After many years in the military he was soon ascended to a general. For years after he was a general he then became the president of Mexico. He was well known for establishing a strong centralized state. He became president
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.
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.
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.
Gerónimo de Aguilar claimed that he tried to convince Guerrero to leave with him, but failed. Guerrero was now already well-assimilated into the Maya culture and was looked upon as a figure of rank by the local Maya. Aguilar claimed that Guerrero had a Maya wife and three children at the Maya settlement of Chetumal where he was now living.[56] Aguilar would prove himself to be a valuable asset as a translator for Cortés expedition into the Yucatán. He had lived with the Maya for so long that he was now quite fluent in speaking “Yucatec Mayan,” along with a few other local indigenous languages.[57] Gonzalo Guerrero's fate was never known.
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?
He was the elected the president of Mexico 11 times. After serving some time in exile he returned to Mexico because he saw an opportunity to seize power during the Mexican American War. He lost the War and Mexico lost most of its territory. He later lived most of his years in
Hernando de Soto was a noteworthy Spanish explorer in the early to mid 1500s. He was born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain, in the year 1500. As a young adult he attended the University of Salamanca, his tuition was paid by the generous Pedro Arias Dávila. Although his family repeatedly told him that they wanted him to study and become a lawyer, Hernando de Soto had other ideas. He wanted to be an explorer in the West Indies.
One of the greatest civilizations of Central America were the Aztecs. However, in 1519 CE, another great civilization from Europe, the Spanish, arrived in Mesoamerica and what ensued was one of the greatest cultural clashes of the time. At the time Montezuma was the ruler of the Aztec empire and the under Montezuma the Aztec empire flourished because of their great wealth and advancements. From 1200-1520 CE, the Aztecs were experiencing a Golden Age where they ruled most of Mexico, the main city being Tenochtitlan. However, all of that came to an abrupt end when Hernando Cortes, the leader of the Spanish fleet that landed in Mexico, began his conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521 CE.
Although it was one of the greatest civilizations known to the Mesoamerican area, the Aztec Empire was destined to fall at some point. Religion, disease, and neighboring enemies all played a part in the eventual fall of the Aztec Empire. When Spanish Conquistador, Hernan Cortez arrived in Mexico in 1519, he brought many superior weapons and soldiers with him. When he went to Tenochtitlan, he was greeted with gold and many gifts. The Aztec Emperor, Montezuma believe Cortez to be something of a god.
At one point in De Soto’s journey he was less than 300 miles from a similar expedition trekked by Francisco de Coronado (Bowman). Hernando De Soto, being one of the greatest know conquistadors, has many great accomplishments. In 1532 Hernando De Soto became the second in command of an expedition to Peru (Bowman). He served under Francisco Pizarro while on this expedition (Sansing 69). At the age of 36 De Soto was named Adelantado of Florida.
Eventually he was arrested in 1869 and spent 6 years in prison for a supposed conspiracy whereafter he was released, he made “Political Imprisonment in Cuba” which was about the terrible treatment and hard labor he went through in prison. 1875, he moved to Mexico, and campaigned
The first European power to set-up permanent settlements in America were the Spanish. The first Spanish permanent base was set up by Nicolas de Ovando, who in 1502 arrived with 2,500 men. Then in 1519 a man named Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec city using superior military technology and a disease called smallpox. The Aztec City takeover was the key to the Spanish success because they were warriors who were basically superior to their surrounding neighbors. The Aztecs were able to force the barbarian view on others, of course this was before the smallpox epidemic (Foner, 2012, pp.20-21)
Hernan Cortes was born on 1485 in Medellin, Spain. Medellion was neighbored by Estramuda, which was known for the large amounts of conquistadors that hailed from there (Herrick 130). Estramuda and the surrounding towns were also known for being strong supporters of the estemadura shrine which was the original inspiration for the name Guadalupe. Hernan Cortes first landed on Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) in 1504, he came with 600 men with the sole purpose of setting an establishing position in the Americas (Hamnett 59). There three
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
