Prescott Response

William H. Prescott’s A History of the Conquest of Mexico, while a seminal work for its time is far more useful to us as a means of historiographic examination of the time and place in which it was written vice the subject matter it presents. Prescott lionizes Cortes and the efforts of the Spanish and casts the Aztecs as “imperfect” civilization (p. 77) and semi-civilized (p. 83). Conversely the aforementioned conquistador is “man of courage” (p. 174) and a “bold and apprising spirit.” (p. 180). Such a myopic and moralizing view can likely be written off as xenophobic but Prescott’s romanticism is often extended to Cortes’ indigenous allies who are portrayed as amenable to assimilation and Spanish rule (p 652-653). Despite the presence of these allies the credit belongs to “a handful of adventurers” (p. 5).

Prescott’s tome is drawn from an admittedly deep base of sources; however their European exclusivity should give the reader pause. Absent from the book are the archaeological evidence which are, by modern standards an absolute necessity for understand a past with limited or absent written records. The book also contains scant accounts of Old World diseases and their affects on indigenous populations. The few mentions of disease presenting them in passing and seemingly as an afterthought or result of Cortes’ military actions rather than an enabler of them.