SHORT ANSWER QUESTION
ON TIGNOR, WORLDS TOGETHER, WORLDS APART, P. 102 (available
here)
(starting from "Spain's
Tributary Empire")
In this page, the authors
of this textbook describe an interesting phenomenon, but use some
fairly and unnecessarily complex language. In this question, we
will decode their writing.
First, we need to know what "tributary" means. The word
comes from "tribute," which is a payment in money or other
valuables made by one ruler or group of people to another as the
price of peace, usually after having been conquered.
Next, lets examine what "decapitated" means in this context.
To decapitate a person is to behead them; what might it mean to
decapitate a polity?
Finally, the authers use the word "extant" -- this just
means something not destroyed, lost, or extinct. So, "extant
commercial systems" here refers to something that predated
the Spanish conquest. You migh also have to look up the word "dismantle"
if you don't know what it means.
Using the discussion above to make better sense of the passage,
answer the following question with a paragraph of at least four
sentences.
"Why is it inaccurate to describe the Spanish conquest in the
New World as entirely discplacing (to displace: to take the place
of; replace; supplant) native societies with their own rule and
practices."