The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-05-12
Coming of the White Men.

Coming of the White Men.
Grijalva landed and observed the
natives of the Mexican coast in 1918
almost four hundred years ago, but
much to the disgust of his superior
the Governor of Cuba, he made no set
tlement and hurried home to report
1t was thus that the opportunity came
to Cortes to command the expedition
which was to mark an epoch in his
tory and himself as one of the world S
greatest conquerors.
Cortes landed in April, of 1919, ar
rived at Tenochtitlan in November
and was driven from there in the
Dreadful Night" of June goth. 1920,
only to return the following year, to
lay siege to it and to enter its ruins
on the 18th of August, 1921 as it's con-
queror and the master of all the tribes.
With that date the traditional and an
cient historical period of Mexico came
to an end, and marked the beginning
of written history, and of the Spanish
Colonial period which was to last an
even three hundred years.
The Spaniards found themselves
amongst a people from whom they diff
fered widely, yet they endeavored to
describe them in terms of European
social and political life, with results
often the opposite of what they must
have intended. The Spaniards assum-
ed the existence of empires and en-
perOrs, kings, mobiles, courts of law,
judges, great estates; in fact, a dupli-
cation of what they knew in Europe.
The result was a series of well meant
blundcrs which required years to
remedy, even in part
Aztec Social and Political Life.
At that time the Mexican Indians
were divided into a vast number of
tribes, speaking over hundred differ
ent languages and dialects, of which
some fifty still survive and are spoken
by considerable portion of the popu-
lation. In fact, it is claimed that the
language of Montezuma is today the
mother tongue of nearly a million
Mexicans, many of whom speak no
other.
In the days of the Conquest many
thousands of these Indians lived a
partly nomadic life in the northern
deserts, subsisting partly by hunting,
partly by agriculture, and as much as
possible by raiding and robbing any
villages not on the alert against them.
In and about the Valley of Mexico the
tribes had adopted more regular
occupation was war for the purpose of
eXacting tribute from the conquered
Each village was an autonomous
governing entity Independent of all
the others, except as they might COM
bine temporarily for purposes of ag-
gression. The three principal towns
of the Valley of Mexico had formed
such a combination before the Con-
quest by Cortes. This alliance was
solely for purposes of joint attack
upon other towns and villages and
determined the division of the booty
or tribute. The members of the con-
federacy, however, remained free to
make war on their own individual ac-
count. The conquered villages, if not
eXterminated, were invariably left free
to govern themselves, but were COM
PEELED to pay tribute in the products
of their districts to the cOnquering
tribe or confederacy. No 'garrisons"
were placed in charge, and only un-
armed representatives of the victor
ious tribes were placed in the conquer
ed villages to see that the tribute was
gathered and carried to Mexico as
agreed. The tribe paying tribute
could make war on any tribe not pay
ing tribute to the confederacy, and
exact tribute on it's own account, If
able to do so.