Question for October 2017

To assume that the Aztecs conquered the Mayans is incorrect for multiple reasons. The Aztecs and the Mayan were two distinct cultures of indigenous people. The Spaniards first conquered the Inca in Peru and mined gold from this area. In pursuit of more gold they entered Mexico and Hernan Cortez led this arm of the “Conquest” around 1520. He overtook the Aztecs and their former capital was made the New Spain capital of the America’s. Unfortunately Cortez didn’t find much gold or wealth in Mexico City and pursued south into Mayan territory. Gold was not found in Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala or Honduras. The conquest into dense jungle into Mayan civilization did not enrich the Spaniards as Pizarro had amassed great wealth and gold in Peru. To this day it is not known what exactly happened to the Mayan in Central America. A great many Mayan people continue to live in this area today and still speak their native tongues. This area of Central America actually was part of Columbia all the way up to the southern border of Mexico. The dense forests and lack of gold diminished for the Spanish a desire to pursue and maintainin a stronghold in the Mayan world as they did in Mexico City. So for this reason I propose that the Mayans were not completely overtaken by the Aztecs. Yes their lands were invaded, but they simply went deeper into the jungle where they still are today. Their way of life became westernized to a degree, but the Mayan people and all of Central America to be realistic were really neglected by Spain after the conquest. Yes the Catholic Church permeated Mayan culture, but even today this group of people have been denigrated and alienated not only by leaders in Mexico but also by the leaders of Central America which controlled where these tribes inhabitated. Many Mayan, Mixtec and other indigenous people of Meso America exist today and are proud of their heritage, but remain alienated by the powerful political forces which govern over them.