Human Agency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Agency - Essay Example As the paper declares with regard to religion, resistance is seen in the manner that the natives secretly preserved their old religion, while at the same time adopting Christian symbols. While the arrival of Franciscan Friars brought with them the goal of converting natives into Christianity, this goal was did not materialize in the manner that the friars predicted, such that conversion was only minimal. What resulted instead was a Mayan version of Christianity where natives held the belief that Jesus, with his Mayan lords will return to the region to cleanse it with foreign influence This essay stresses that Clendinnen frequently referred to a â€Å"confusion of tongues† which prevailed since the onset of the two cultures’ first encounter wherein a â€Å"strong evidence of...riddling messages, and deliberate and conscious endeavors to sustain their own accounts of things† was deliberately carried out by the natives to keep Spanish comprehension of their â€Å"complex web of understanding† limited. Communication not only became a problem for the Spaniards; but they also had a limited understanding of Mayan warfare. the use of torture by the friars in forcing the conversion of the natives also lead to an economic resistance, where oppressed natives sought refuge from the encomenderos, who were themselves rivals of the friars. Placing the natives in a position where they can, at least potentially, threaten the stability of the economic system imposed by the Spaniards.