Reference no: EM133238693
Source 1
On the second day of the sacred festival, the Aztec people began to sing again, but without warning they were all put to death. The dancers and singers were completely unarmed. They brought only their embroidered cloaks, their turquoises, their lip plugs, their necklaces, their clusters of heron feathers, their trinkets made of deer hooves. The Spaniards attacked the musicians first, slashing at their hands and faces until they had killed all of them. The singers and even the spectators were also killed. The Aztec king Motecuhzoma, who was accompanied by those who had brought food for the Spaniards, protested: "Our lords, that is enough! What are you doing? These people are not carrying shields or swords. Our lords, they are completely unarmed!"
Anonymous Aztec account of a 1520 Spanish attack which led to an Aztec revolt against the Spaniards; written c. 1528 for the Aztec people
Source 2
The many nations of this vast new world have been defamed by persons who did not fear God. These Indian peoples surpassed the Greeks and Romans in selecting for their gods virtuous men - to the extent that virtue exists among people who lack the knowledge of the true God that is gained by faith. It seems probable that none of these Indian people will be more difficult of conversion than the ancient Greeks and Romans. First, because all these peoples are of good reason. Second, because they show less duplicity and more simplicity of heart than others.
Bartolome de Las Casas, Apologetic History of the Indies; written between 1527 and 1564 for the Spanish king to encourage the reform of Spanish policies in the Caribbean
Use the provided passages and your knowledge of European history to answer all parts of the question that follows.
a) Identify and explain ONE way in which both passages could be understood by a European reader in the 1500s as confirming widely held beliefs concerning indigenous peoples of the Americas.
b) Identify and explain ONE way in which the portrayal of indigenous peoples in the first passage contributed to the author's intended purpose for the document.
c) Identify and explain ONE way in which the portrayal of indigenous peoples in the second passage contributed to the author's intended purpose for the document.