The Treasure of the Aztecs

In 1519, Hernan Cortes and his greedy band of some 600 conquistadors began their audacious assault on the  Mexica (Aztec) Empire. By 1521 the Mexica capital city of  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Tenochtitlan was in ashes, Emperor Montezuma was dead and the  Spanish were firmly in control of what they took to calling New Spain. Along the way, Cortes and his men collected thousands of pounds of gold, silver, jewels and priceless pieces of  Aztec art. Whatever became of this unimaginable treasure? The Concept of Wealth in the New World For the Spanish, the concept of wealth was simple: it meant gold and silver, preferably in easily negotiable bars or coins, and the more of it the better. For the Mexica and their allies, it was more complicated. They used gold and silver but primarily for ornaments, decorations, plates, and jewelry. The Aztecs prized other things far above gold: they loved brightly colored feathers, preferably from quetzals or hummingbirds. They would make elaborate cloaks and headdresses out of these feathers and it was a conspicuous display of wealth to wear one. They loved jewels, including jade and turquoise. They also prized cotton and garments like tunics made from it: as a display of power, Tlatoani Montezuma would wear as many as four cotton tunics a day and discard them after wearing them only once. The people of central Mexico were great merchants who engaged in trade, generally bartering goods with one another, but cacao beans were also used as a currency of sorts. Cortes Sends Treasure to the King In April of 1519, the Cortes expedition landed near present-day​  Veracruz: they had already visited the Maya area of Potonchan, where they picked up some gold and the invaluable interpreter Malinche. From the town they founded in Veracruz they made friendly relationships with the coastal tribes. The Spanish offered to ally themselves with these disgruntled vassals, who agreed and often gave them gifts of gold, feathers and cotton cloth. In addition, emissaries from Montezuma occasionally appeared, bringing great gifts with them. The first emissaries gave the Spanish some rich clothes, an obsidian mirror, a tray and jar of gold, some fans and a shield made from mother-of-pearl. Subsequent emissaries brought a gold-plated wheel six and a half feet across, weighing some thirty-five pounds, and a smaller silver one: these represented the sun and moon. Later emissaries brought back a Spanish helmet which had been sent to Montezuma; the generous ruler had filled the helm with gold dust as the Spanish had requested. He did this because he had been made to believe that the Spanish suffered from an illness which could only be cured by gold. In July of 1519, Cortes decided to send some of this treasure to the King of Spain, in part because the king was entitled to a fifth of any treasure found and in part because Cortes needed the kings support for his venture, which was on questionable legal ground. The Spanish put together all of the treasures they had accumulated, inventoried it and sent much of it to Spain on a ship. They estimated that the gold and silver was worth about 22,500 pesos: this estimate was based on its worth as a raw material, not as artistic treasures. A long list of the inventory survives: it details every item. One example: the other collar has four strings with 102 red stones and 172 apparently green, and around the two green stones are 26 golden bells and, in the said collar, ten large stones set in gold... (qtd. in Thomas). Detailed as this list is, it appears that Cortes and his lieutenants held much back: it is likely that the king received only one-tenth of the treasure taken thus far. The Treasures of Tenochtitlan Between July and November of 1519, Cortes and his men made their way to Tenochtitlan. Along their way, they picked up more treasure in the form of more gifts from Montezuma, loot from the Cholula Massacre and gifts from the leader of Tlaxcala, who in addition entered into an important alliance with Cortes. In early November, the conquistadors entered Tenochtitlan and Montezuma made them welcome. A week or so into their stay, the Spanish arrested Montezuma on a pretext and kept him in their heavily defended compound. Thus began the plunder of the great city. The Spaniards continually demanded gold, and their captive, Montezuma, told his people to bring it. Many great treasures of gold, silver jewels and featherwork were laid at the feet of the invaders. Furthermore, Cortes asked Montezuma where the gold came from. The captive emperor freely admitted that there were several places in the Empire where gold could be found: it was usually panned from streams and smelted for use. Cortes immediately sent his men to those places to investigate. Montezuma had allowed the Spaniards to stay at the lavish palace of Axayacatl, a former tlatoani of the empire and Montezumas father. One day, the Spanish discovered a vast treasure behind one of the walls: gold, jewels, idols, jade, feathers and more. It was added to the invaders ever-growing pile of loot. The Noche Triste In May of 1520, Cortes had to return to the coast  to defeat the conquistador army of Panfilo de Narvaez. In his absence from Tenochtitlan, his hotheaded lieutenant Pedro de Alvarado ordered the massacre of thousands of unarmed Aztec nobles attending the festival of Toxcatl. When Cortes returned in July, he found his men under siege. On June 30, they decided they could not hold the city and decided to depart. But what to do about the treasure? At that point, it is estimated that the Spanish had amassed some eight thousand pounds of gold and silver, not to mention plenty of feathers, cotton, jewels and more.   Cortes ordered the kings fifth and his own fifth loaded onto horses and Tlaxcalan porters and told the others to take what they wanted. Foolish conquistadors loaded themselves down with gold: smart ones only took a handful of jewels. That night, the Spanish were spotted as they tried to flee the city: the enraged Mexica warriors attacked, slaughtering hundreds of Spaniards on the Tacuba causeway out of the city. The Spanish later referred to this as the Noche Triste or Night of Sorrows.The kings and Cortes gold was lost, and those soldiers who carried very much loot either dropped it or were slaughtered because they were running too slowly. Most of the great treasures of Montezuma were irrevocably lost that night. Return to Tenochtitlan and Division of Spoils The Spanish regrouped and were able to re-take Tenochtitlan a few months later, this time for good. Although they found some of their lost loot (and were able to squeeze some more out of the defeated Mexica) they never found all of it, despite torturing the new emperor, Cuauhtà ©moc. After the city had been retaken and it came time to divide the spoils, Cortes proved as skilled at stealing from his own men as he had in stealing from the Mexica. After setting aside the kings fifth and his own fifth, he began making suspiciously large payments to his closest cronies for weapons, services, etc. When they finally got their share, Cortes soldiers were dismayed to learn that they had earned less than two hundred pesos each, far less than they would have gotten for honest work elsewhere. The soldiers were furious, but there was little they could do. Cortes bought them off by sending them on further expeditions which he promised would bring in more gold and expeditions were soon on their way to the lands of the Maya in the south. Other conquistadors were given encomiendas: these were grants of vast lands with native villages or town on them. The owner theoretically had to provide protection and religious instruction for the natives, and in return the natives would work for the landowner. In reality, it was officially sanctioned slavery and led to some unspeakable abuses. The conquistadors who served under Cortes always believed that he had held back thousands of pesos in gold from them, and the historical evidence seems to support them. Guests to Cortes home reported seeing many bars of gold in Cortes possession. Legacy of the Treasure of Montezuma In spite of the losses of the Night of Sorrows, Cortes and his men were able to take a staggering amount of gold out of Mexico: only Francisco Pizarros looting of the Inca Empire produced a greater amount of wealth. The audacious conquest inspired thousands of Europeans to flock to the New World, hoping to be on the next expedition to conquer a rich empire. After Pizarros conquest of the Inca, however, there were no more great empires to find, although legends of the city of El Dorado persisted for centuries. It is a great tragedy that the Spanish preferred their gold in coins and bars: countless priceless golden ornaments were melted down and the cultural and artistic loss is incalculable. According to the Spanish who saw these golden works, Aztec goldsmiths were more skilled than their European counterparts. Sources Diaz del Castillo, Bernal. . Trans., ed. J.M. Cohen. 1576. London, Penguin Books, 1963. Levy, Buddy. . New York: Bantam, 2008. Thomas, Hugh. . New York: Touchstone, 1993.

Teenage Suicide Is Becoming Increasingly More Common

A young person dying for any reason is a tragedy, so when a teenager takes his or her own life due to frustrations, hopelessness, or loss of self-worth, it is completely devastating. Young people today are having to grow up in a world with high stress levels, confusion, discouragement, and pain; sometimes it is just too hard for them to handle. Perhaps it is not surprising that teenage suicide is becoming increasingly more common. Suicide has become the third leading causing of death in adolescents today. All around the world teenagers are attempting to take, or successfully taking, their own lives for many reasons, including forms of content on the Internet. A story published in The Ledger written by Stephanie Allie demonstrates how this, unfortunately, happened to be true for 12 year old, Rebecca Sedwick. On the morning of September 9th, 2013, instead of getting on the school bus, Rebecca walked to an abandoned cement plant. The 12 year old climbed to the top of a silo and jumped o ff, killing herself instantly. Later, Rebecca’s mother, Traci, told police that her daughter had been bullied by a group of middle school girls. Further investigation showed that for over a year, Rebecca received hateful text messages and Facebook posts from these girls, harassing, taunting, and humiliating her. Some of the messages went as far as telling Rebecca to endure bodily harm, and that she did not deserve to live. The girls treated Rebecca horribly all because she started dating someoneShow MoreRelatedCyber Bullying : A Deep Seated Psychological Problem1359 Words   |  6 Pagesinformation such as messages, or pictures. These are sent online or as text messages to many people with the aim of exposing their victims and embarrassing them (Aisha 207-207). Causes of cyber bullying Cyber bullying has many causes. The most common cause is retaliation. Most of the cyber bullies intend to revenge for something bad done to them. 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Analysis of Coats Group

Question: Discuss about the Analysis of Coats Group. Answer: The company chosen for review is Coats group plc which is a British multinational company and is engaged in the manufacturing and the distribution of the sewing thread and applied and is also the second largest manufacturer of the various zips and the fasteners after the company that is its competition known by the name of YKK. The history of the company goes way back to the year 1755 during which James and Patrick Clark began to loom its equipment and the silk thread business in Paisley in the area of Scotland. During the year 1806, the owner Patrick invented one way of twisting the cotton thread together for the purposes of substituting the same for the silk thread that were not available during that time in the region of Frances blockade in the Great Britain. He then went on to open his firs plant for the manufacturing the cotton thread in the year of 1812. In the year if 1864, the Clark family began the manufacture in the region of Newark, New Jersey in the country of the United States as the Clark thread company. During the year of 1802, James Coats went on to set up the weaving business which was also situated in Paisley. In the year 1826, he went on to open one cotton mill at the Ferguslie for the purposes of producing his own thread. But then he retired during the year 1830 and it was then that his sons James and Peter took over the business in their own hands and names the business as J P sons. The firm the expanded internationally especially in the country of the United States of America. During the year 1890, the company got itself listed on the London Stock Exchange and had the capital base of 5.7 millions. During the eyar 1952, the company and the Clark Thread company got merged and during the year 1961, there was a merger of Patons and Baldwins and this created the Coats Patons. During the year 1986, the company then merged with Vantona Viyella and that created the company by the name of Coats Viyella. During the year 2003, Guinness Peat took the coats private and during the year 2015, they returned in the market as the name of Coats group. During the year of 2007, the company was fined 110 by the Europen commission for the purposes of participating in the cartels with the company known by the name of Prym, YKK. There were also other companies that were involved for the purposes of fixing and manipulating the prices of the various zips and the fasteners and the machinery that help make them. One of the cartels ran for about 21 years. The company had also filed an appeal for the same to the General court of the European union for the purposes of dismissing the fine and the fine was finally upled and since then the company has been working tirelessly for the society. The review of the annual report available at the website of the company has been used (Coats, 2016). The assets of the company along with the liabilities shows a decrease or a fall in the values. The total decrease or the reduction shows a fall of 57% in total which is not very good since that would just hinder the growth of the company. The management must consider the stated facts and must pull up its socks so that the company can perform more efficiently and effectively since ultimately, the company is running for earning profits and to serve the society. The revenues and the expenses of the company have decreased drastically and the main reason behind the same is the fact of decrease in the sales revenue. The company must look for the way through which this revenue can be increased since that would be good for the company. The company could promote its products or the services that it renders, adopt some of the marketing strategies so that the revenues could be increased by a greater %. The company has not added a single $ to it but has only absorbed the money that was being introduced into the business which shows inefficiently on the part of the company. Hence, the company must undertake measures so that this could be improved. The above table shown no change in the amount of the issued capital, no change in the shares that have been held under trust since there is no amount involved in the same. There has been a very minimal amount of change in the reserves. There has been a change of 55% in the total amount of the retained earnings along with a negligible change in the non-controlling interests. There has been no change whatsoever in the number of the ordinary shares. Review of the balance sheet: The current assets of the company are $1122.6 millions The non-current assets of the company are $627.9 millions The current liabilities of the company are $437.9 millions The non-current liabilities of the company are $958.6 millions The total stockholders equity of the company are $354 millions The following is the table for comparisons: (Amounts in $ in millions) Particulars 2015 2014 % increase or -decrease Total current assets 1,122.60 1,308.40 -0.14 Total non-current assets 627.90 653.90 -0.04 Total current liabilities 437.90 576.60 -0.24 Total non-current liabilities 958.60 985.10 -0.03 Total stockholder's equity 354.00 400.60 -0.12 The assets of the company along with the liabilities shows a decrease or a fall in the values. The total decrease or the reduction shows a fall of 57% in total which is not very good since that would just hinder the growth of the company. The management must consider the stated facts and must pull up its socks so that the company can perform more efficiently and effectively since ultimately, the company is running for earning profits and to serve the society. Review of the income statement: The total operating revenues of the company are $1489.5 millions The Cost of goods sold of the company are $946.6 millions The total expenses before taxes of the company are $31.2 millions The non-operating gains and losses of the company are $0 The earning per share of the company is $3.61 The following is the table for comparisons: (Amounts in $ in millions) Particulars 2015 2014 % increase or -decrease Total operating revenues 1,489.50 1,561.40 -0.05 Cost of goods sold 946.60 993.40 -0.05 Total expenses (before taxes) 31.20 6.50 3.80 Any non-operating (or extraordinary) gains and losses - 1.50 -1.00 Earnings per common share -3.61 1.06 -4.41 The revenues and the expenses of the company have decreased drastically and the main reason behind the same is the fact of decrease in the sales revenue. The company must look for the way through which this revenue can be increased since that would be good for the company. The company could promote its products or the services that it renders, adopt some of the marketing strategies so that the revenues could be increased by a greater %. Review of the statement of cash flows: The net cash inflow from operating activities of the company are $ 44.3 millions The net cash inflow from the financing activities of the company are $-16.4 millions The net cash inflow from the investing activities of the company are $-48 millions The net increase in the cash during the year of the company are $-20.10 millions The following is the table for comparisons: (Amounts in $ in millions) Particulars 2015 2014 % increase or -decrease Net cash inflow from operating activities 44.30 80.90 -0.45 Net cash inflow from financing activities -16.40 -50.50 -0.68 Net cash inflow from investing activities -48.00 -27.90 0.72 Net increase in cash during the year -20.10 2.50 -9.04 The company has not added a single $ to it but has only absorbed the money that was being introduced into the business which shows inefficiently on the part of the company. Hence, the company must undertake measures so that this could be improved. Review of the stockholders equity: The following is the list of the required account balances: (Amounts in $ in millions) Particulars 2015 2014 % increase or -decrease Issued capital 127.00 127.00 - Shares held in trust - - - Reserves 335.70 334.40 0.00 Retained earnings -14.30 -32.10 -0.55 Non-controlling interests 24.70 24.30 - Number of shares: Ordinary shares 1,407,612,282 1,407,612,282 Preference shares - - The above table shown no change in the amount of the issued capital, no change in the shares that have been held under trust since there is no amount involved in the same. There has been a very minimal amount of change in the reserves. There has been a change of 55% in the total amount of the retained earnings along with a negligible change in the non-controlling interests. There has been no change whatsoever in the number of the ordinary shares. Conclusion: From the analysis of the above, it is very much apparent that the business activities hinders the growth of the company and that the management must take this matter sin it won hands so that the revenues, assets of the company could be increased since that would only lead the company to go into liquidation. That could only lead to the loss of shareholders and the other stakeholders of the company. In the nutshell, the following are the points: The assets of the company along with the liabilities shows a decrease or a fall in the values. The total decrease or the reduction shows a fall of 57% in total which is not very good since that would just hinder the growth of the company. The management must consider the stated facts and must pull up its socks so that the company can perform more efficiently and effectively since ultimately, the company is running for earning profits and to serve the society. The revenues and the expenses of the company have decreased drastically and the main reason behind the same is the fact of decrease in the sales revenue. The company must look for the way through which this revenue can be increased since that would be good for the company. The company could promote its products or the services that it renders, adopt some of the marketing strategies so that the revenues could be increased by a greater %. The company has not added a single $ to it but has only absorbed the money that was being introduced into the business which shows inefficiently on the part of the company. Hence, the company must undertake measures so that this could be improved. The above table shown no change in the amount of the issued capital, no change in the shares that have been held under trust since there is no amount involved in the same. There has been a very minimal amount of change in the reserves. There has been a change of 55% in the total amount of the retained earnings along with a negligible change in the non-controlling interests. There has been no change whatsoever in the number of the ordinary shares. References: Coats.com. (2016).Coats plc. [Online] Available at: https://www.coats.com/ [Accessed 23 May 2016]. Coats.com. (2016).Coats plc - Change of name. [Online] Available at: https://www.coats.com/index.asp?pageid=320 [Accessed 23 May 2016]. Coats.com. (2016).Coats plc - Our businesses. [Online] Available at: https://www.coats.com/index.asp?pageid=14 [Accessed 23 May 2016]. https://www.coats.com/. (2016).Annual report 2015. [Online] Available at: https://www.coats.com/assets/files/cms/CoatsARA_2015_10March_WEB.pdf [Accessed 23 May 2016].