all they can discover about Montezuma. Was he indecisive? To what extent was he a hostage to superstition and Aztec cultural beliefs? What if anything could he had done differently that would have been consistent with Aztec cultural beliefs? These are just three possible questions worth pursuing with students. In Victors and Vanquished: Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico, Stuart Schwartz suggests that Montezuma's superstition may have been a post-invasion explanation by native tribes who had no other explanation for why their leader could not defeat the Spanish. Diego Durán, a Dominican friar, who like De Sahagún learned Nahua and recorded Nahua history, tells how Montezuma responds to the dreams of elders after the Spaniards had arrived. Montezuma orders the elders to divulge their dreams to him even if it is against their will. "Moteczoma (Montezuma) listened attentively to what the old men and women had described. When he saw that it was not in his favor but that it confirmed the earlier ill omens he ordered that the dreamers be cast in jail. There they were to be given food in small measures until they starved to death. After this no one wished to tell his dreams to Moteczoma"10 Perhaps Montezuma is more worried for his safety and security from neighboring tribes than he is from the strangers-ie.Spaniards. There appears to be great worry for Montezuma. Is it the Spaniards, other tribes, or something else? The answers may germinate through reading Sahagún, Schwartz, Lockhart, Leon- Portilla, Chaliand, and Todorov.
Tenochtitlan: A Sophisticated and Cosmopolitan Wonder.
While people are the generally the engines of change and have been the focus of this unit, attention to Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec, is necessary to better understand the Aztec perspective. Considering the improbable military victory of the Spanish it would be easy to dismiss the Aztec as backwards and unsophisticated. However, the extent of economic, social, political and religious organization rivaled if not surpassed that of most classical empires. Accounts by historians are consistent in describing Tenochtitlan as a wonder. First, In Mirrors of Disaster, Gérard Chaliand describes that the Aztec were more than the inhabitants of one city.
The Aztec ruled an empire of present day Mexico City and 38 tributary provinces. 11
Each of the provinces sent raw materials, foodstuffs and finished goods as tribute to Technotitlan. Hugh Thomas further described the complexities of Aztec society in Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital city.
"There was no city bigger, more powerful, or richer within the world of which the people of the valley were informed. It acted as the focus for thousands of immigrants, of whom some had come because of the demand for their crafts…A single family had ruled the city for over a century. A mosaic of altogether nearly four hundred cities. Each with its own ruler, sent regular deliveries to the Emperor….maize, beans, cotton cloaks, war costumes, raw gold,…lip plugs, and strings of jade" 12
Even the conquistadors are consistent in describing the wonders of Tenochtitlan.
Hernán Cortés reported his observations to King Charles. While the reader can suspect that Cortés wants to make a favorable impression on the King (after all he wants the Kings approval), the reader can also extrapolate that even if exaggerated, Cortés' accounts reflect characteristics of a unique and sophisticated city. In his first letter to Charles, Cortés reports:
"There are some large towns and well laid out. The houses in those parts where there is stone are of masonry and mortar and the rooms are small and low in the Moorish fashion. …There are houses belonging to men of rank which are very cool and have many rooms, for we have seen as many as five courtyards in a single house…Inside there are wells and water tanks and rooms for slaves and servants of which there are many…Each chieftain has …a very large courtyard..shrines and temples with raised walks….they honor and serve with such customs and so many ceremonies that many sheets of paper would not suffice to give Your Royal Highness a true and detailed account… 13
Cortés employs the use of analogy for King Charles in comparing Aztec houses with Moorish fashion. He also implies that like the Spanish, Aztec society is based on a hierarchical social order full of men of rank with large houses with courtyards and rooms for slaves. His last comment about customs and ceremonies appears to imply that the Aztec must be advanced because they have so many ceremonies. The referral to not being able to describe them all in a few sheets of paper is perhaps a ploy to whet the King's appetite for more information.
Despite brushes with failure, Cortés ultimately triumphs in subduing the Aztecs and gaining King Charles' recognition. By 1521, the Aztec empire had been subjugated by the Spanish. The events leading to its demise were documented by Bernardino Sahagún in the Florentine Codex, Cortes in his letters to the King, and by Bernal Díaz, who wrote his account some years later. The following account by Bernardino Sahagún describes the surrender of the Aztecs:
The day on which we laid down our shields and admitted defeat was the day 1-Serpent in the year 3-House. When Cuauhtemoc surrendered, the Spaniards hurried him to Acachinanco at night, but on the following day, just after sunrise, many of them came back again. They were dressed for battle, with their coats of mail and their metal helmets…They all tied white handkerchiefs over their noses because they were sickened by the stench of the rotting bodies. They came back on foot, dragging Cuauhtemoc, Coanacotzin and Tetlepanquetzaltzin by their cloaks. …. When the fighting had ended, Cortés demanded the gold his men had abandoned in the Canal of the Toltecs during the Night of Sorrows. 14
The beginning of Spanish rule ushered in the beginning of a new society, New Spain. As the Spanish introduced Christianity and new customs, native traditions were not completely eradicated. In fact a sort of reverse influence happened in many respects. Some religious orders adapted the dress of natives and learned Nahua and other native languages. In the case of Bernardino De Sahagun, his learning of the Nahua language and acceptance of native sons into his tutelage allowed the preservation of the native voice.
In the following lessons students and teachers will gain exposure to the historical accounts of an immensely important and controversial event in human history. In his introduction to Bernal Diaz's The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico, Hugh Thomas concludes by calling the Spanish invasion "the most important event in the history of the America's"15 Various authors such as Thomas, Todorov, and Chaliand weigh the conventional arguments for Spanish ascendancy and the decline of the Aztecs in slightly different lights. It is generally agreed that Montezuma's inaction, the superiority and novelty of the Spanish soldier's weapons and uniforms, and the passing of dreadful communicable diseases all played a role in the demise of the Aztecs. But to what degree should these factors and other factors such as language, superstition, and luck be attributed? How should players such as Marina be viewed in this episode of history? As a woman and interpreter, she holds a unique and much underestimated role. Moreover, while the Aztec empire declines and countless Native Americans are wiped out, is it fair to say that the Spanish conquered the Aztecs? In what ways does Native culture survive and transform the Spanish? It would be fun for students to be able to offer their own perspective on these questions after reading these authors and primary accounts offered by the Codex and Díaz.
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