Compare And Contrast Columbus And Cortes

During the 16th century there was a huge amount of men who were considered conquistadors because they managed to take over large amounts of North America through force. The two most influential men for this journey were Cristopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes, who were in control of what we know now as the United States of America. In 1492 Columbus set out on his first voyage for a trade to Asia by going through the west. There to find land instead of Asia, surprised by this because he had just found a new state. After returning to Spain he proceeds to tell the king all that he had found, thus leading up to a gold rush. This continuing on for the next few years. While in the middle of the Gold rush, Hernan Cortes set sail for his voyage with

the intentions to become the ruler of Mexico, even after the governor of Cuba had told him to stop what he was doing.

Cortes wasn’t concerned about the governor on his butt because he had his eye on the prize. Both Cortes and Columbus did what they thought would greatly benefit their country, right or wrong.
Born in Italy in Genoa, Columbus became a sailor on the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean considering himself as a navigator and map maker. After Columbus “persuaded Spanish king Ferdinand and queen Isabella to fun the expedition” (p.1921) he and the following explorers secured Spanish control over Cuba and other islands in the Caribbean, a wave of freelance adventurers (conquistadores) left Castile and crossed the ocean seeking to gain fortune for themselves and greater glory for their king and religion.
Cortés was born in the Spanish town of Medellin in approximately 1484. His father, Martín Cortés de Monroy, was a minor aristocrat

without titled lands who basically provided his son with the opportunity to participate in Spain's growing colonial enterprise. After studying law for two years at the University of Salamanca, Cortés abandoned his scholarly pursuits in 1504 and travelled to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, where he worked as a notary. He accompanied Diego Velázquez in his conquest of Cuba in 1511 and served as his secretary for the next seven years. “During this period, he married Catalina Xuárez, who was related to Velázquez by marriage.” (p.1928). In 1519, Hernando Cortés (1485-1547), along with around five hundred men, landed in Vera Cruz, Mexico, and prepared to attack the main power of the region, the Aztec empire. Along with a contingent of native warrior’s hostile to the Aztecs, Cortés entered Tenochtitlán (Mexico City) peacefully and met Emperor Montezuma II (1502-1520). More than 200,000 people lived in the Aztec capital at this time, making it one of the largest cities in the world. Montezuma's civil reception of the Spanish did not last long. “Montezuma loudly expressed his distress. He felt distress, he was terrified, and was astounded.” (p.1938). The Spanish abducted the emperor and attacked the Aztecs during a religious ceremony that featured human sacrifice and cannibalism. Driven out in 1520, Cortés retook Tenochtitlán in 1521, all but destroying the architectural wonders of the city in the process. The Aztecs, decimated by smallpox, soon came under Spanish control, and Mexico became the core of New Spain, a region stretching from Panama to California.
In 1518, Velázquez put Cortés in charge of an expedition to explore the Mexican coast.

Ignoring Velázquez's orders to confine his activities to exploration and trade, Cortés set out to conquer the powerful Aztec empire. After making an alliance with the Tlaxcalans, traditional enemies of the Aztecs, Cortés proceeded to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, where he was received as an emissary of Charles V by the Aztec leader Montezuma II. Cortés took Montezuma prisoner and for some time was able to rule through him. During an Aztec uprising in 1520, however, Montezuma was slain, either by the Spanish or by his own people, and Cortés and his men were forced out of the city with heavy losses. During this the city was virtually razed, Cortés finally defeated the Aztecs in 1521. The next year the emperor named him governor of Mexico, or "new Spain." Following an abortive expedition into Honduras, Cortés was suspended from the office of governor in 1526. Two years later he returned to Spain to seek redress from the Emperor. Although the Emperor conferred on him the title of Marquis and confirmed his claim to the considerable wealth he had acquired in the New World, Cortés was not reappointed governor. He returned to Mexico that year, but never again exercised political power. In 1540 he retired to Spain, where he died in

1547.
Over the course of human existence, every instance has an impact on what happens next. This is as true as ever during times such as the Renaissance, more specifically, the Age of Exploration. Discoveries, comedies, and tragedies that occurred due to discovering new worlds are still with us today just as much as they affected the people and cultures living in that time period. While today, we may see most of these impacts as good, back then, there seemed to be an overall negative outlook. While many instances such as mistreating humans and taking over and killing cultures were by no means acceptable, let alone positive, during this same time, explorers were risking their lives for their country and their own glory, all in an attempt to find new routes. As it turns out, they ended up finding whole new land masses. One of the biggest issues to come out of the Age of Exploration and the new-found trade routes was the development of the Slave Trade. While there was slavery in some areas previous to the Slave Trade, this was the first time that mass amounts of slaves were being taken from their homes, shipped across the ocean like cargo, and sold, being neglected as people and looked at as if they were merchandise. One of the most prominent sources for slaves was Africa. In Africa, slaves would be taken to port cities and thrown into the cargo of ships headed across to the New World and Europe. Due to the fact that no trader cared for these humans as people, they were packed into the cargo of ships, trying to fit in as many as possible.