Post-Conquest Aztec Final Exam

Encomienda System

Initial Spanish system: Grant of Indigenous labor and tribute to a Spanish Encomendero in exchange for protection and conversion.

Repartimiento system

Government-administered labor draft that replaced the Encomienda; required long-distance, rotating labor.

Hacienda System

Large, permanent, private rural estate/plantation that became the final dominant economic system.

Repartimiento's Primary Negative Impact

Required frequent, long-distance travel for labor; disrupted family life and left women/children vulnerable.

Encomienda Rule

The grant could not be sold and reverted to the Crown upon bad behavior or lack of a male heir.

Dos Repúblicas

Spanish colonial policy of separating society into the "Republic of Spaniards" and the "Republic of Indians."

Indigenous Cabildo

Spanish-style municipal government imposed on Indigenous towns, composed entirely of Indigenous officials (Gobernador, Alcaldes, Regidores).

Alcaldes

The Cabildo roles (like judges/police) that the Indigenous leaders mistakenly elected their most important nobles to, due to the small number of positions (2).

Decline of the Tlatoani

Caused by the end of polygamy (due to Christian monogamy), which led to shrinking noble families and fewer legitimate male heirs.

1559 Cabildo Letter

Document that successfully asserted the Indigenous Cabildo's authority against secular Spanish overreach and land grabs.

Martin Molotecatl Census

Evidence of cultural retention: He was a baptized noble recorded in a census as still having multiple wives (polygamy).

Tribute Flexibility Demand

Indigenous leaders consistently fought to maintain the right to decide how to pay their tribute based on local hierarchy and harvest.

Cause of Population Collapse

The combination of germs (new diseases) AND the social conditions (overwork, stress, malnutrition).

Initial Epidemic Wave

1521 (Smallpox)

Second Major Epidemic Wave

1540s

Cocoliztli

Nahuatl word simply meaning "sickness"; led to initial scholarly belief that it was a unique disease.

Societies with Slaves

Mexico's classification; slavery was not the central economic driver, which made manumission easier.

Chinos

Spanish term for enslaved Asians (mostly Filipinos) who arrived via the Manila galleon trade route.

Syncretism religion

The blending of Christian practices with traditional Indigenous beliefs (e.g., praying to Saints in place of native gods).

Nahua Morality Plays

Christian plays readily adopted by Indigenous people because they matched their pre-conquest love for storytelling and visual spectacle.

Chimalpahin's Concern

Feared that the 1612 Slave Conspiracy violence would disrupt the historical record and lead to Indigenous history being forgotten.

Tecuichpoch's Role

Moctezuma's daughter; used as a political pawn through multiple marriages to solidify control and legitimacy.

it

it

is

is

Mesoamerican 5.2

Who? Ana (An Indigenous Woman), her brother, and the local Cabildo Elders.

What? Land Petition & Community Grant. A record of an Indigenous woman successfully asking the local Cabildo for a plot of unused community land ("the precious land of our precious father the saint San Miguel").

Why? The "Local Power Works" Example: Illustrates that the Indigenous Cabildo system still functioned for its people on a grassroots level, handling local needs (land, justice) without Spanish interference, and demonstrating Christian devotion to secure the grant.

Mesoamerican 6.1

Who? The Tlaxcala Cabildo (Led by Gobernador Alonso Gómez and other nobles).

What? Tribute Flexibility & Graduated Tax. A record of the Cabildo deciding how to pay the maize tribute to the Crown, setting higher rates for wealthy nobles and lower rates for poor commoners.

Why? The "Progressive Tax" Complaint: Shows the early colonial system allowed the Indigenous Cabildo to maintain their pre-conquest progressive taxation system (wealthy pay more), before the Spanish later imposed a rigid, standardized rate.

Mesoamerican 6.2

Who? The Tlaxcala Cabildo (Led by Gobernador Don Domingo de Angulo and other nobles).

What? Cochineal Trade & Social Disorder. A formal debate on limiting the planting of cochineal because the wealth it brought was making commoners arrogant and causing them to neglect maize cultivation and Christian duties.

Why? The "Status Anxiety" Document: Reveals the deep economic and social threat felt by the Indigenous elite when the money economy empowered the commoners, undermining the traditional hierarchy and requiring Cabildo intervention.

The Fifth Sun Chapter 6: Early Days (1520s-1550s)

Theme: Initial Spanish/Indigenous Conflict, Religious Shock, and Labor Structure.

"You have told us that we do not know the One who gives us life and being, who is Lord of the heavens and of the earth. You also say that those we worship are not gods. This way of speaking is entirely new to us, and very scandalous. We are frightened by this way of speaking, because our forebears who engendered and governed us never said any- thing like this. On the contrary . . . they taught us how to honor the gods. . . . And they told us that through our gods we live and exist, and that we are beholden to them. . . . They said that these gods that we worship give us everything we need for our physical existence. We appeal to them for the rain to make the things of the earth grow."

"Scandalous" Religion

Who?

Indigenous Elder/Noble (Speaking to the Friars)

What?

Defense of the Ancestral Religion. Directly challenging the friars, saying their new teachings are "scandalous" and frightening, and insisting their gods provide the rain and life.

Why?

The earliest, most powerful record of Indigenous resistance to Christian proselytizing based on logic and tradition. Highlights the fundamental difference in worldviews.

Chapter 7: The Indians Talk Back (1560s)

Theme: Indigenous Resistance, Uprisings, and the Social Crisis (Disease, Monogamy).

"There was more raging and shouting. And they insulted the governor himself. . . . Pedro Maceuhqui [a member of the indigenous council] jumped in, separating people and restraining them. He had his staff of office on his shoulder. Suddenly they grabbed it from him and were going to kill him. They ganged together to kill him. They pulled his shirt off. Just naked was how they left him. They got Juan Cano out of there. He took out his sword so they would [back off and] let him go. Otherwise he would have died at the people's hands. And while people were crying out, everybody gathered on the rooftops, and the Spaniards on their roofs. ... When they were beaten, their hands were tied. The Spaniards went to close all the roads everywhere. Everywhere people were seized along the roads. They armed them- selves with lances, shields, and other weapons"

Riot/Naked Governor

Who?

Indigenous Eyewitness/Commoner

What?

Spontaneous Popular Uprising. A chaotic scene of a crowd throwing stones, insulting the governor, and stripping a council member of his shirt during a street riot.

Why?

Shows Indigenous-on-Indigenous political violence and the breakdown of respect for the Cabildo and Gobernador due to colonial pressure.

Chapter 8: The Grandchildren (1570s-1620s)

Theme: Global Awareness, Cultural Survival, and the Complex Urban Casta System.

"Sunday, the 6th of the month of December of the year 1598, in the afternoon, was when the bones of the Discalced fathers who died in Japan in the land of China arrived. It was afternoon when the friars arrived; they came carrying them enclosed in chests. All the religious who are here in Mexico went to meet them; when they reached [the church of ] San Diego, the guns were discharged. How they died and what happened there was painted on four cloths which were hung at the [indigenous] church of San Josef; everyone saw and admired them, the Spaniards and we indigenous."

Japan/China

Who?

Nahua Historian/Chronicler

What?

Global Awareness and Trade. Records the arrival of the bones of friars killed in Asia and the display of paintings about it.

Why?

Proves that the Indigenous people were aware of the Manila Galleon trade and the global reach of the Spanish Empire and Christianity.

"Even if it doesn't seem relevant to treat it here, it is necessary that all of us people here—we indigenous people from New Spain—that we know that what is called the first human generation was created from the earth, from the mud, and was created only one time. From it we all come and are born. From it all of us people on earth descend, even though there have been [two groups], gentiles and idolaters—[including] those who engendered us, we the people here in Mexico Tenochtitlan, and all the altepetls of New Spain."

Mud/First Generation

Who?

Nahua Historian/Chronicler

What?

Theological Synthesis of Creation. An attempt to reconcile the Christian account of creation with the Nahua belief that people came from mud and earth.

Why?

Represents the height of Syncretism and intellectual Indigenous agency, showing them trying to fit the new religion into their own intellectual tradition.