The Aztec, Inca, Mexican and Peruvian Indians fell down in defeat to the Spanish explorers. They totally outnumbered the population of the Spanish, yet, all four Indians were defeated very easily. How? Historians have told us children and adults the story of people believing the world as flat. However, that story is just that — a story.
How did the four Indian tribes fall so easily? The Aztec Indians were a very sophisticated civilization; however, they practiced human sacrifice, declining their numbers of men, women and children. Then, one day, they finally completed their temple and worshipped their sun god by killing 20,000 Aztecs. Then the Spanish took charge and defeated them. The Incas were captured by the Spanish so easily because they themselves at war with each other. Therefore, the Spanish pulling a surprise attack on them was too much for them.
The Mexican and Peruvian Indians seemed to the Spanish stronger and more powerful than the Aztecs and Incas. However, both of the Indian tribes fell down to Spanish hands faster and more easily. How did this happen? The Spanish came in smaller numbers than the Indians and yet took them down so fast and easily. Mario Vargas Llosa, author of his article on the conquests Questions of Conquest, has a few a points. The Indians were like armies of ants. They followed the chief’s rules without question and just did as they were told. They always looked up to their leader for guidance. Therefore when the Spanish came and attacked them with weapons they had never seen and heard about before they panicked just like ants do when we interrupt their work.
People have and still believe that at one specific time, Columbus’s time, in fact, that people believed that the world was flat and not spherical. However, today, I am telling you that this is not true. People back and even before Columbus’s time knew that the earth was a sphere. Aristotle makes a reference to the world being a sphere back in one of his books. The idea for the myth did not come into existence until the nineteenth-century.
~Perrissa
P.S. This is the last essay of my 10th Grade Blog. It was an awesome year and I hope you all enjoyed my blog. Stay tuned for my 11th Grade Blog!! 🙂 Spread the word of the flat world myth and let our children know the truth! Love you all!
Perrissa's 10th Grade School Blog 