What roles did Native Americans play in the creation and development of the Spanish colonies?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A. Role of Native Americans in development of Spanish colonies
1. Spain acquired two of the fastest-growing and most environmentally
diverse empires of the age the Aztecs and the Incas
2. Native American allies saw the overthrow of the Aztecs and Incas as
their own work, with a little help from their Spanish friends
3. Native Americans in the vanguard of every attack and Spaniards,
typically, bringing up the rear
a. Huexotzinca, another people hostile to the Aztecs, claimed
exemption from postconquest taxation on the grounds that the
conquest had been mainly their own work
4. Native American empires were victims of their own shaky morale
a. spread of false rumors
b. rumors were made up after the event and the reported omens
were borrowed from European books
5. Incas had notions that they mistook Spaniards for gods
6. Native Americans quickly adapted to European styles of
warfare and used horses and firearms where these were effective
7. European successes were by-products of war among Native Americans
a. Maya communities identified more closely with the Spaniards than
with their hated neighbors
b. Inca and Aztec worlds were full of conflict
1. Inca subject peoples resented Inca rule and some of Incas'
former allies had grown disenchanted
2. Incas' demands for forced labor, which drove many workers
hundreds of miles from their homes, were acutely resented
3. Aztecs' demands similarly alienated tributary peoples
8. Spanish triumph was therefore less a battlefield victory than a diplomatic
maneuver
a. Aztecs gave invaders time to contact disaffected native communities
b. single most important ingredient in Spanish diplomatic success was
probably their interpreter, whom they called Doña Marina
9. Spanish "conquest" seems remarkably peaceful
a. offered little resistance or actively welcomed the Spaniards, so eager
were they to escape from their existing overlords