Matthew Restall’s Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest

Matthew Restall’s Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest
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The settlement of Europeans in South America and Mesoamerica has had and continues to have a great impact on the everyday lives of its inhabitants. The rising complexity of the Spanish Conquest has necessitated and called for more analysis and clarification on some of the misinterpretations had by some people. Since as early as 1492, the day-to-day lives of Americans has transformed with very many changes such as the introduction of multiple diseases, new technologies, political ideologies, conquerors and so much more (Don, 2004). As a result of such changes, the attitude and outlook of colonization have conformed to the political environment as well as first-hand information from renowned explorers while failing to take into account other informative interpretations from other participants. Due to this, the focus on the Spanish Conquest has been covered by several myths during this significant era of human history.
In his book, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest, Matthew Restall who is currently a professor of Latin American History and Anthropology in Edwin Erle Sparks and also the Director of Latin American Studies at the Pennsylvania State University contributes to the debate of how perpetuated myths dominate current thoughts of the conquest. At the same time, he also offers clarity to any reader who may have developed a false notion of the seven myths as explored in his book.

Restall (2004), defines a myth as a fictional ideology that is usually assumed to be true, either partly or wholly. He contends that the myths connected with the Spanish Contest have been taken as truth while they are not and goes farther to explain the historical accounts of Christopher Columbus, Francisco Pizarro & Hernan Cortes, explorers who had a profound impact on the discovering and conquest of the world (Bakewell, 2005). More importantly, he has also included other European and native contributors.
The primary purpose of the Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest is establishing alternate understandings to readers who may be curious and offering them a middle ground to the complex causes and impact of the interactions between the Europeans and the Native Americans. Restall (2003) tries to prove that the three explorers were not in any way unique in the successes and that the armed men always accompanying them were not Spanish soldiers. He also tries to prove that not all of these conquistadors were reasonably skinned. He demonstrates this by utilizing varying perspectives of historical paintings and figures. Additionally, Matthew contests the ideas behind Spanish completion of the conquest, communication problems between Spanish and Native leaders as well as desolation of the natives as a result of the conquest (Kicza, 2005). The myth detailing the dominance of the Spanish is detailed as the last myth in this historical work.
Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest is arranged into seven sections with each section detailing a different myth. The chronologic scope of this book begins from as early as the 15th century C.E to the late 16th century C.E. In terms of the geographical scope, this historical work covers the Central American region (i.e., Panama, Peninsula and Central Mexico), northern part of South America (currently Columbia, Chile, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador) and the Caribbean islands (current day Jamaica and Cuba). The groups of people who are included in this book are Native Americans who comprise the Aztecs, Inka, and Maya as well as their respective sub-groups based on the empires or tribes (Julien, 2007). The first chapter of this book illustrates that the three explorers detailed in the book, i.e., Columbus, Cortes, and Pizarro did not play any unique role in discovery and conquest of the new world. While the three are famous for their accomplishments, they do not deserve the so-much-praised credit as it has been throughout the years.
As affirmed by the author, some of them like Pizarro and Cortes did not make their own original decisions and actions, and they took part in warfare as well as the imperial extension of western European. As such, this discredits their exceptionalism myth. Most people often tend to argue that soldiers from the Spanish crown while this is not true at all. As a matter of fact, Restall (2004) enlightens the readers on the conquistadors of these regions and says that “Only two of them claimed to be professional soldiers whereas sixty percent claimed to be professional men and artisans.” The ideology that the Spanish were somewhat superior to other societies and cultures from different parts of the world is also a notable myth. All the different cultures and societies had equal chances and none of them was superior to the other. The only difference was that they had was the fact that some had more resources than others and as such developed earlier than others.
Conclusively, Restall’s historical work is an excellent example of how a historiography plays a crucial role in presenting existent thoughts on a given subject. His historical work contributes significantly to the genre of Colonial Latin America history by appropriately and satisfactory correcting the falsely-held views about the Spanish Conquest. It can be deduced that the author’s qualification in writing on this subject is excellent owing to the fact that he has a notable background in Colonial Latin American history. I am gratified that Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest effectively and appropriately substantiates the thesis made by the author. There is no doubt that this book brings important clarification for people who could be unaware of their probably misguided beliefs of the conquest. This well-drafted and informative book definitely has accurate and intriguing explanations that anyone can take an interest in and appreciate.
References
Altman, I. (2004). Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest.
Bakewell, P. (2005). Book Review: Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. European History Quarterly, 35(1), 162-165.
Don, P. L. (2004). Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest.
Earle, R. (2007). The Return of the Native: Indians and Myth-Making in Spanish America, 1810–1930. Duke University Press.
Julien, C. (2007). Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest.
Kicza, J. E. (2005). Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. Renaissance Quarterly, 58(3), 933-935.
Matthew, R. (2003). Seven myths of the Spanish conquest.
Nagy, K. B. (2005). Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest.
Restall, M. (2004). Seven myths of the Spanish conquest. Oxford University Press.
Restall, M. Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. 2003. Concentrates on continuities of Amerindian life in the face of European onslaught.