Prescott's Place in History Today

While reading History of the Conquest of Mexico, I found myself both intrigued and then disinterested all in a continuous pattern. This was because Prescott’s rhetoric was flowing well and readable, but he never really derives a point or thesis. Prescott offers a history which was wildly unknown to me as a historian, as I never took the time to study Latin American history. That being said, the book was informative to a newcomer of all things to do with historic Latin America.

When it comes to usefulness in contemporary terms, I would suggest that Prescott’s work is best used as a pivotal point in the historiography of Latin America. Prescott’s rhetoric was convincing and solid, but his wordy explanations and vivid imagery was not the work of expected scholarship today. Lockhart’s Introduction said it best as he stated there was no defined line between literature and scholarship. Prescott has a “great men make history” complex when discussing the activities of Cortes, thus I feel as though his book serves best as a scope into the mind of a great 19th century historian. This mindset reads as a product of 19th century thinking.

If (or when) Trouillot was to read Prescott, Trouillot would be concerned with the silences of the indigenous and their records. Most of the story Prescott paints is that of the Europeans. Therefore, the side of the native is quieted. Furthermore, what records were kept for Prescott’s examination could be a silence themselves. On page 80, Prescott discusses the importance of the Mendoza Codex and how it shed light on the Aztec civilization. How though, would more sources have shaped Prescott’s thinking on that topic? Was the Codex a reliable tool when conducting research- was there another manuscript which could have better served Prescott in his unbiased examination? These questions of course have no answer, but they were red flags in my mind while reading book one. Trouillot would perhaps want a more diverse record set for such an accepted book in the historiography of Latin American history.