AlishaMehdi

September11,2016
History7A
Lubisich

DocumentInterpretation1

TheletterwrittenbyCortesin1519,whenhefirstmetKingMoctezumaashe
traveledtotheAzteccapitalofTenochititlan,portraysthebeginningsoftheir
relationship.AtfirstitseemsasifKingMoctezumabelievesheissuperiortothe
Europeansashefirstenterswithtwohundredlordsandhaschiefswhodonoteven
allowCortestotouchMoctezuma.However,asMoctezumapresentsCorteswithagiftin
returnitseemsasifheseesthemasequals.Yet,astheinteractioncontinues,the
dynamicsappeartocontinuetochange.AsMoctezumaaddressesCorteshementionshis
assurancethatheandhispeoplewillobeyCortesandtheEuropeans,whichisportrayed
ashimsubordinatinghimselftowardsthem.Hisinclusionofhisbeliefsabouthis
understandingoftheidentityofthenaturallordshowstherespectMoctezumahasforthe
Europeans.Hisactionstowardtheendappeartoshowhissincerewishtogainthetrustof
Cortesandconvincehimthatheisonhisside.Moctezumaappearstobeveryupfront,
andsincere,aswellashumbleconsideringthefactthathedoesnotshowoffhiswealth
andevenproclaimsthatitcanbesharedbetweenthem.Moctezumaseeshopewithinthe
othersanddoeshisdutyaskingtobridgethegapbetweenthetwodifferentgroupsof
people.MoctezumasportrayaloftheEuropeansastheothersissincere,hopefuland
moregenuinethanCorteseventualrepresentationofMoctezumaandhispeopleas
other.Althoughnotveryclearinthisspecificsource,Cortesbelievesheandhispeople
aresuperiorinoveralltermsofstandardsoflivingandtakesadvantageofMoctezuma

andhispeople.ItseemsasifMoctezumadoesnotwanttoemphasizethedifferences
betweenhispeopleandtheotherswhereasCorteswantstousethedifferencetohis
ownbenefit.Althoughthedynamicinthisspecificexampleisstillfreshandneat,the
differencesbetweenthegroupsasotheriscomingtolightandfutureeventshelp
displaythedisparity.