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Hernan Cortes Thesis

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Recommended: Hernan cortes: is he a hero or a villain

Taylan Swainston
Miss Toone
Language Arts 3
14 December 2022
Hernan Cortes: the Man Who Changed the World
“Cortes was a leader capable of taking both utterly ruthless decisions & extravagant gambles”(Cartwright 4). Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador responsible for the attack on Tenochtitlan and the fall of the Aztec empire in the early 1500s. He used superior technology and strategies to gain victory against the Aztecs. He was an important figure in society and helped build the world to what it is now, because he had a very ambitious and destructive life, conquered much of Mexico, and wiped out a major ancient empire.
Firstly, Hernan Cortes had a life filled with ambition and destruction. Hernan Cortes was a Spanish Conquistador, born …show more content…

Soon, Diego Valezquez, the governor of Cuba, planned a trip to mainland Mexico. Not knowing what he did, he put Cortes in command of it. World History Encyclopedia states that, “At the last minute, wary of the scale of Cortés' preparations, Velásquez tried to recall his lieutenant, but it was too late.”(Cartwright) Velasquez, at the last minute, had canceled Hernan’s expedition, but Hernan went anyway. Soon after arriving in Mexico, Hernan took extreme measures to follow through with this expedition. History quotes, “According to some accounts, he sunk all but one of his ships before sending the intact one back to Spain. There would be no retreat for his men, only conquest.”(History.com editors) Hernan was so committed to this expedition that he made it impossible for anyone to leave. World History Encyclopedia states, “Cortés then displayed his mastery of diplomacy and managed to persuade the Tlaxcalans to join him in his war against the Aztecs.” Cortes, through diplomacy and a united enemy, gained thousands of allies to attack the Aztecs with. Through conquest, disputes, and war, Hernan Cortes fulfilled his life in his quest to take …show more content…

Brittanica shares that, “Cortés entered the city on November 8, 1519, with his small Spanish force and only 1,000 Tlaxcaltecs.”Hernan now entered the Aztec capital, and prepared for war. History quotes, “Seizing his chance, Cortés took Montezuma hostage and his soldiers raided the city.” Cortez now took over Tenochtitlan, and it wasn’t a long or hard fight for the Spanish before they won. On August 13, 1521, the Aztec empire fell and Cortez won. Brittanica states, “Cortés had become the absolute ruler of a huge territory extending from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.” Hernan now controlled almost all of modern day Mexico after defeating the Aztecs. Hernan conquered a multitude of land in his defeat of the Aztecs, marking the greatest accomplishment of his

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Cortes, as well as many other explorers during this time, was inspired by the Three G’s: God, gold, and glory. He planned to conquer the new lands for Spain, to convert the natives to Catholicism, and to obtain the riches of the land, mostly gold. Conquistador is basically a record of the last days of the Aztec civilization, as the two groups, the Aztecs and the Spaniards, clash, and the Spaniards ultimately come out on top.

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Hernan Cortes, a Spanish conquistador, had come to the land owned by the Aztec in the year of 1519. The Spanish coming to the land resulted in the take over of land from the Aztecs by the Spanish. Moctezuma, the emperor of the Aztec people, was also killed during the war between the Spanish and the Aztecs. The first reason that triggered the war was the beliefs of the Aztecs. They made the mistake of welcoming Cortes into their land, and to him as a god.

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Most books have either portrayed Hernán Cortés as either a brave conquistador hero who helped transform Mexico for Spanish use, or as a cruel racist who helped instill a genocide upon millions of Mexican natives. The truth, however, can be a lot less black or white. In the book Victors and Vanquished: Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico, we see that the moral nature of Cortés is more grey than most think. Cortés, in his conquest of Mexico, has performed good and bad deeds towards his own men and towards the Nahua people. To begin with the analysis of Cortés’s actions, we can look at the various good deeds he exhibited during his time in Mexico.

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September 16,1810 Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla helped mexicans to fight back against the spanish government known as “Grito de Dolores” that ended 300 years of colonial rule. Mexico fell into Spanish hands in 1521 when Hernan Cortes and his army of conquistadors toppled the Aztec empire under order of king Charles V Cortes founded capital city -Ciudad de México. Hidalgo led his growing militia from village to village in route to Mexico city, leaving in their wake a bloodbath that he came later to regret . Defeated at Calderon in January 1811 , Hidalgo fled north but was captured and executed by a firing squad in Chihuahua.

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Cortés was forced to retreat and rebuild his army. He spent the next 10 months conquering other Native Americans and enlisting them as allies against the Aztecs. He also received Spanish reinforcements from Cuba. Cortés invaded the Aztec Empire again in the spring of 1521. He began the siege of Tenochtitlán on May 26.

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One of the members of his army killed a group of Aztec nobles. Eventually all the riches that belonged to the Aztecs, now belonged to the spanish. Killing, fighting, and punishing was normal for people to do, to find riches. Kidnapping was also something a lot of people did. Remember Cortez?

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Conquistador Hernan Cortes and his Spanish troops did not conquer the Aztec Empire on their own. They had allies, with the Tlaxcalans being among the most important. Learn how this alliance developed and how their support was crucial to Cortes' success. In 1519, as conquistador Hernan Cortes was making his way inland from the coast on his audacious conquest of the Mexica (Aztec) Empire, he had to pass through the lands of the fiercely independent Tlaxcalans, who were the mortal enemies of the Mexica.

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Cortes is believed by Montezuma, the emperor, to be an emissary for the return of Quetzalcoatl. " He also knows that this is a One-Reed year in the Mexican calendar cycle, when the fair-skinned bearded Quetzalcoatl will at some time return" (History, n.d, para, 18). The religion that has guided the Aztecs for centuries now is paving the way for their destruction. If not for the belief that Cortes was a messenger for one of their most important gods, the Aztecs could have provided a much better defense to the Spanish

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He shut the gates, attacked and killed many Aztec nobles and chiefs (Gale, Montezuma II Robinson). Many were killed, and it made the Aztecs revolt and want

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Cortes then wished for more power and went to explore west of Mexico. At the time, the Aztec Empire has ruled for more than two hundred years, therefore the Aztec Empire were extremely wealthy and this made Hernan want to claim the civilization. This was the start of Hernan’s heroness. Cortes was a hero because he and his crew battled and defeated the Aztec empire within only three months. This made them victorious.

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These two men conquered Empires that were in South America and they had similar things that they did as well as different things. Hernan Cortez was born in spain in 1485, He originally was a soldier in cuba. He then left and went to what is now mexico and with 500 hundred men and

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The conqueror of the Aztecs, murder of an empire, and a kidnapper, all of these can be used to describe Hernán Cortés. Cortes 's early life steered his choices and future. The “New World” hardened and changed him. These changes helped him conquer his enemies. His achievements and legacy changed the world for the future.

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Outnumbered and fearful of being overrun, Hernan Cortes captured and imprisoned Montezuma in 1520. Cuitlahuac to took over as Emperor retaliated. He led an offensive that drove the Spaniards out Tenochtitlan, Montezuma was killed during the revolt. Deadly small pox brought aboard by the Spanish, severely degraded the Aztec population killing thousands including Cuitlahuac.

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They both killed in the name of religion, and both growing empires willing to do anything to gain more power. Cortés was sent on expedition to establish trading deals with the Natives in and around the Yucatan peninsula, under order of Diego Velázquez, who was the Governor of Cuba. Velázquez soon regretted his decision and to stop Cortés from ever leaving

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The Spanish were able to colonize Mexico without much resistance.” After the smallpox epidemic, the Aztecs were even more vulnerable. The Spanish exploration and conquering of Tenochtitlan was to gain power for the Spanish empire, but the city’s people were somewhat considered rebellious, and consequently, Cortes needed to conquer/kill the people first. By taking down the people of the city, Cortes was exposed to the city’s great treasures for his reward of gold; he retrieved all the gold he could, and travelled back to Spain where he was labelled a hero for his acts of

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