Week 10 prompt

This book is titled very well as ambivalent conquests since it signifies nothing more than ambivalence as the Spanish attempted to trek through the Yucatan. Ambivalence signifies best what happened with the attempts of conquering the Yucatan as they were anything but glorious or easy conquests for the Spaniards. The initial exploratory expedition through Cape Catoche, where Cordoba “knew that as their discoverers they could become their masters (6)” stood out greatly because the Mayas would not bow so easily. In what he believed to be an invitation by the Yucatans, actually turned out to be an ambush where Cordoba and his men were handily defeated and forced back to Cuba. As the Spaniards soon discovered they were very well in over their heads exploring a new territory, and instead of having the success that Cortes and Pizarro had they did anything but that. Instead the trek through the Yucatan to find gold and other riches was more of a great failure The failure in the Yucatan cannot be signified better by anyone than by Montejo’s expedition. When Montejo arrived again they arrived without event and established camp, however due to his error by not bringing a translator his men would suffer. Within two months two months of arriving the Spaniards were unable to adjust to the new terrain and could not establish a formidable conquest. Montejo reflected on it best summarizing his time between 1529 and 1534. “In those five years they had learnt some lessons, none of them welcome about Yucatan, and about the Maya (23).” During this period as Montejo and his men explored further inland they had learned no riches were awaiting them, and the interior lands were much less developed than the area along the coast.