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Hernan cortes most important accomplishment essay
Hernan cortes: is he a hero or a villain
Hernan cortes: is he a hero or a villain
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Spanish exploration and conquest of the New World in Latin America would be full of violence, political strife, hunger, and overall hardship, as the Spanish attempted to build a new empire. One such conquistador who experienced the hardship of trying to conquer a foreign land was Hernando Cortes. Throughout their conquest of Mexico, Cortes and his army faced many of these great obstacles. One of these was before the actual conquest even started, as Cortes had to get around his superior, Diego Velazquez. After that initial obstacle, the quest would no less difficult, as Cortes and his army continued to face hardships, with violence along the road and resistance from those proclaimed to be friends, and then again in the city of Tenochtitlan, …show more content…
Most of the journey was an obstacle in itself, but one of the major obstacles along the road was the violence the Spaniards faced at the hands of the Tlascalans. There were several skirmishes along the road, making it difficult to continue on, as several men and horses were wounded, but the Spanish faced a major hardship at the battle of Tehuacingo. It started with the Spanish prisoners trying to talk to the Indians who came to meet them, but upon meeting, they became so violent that the Spanish “could not endure it” and even though the Spanish charged them and forced them to retreat, there were forty thousand more warriors waiting in ambush. The party was in great danger, surrounded on all sides with little they could do, realizing that their lives were in great danger, at the hands of “this great army and their dreadful broadswords.” This battle and the prowess of the Tlascalans clearly demonstrate a major obstacle to Cortes and his men, since the warriors were obviously very skilled and had great numbers, so that the Spanish party were afraid to even break formation, and by the time the battle was over, exhausted and having to replenish their stock, they had to thank god for delivering them from the “greatest danger” they had yet faced. The Tlascalans …show more content…
The Cholulan people provided hospitality to Cortes and his party, but were getting ready to attack the Spanish, and had cleared out the women, children, and major supplies from their cities, while making war preparations such as lining the rooftops with rocks to throw, and refusing food to Cortes. This provided an obstacle to Cortes and his men because the Cholulans said they were allies to earn their trust, and the Spanish might not have realized the extent or logistics of their plans to attack, if it were not for reconnaissance from the Cempoalans and the old woman who warned Doña Marina about it. Even when they did learn of the plan and were able to spare themselves from attack, the Spanish were forced to act on what the Cholulans did, and chose to publicly punish them in a violent manner, to dissuade any future attempts at treason or entrapment. The Spanish were able to prevent a major battle, but the trickery of the Cholulans still proved to be a difficulty, and demonstrated that there were many hostilities throughout the country, that would continue to pose a threat as the Spanish made their way through
After the discovery of the new world, by Christopher Columbus, rapidly the Europeans navigate from their countries to the new world in search of gold and precious rocks that have a value for their kings or queens. Hernan Cortes, born in Medellin, Spain, was a conquistador mainly best known as the conquistador that found Tenochtitlan, which is now call Mexico City. During the conquista Bernal del Castillo and Hernán Cortés describe the struggles and other issues that they had to find the city Tenochtitlan through writing it on a book. Tenochtitlan, at that point, had amazing building structure and an extensive market. The Aztec or Mexica had, when found by Cortez, an extensive knowledge of Astronomy, time, and including Mathematics. After Cortes’s entrance to Tenochtitlan the king, Moctezuma, believe that Spaniards were part of their culture or history, as the same as Toltecs.
Hernan Cortes was born at Medellin in Spain in the year 1485 and eventually became one of the great Governors of Mexico City. It all started in 1518 when the Governor of Cuba (Diego Velazquez) placed him in charge of an expedition to explore Mexico for colonization. In February, 1519, Cortes was about to set sail when Velazquez changed his mind at tried to replace him; however Cortes in an act of mutiny pushed forward anyway. In March of 1519, Cortes claimed the land for the Spanish Crown (Charles V). Because of this great victory and the gold that Cortes sent back to Spain, he was named Governor and Captain General of Mexico in 1523.
In his letters, Cortés also gave justification and explanation of the actions he took in Mexico. He attempted this primarily through his portrayal of Montezuma’s system of governance as brutal and his people as disloyal to him. He described the apparent willingness of the peoples he encountered to abandon the Aztecs and swear allegiance to the King of Spain, “Although they were subjects of Montezuma. they had been reduced to that condition by force.and when they had obtained through me some knowledge of your Highness.
Hernán Cortés intended to bring back riches from America not conquer a people, but he and his conquistadors, who coincided with the return of the god Quetzalcóatl, were responsible for the death of the Aztec emperor, Montezuma.
From the moment Hernan Cortes landed in Mexico and began his campaign against the Aztec empire, the people of the new world were doomed to be conquered by both technological and biological means. Smallpox, a disease that had never been experienced in America before the arrival of the Europeans devastated large scale native populations. The abandonment of the famous lost city of Machu Picchu stands as a famous example of the devastation of native populations.
In 1539 Hernando de Soto and five hundred adventurers began on a journey of exploration that would take 4 years and would travel through 10 states in the southeast United States. His goal was to discover a source of wealth, preferably gold, and around his mines establish a settlement. During his travels through La Florida he encountered numerous groups of native peoples, making friends of some and enemies of others. His expedition was not the first in La Florida; however, it was the most extensive. In its aftermath, thousands of Indians would die by disease that the Spaniards brought from the Old World. De Soto would initially be remembered as a great explorer but, would be later viewed as a destroyer of native culture. However, in truth de Soto was neither a hero or a villain but rather an adventurer.
The Spanish defeat of the Aztecs has been extensively criticized for many years. Religion was a motive for discovery, enabled the Spanish to enter the heart of the empire, and was used as justification for torture of the natives. The centrality of religion as a force in Spanish conquest is undeniable. Virtually all of Aztec culture was destroyed and the Spanish victory has had lasting effects for both natives and Europeans up to and including the present-day.
The Chichimeca Wars have been a major role in the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs. The wars or mini battles between the two sides occurred from 1550-1590, when much of the new colony of Mexico had already been established. The Spanish ended up engaging in the longest and most expensive conflict they ever had with an Indigenous people. The Chichimeca people were a nomadic group of people who lived in a desert basin that was roughly 60,000 square miles of land, where they were hunters and gathers. They were not a single tribe either; they people of the tribe were made up of four different ethnic tribes that on occasion would join each other in battle. The wars started after the land in which the tribe lived was found to be abundant in silver ore and led to the Spanish establishing mines on the Chichimeca’s territory. This upset the tribe and they started to raid Spanish convoys that were on their way to deliver supplies to the mines and miners. The Spanish then enlisted the help of their native allies by setting up forts along the routes with solders and allied Native Americans to help protect the convoys traveling across Chichimecan territory. The Spanish government then adopted a policy of “War of Fire and Blood” which meant the death and enslavement, as well as mutilation of the Chichimeca people. The policy had no effect and failed. So instead they decided making peace with the natives was a better option. A Bishop proposed a Christian remedy to the problem and that was to convert the Chichimecan people to Christianity. The steps the Spanish followed to end the war and create peace where negotiate peace agreements, covert, resettle Native American allies provide food, commodities and tools to encourage them to become sedentary. T...
Both times he was beaten back to the coast by Maya armies. Shortly after his expeditions, Cortes suffered the same fate during his attempt to penetrate Cozumel and Champoton. In March of 1519, after both men’s failed attempts, Cortes put together a larger expedition with the expectation of being able to set up trade with the Maya. He hoped this would help lead to the establishment of a permanent Spanish settlement. Instead, Cortes was able to defeat small groups of Maya armies during this time. After being defeated, the Maya offered Cortes objects made of gold and told stories great empires that layed further into the mainland. Overcome with ambition and visions of conquest, all focus was moved from the establishment of a permanent settlement to tracking down and finding these
16th century the Aztecs encounter the Spanish led by Hernan Cortez, who attempts to rule Tenochtitlan
Using only a fairly small number of soldiers (10,000), Cortes brought down 5 Million Aztecs to their knees and so it made easier for Hernan to take over a country that was in desperate times. The Aztecs drove the Spanish troops from the city, giving Cortes a better chance to try and win over the Aztec empire again. Cortes returned again in 1521, this time putting an end to the Aztec empire by killing the Aztec leader. The same year King Charles I appointed him the governor of New Spain. It was after the war when Cortes changed the name of the country from Tenochtitlan to Mexico City or
Cortés came not to the New World to conquer by force, but by manipulation. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, in the "Conquest of New Spain," describes how Cortés and his soldiers manipulated the Aztec people and their king Montezuma from the time they traveled from Iztapalaopa to the time when Montezuma took Cortés to the top of the great Cue and showed him the whole of Mexico and its countryside, and the three causeways which led into Mexico. Castillo's purpose for recording the mission was to keep an account of the wealth of Montezuma and Mexico, the traditions, and the economic potential that could benefit Cortés' upcoming conquest. However, through these recordings, we are able to see and understand Cortés' strategy in making Mexico "New Spain." He came as a wolf in a sheep's clothing and manipulated Montezuma through his apparent innocence.
The downfall of the Aztec Empire was a major building block of the Spanish colonial empire in the Americas. Spain’s empire would stretch all the way into North America from the Southwest United States all the way up the Pacific Coast. The unfortunate side effect of this was the elimination of many nations of indigenous people. The three major themes shown in this conquest really give deeper look into the anatomy of this important historical event. Without context on the extent of native assistance given to Cortez in his fight with the Aztecs, a reader would be grossly uniformed. The Spanish conquest was closer to a civil war than an actual conquest. Until reading detailed personal accounts of the fighting it is difficult to judge the deadly effectiveness of the Spaniards technological superiority. Without it is difficult to imagine 500 conquistadors holding thousands of native warriors at bay. Once the greed of Cortez and greed in general of the Europeans one understands that if it wasn’t Cortez if would have just been a different man at a different time. Unfortunately fame and prosperity seem to always win over cares about fellow human beings
Cortes was able to conquer the Aztecs for several very different reasons. In combination these reasons allowed him to have the upper hand in the conquest of Mexico. Arguably these reasons can be sorted into six different categories. The various causes for Cortes' success will be assessed in a climax pattern. To begin with the Aztecs had a harsh tribute system that was not popular among the people of Mexico. This cruel tribute system allowed Cortes to act as a liberator. Furthermore, with the Spanish brought several diseases into Mexico in witch they were immune to but the Aztecs were not. The spread of diseases such as small pox reduced the Aztec population and furthered Cortes' success unintentionally Also Marina was a tribal girl given as a gift to Cortes, she proved invaluable in translating local dialects in combination with Geronimo de Aguilar. Also an important aspect of his success was due to Montezuma's belief that Cortes was Quetzakoatl. A predominant reason for the Spanish success was due to their weaponry especially their armour and firepower. Perhaps the most important reason of all was that of Cortes' Indian allies such as the Tlaxcalans who made up the majority of his combined army. All these reasons worked together to allow Cortes, originally with 508 men to conquer the Aztec Empire of millions of people.
Victors and Vanquished by Stuart Schwartz attempts to explore differing perspectives of the conquest of Mexico as the historical narratives are from both the outlook of the Spanish conquistadors as well as the Nahua peoples. In these primary sources, there was a fundamental focus on the encounters between the Spaniards and the Mexica. The first source is an excerpt from The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a Spanish conquistador, who participated as a foot solider in the conquest of Mexico with Hernán Cortés. Although Díaz del Castillo was a witness of the conquest, he wrote his account of what he had witnessed decades after the Spanish victory, in 1521. In his account, Díaz del Castillo concentrated on the ways in which the Spanish viewed the Nahua peoples. The second source is taken from the Florentine Codex and is one which was collected twenty