Caroline McNally 1) Cortes was seemingly motivated by the amount of wealth and power that Montezuma had, so he decided

hed go up there and try to obtain some. He seemed to be accepted in both sides, but from the Aztec view, he stole everything and from Spaniards, he graciously accepted everything as gifts. Yes, I believe that the war and conquest was inevitable because once Cortes found about the riches, I do not think that he would leave with anything short of the riches that he had heard of. Additionally, he would not have taken so many supplies and so many army men with him if something wasnt going to happen, and if there werent going to be any fights taking place. His initial impression was friendly, but Cortes really only wanted the greed and the riches that the Aztecs had, so he put on an act and did what he had to do to obtain it. 2) I dont think that the Spanish could have developed a trade relationship with the Aztecs as the Chinese did with the natives of India, and the Persian Gulf because I feel like there was too much greed going on overall. The main tactic of the Spaniards was to gain wealth, which you could tell because of how greedy Cortes was. I do not think that they would have wanted any more business or any more trade, they were more like you have wealth, and we want it, so we are going to do anything we can to get inside your walls, and steal it for ourselves. In addition, it is faster to conquer a state and get all of their wealth than to wait around and trade with them, because the initial want was not for exchange it was solely wealth. 3) God might have had some sort of influence on the attack because when the Spaniards came, they tried to convert the Mexicans to Christianity and to believe in one god. The Mexicans refused because they already had their own Gods that they have worshiped since the beginning and they were not about to abandon them now because multiple people have tried to convert them and failed, so why should they change now. Also the attack at the fiesta might have been a sign of religious aggression because they fiesta was to show the Spaniards about their culture, and about how they live, even revealing a statue of one of their Gods, so the somewhat religious ideas in the celebration might have also lead to a factor of attack. The number one cause was because what it did was symbolize the greed of the Spaniards. From the Spaniard position, the Aztecs granted them the gold, and the other treasures, because they were given to them as welcome gifts. Additionally, when it came to other treasures like Motecuhzomas treasure, they expectantly found the treasure behind a door, and did not take any of it, but left it alone so that no one knew that they had seen and discovered where it was. In contrast, the Aztecs said that regarding the gold, the Spaniards demanded that they give them gold, and other necessities by force, but regarding the treasure, everything was ransacked and taken without notice of the king, or anyone around. 4) The Europeans thought that the Native Americans were awful people, who were cannibalistic, and therefore savages. Therefore, the Europeans thought that they should try to eliminate them, which resulted in beatings, brutal killings, and complete destruction of the civilization. The portrayal is based on the experience because different explorers saw different things, for example, Theodore de Bry saw the world that most of the other Europeans portrayed, which was a world of cannibals, ruthless and aggressive towards

their enemies. On the other hand, Las Casas saw a more sympathetic and understanding side to everything because he believed that the Indians were the victims of the mass murders, because all of the wars that were declared by the Indians were just and acceptable, while the wars that were declared on the Indians were just unjust and unlawful.