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Alfredo Quiroga
Professor Edy Macdonald
American History 2010
19 November 2014
The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Hernan Cortes
The conquest of Mexico in the 1500s is an important event for it would lead to more
exploration of unexplored lands and eventually to the discovery of the Americas and the
beginning of American civilization. The conquest of Mexico can be given credit to one well
known conquistador Hernan Cortes. Hernn Corts de Monroy y Pizarro was born in
Medellin, Spain being part of a family with less nobility. Nobility was a huge honor in those
days and Cortes would grow up wanting great nobility explaining his great interest on the
New World (Levy). At the age of 14, Cortes was sent to Salamanca to shadow one of his
uncles to learn Latin (Levy). While there, Cortes not only learned latin but also studied that
art of notary which both these skills would help him greatly in the end by being able to
communicate to the King with great responses about his voyage in Mexico.
Cortes returned from Salamanca at the age of sixteen (Levy). When he returned, his
parents were disappointed for they wanted him to stay over there studying under his uncle
and live a more wealthier and noble life than they did. Cortes on the other hand could not see
himself writing papers for people every day and just getting an ordinary job explaining why
he left Salamanca (Levy). When he returned to his home, he made plans to travel to the new
world with a relative named Nicolas de Ovando (Levy). His plans were cancelled in the last

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minute though because Cortes injured himself running away from a mistresss home and
trying to flee from her according to a folk tale (Levy). As a result, Cortes would spent most
of his time while injured in southern Spanish ports listening to returning voyagers talk about
the New World. All these tales he would hear about all the great mysteries that were being
uncovered and gold there would increase his interest in exploring the new world.
Cortes would finally leave for Hispaniola at the age of eighteen with the assistance of
a conquistador named Alonso Quintero (Levy). In 1504, he would land in Santo Domingo
the capital of Hispaniola and register as a citizen in order to start building plot and land to
farm. To his surprise, his family member Nicolas de Ovando the man he was supposed to set
sail with before his injury was governor and would help Cortes greatly (Levy). He would
provide Cortes with an encomienda, natives that would help him with labor, and also provide
him with a well-paying job as a notary in Azua de Compostela (Levy). This would help him
gain nobility and respect from many individuals who are close with the crown. He would
spend the next five years here before he would get a chance to explore more of the new
world and help conquer Cuba.
In 1511, Cortes would take part in his second voyage with Diego Velazquez in order
to conquer Cuba (Levy). When they finally conquer Cuba, Velazquez is very impressed and
gives him a high position in the government as treasurer and then later would become
Velazquezs secretary (Levy). He would spend a few years here as well before his next and
greatest expedition. As the years passed by, many began to look up to Cortes in Cuba so
when the time came for him to start his own expedition, he was able to put together a group
of 300 men and six ships that would join him in his expedition (Castillo). A few days before

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he was supposed to leave for his expedition, conflicts between him and Velazquez had led
Velazquez to change his mind and not appoint him to this expedition but Cortes would
commit mutiny and leave on this expedition anyways for he wanted the glory that would
come from exploring the new world and conquering Mexico.
On February 1519 he finally arrives in the Yucatan Peninsula ready to begin his
expedition and conquer Mexico for the crown (Castillo). Due to his mutiny, Velazquez was
sending soldiers to go arrest him but due to his great notary skills he was able to
communicate to the King of Spain and explain why he was the right man for this job and that
he had already claimed the land for his King (Castillo). After sending these letters to the
crown Cortes is forgiven and can continue his expedition. His first great asset in this
expedition is a Spanish soldier named Aguilar who had survived a battle with the natives but
captured and now would serve as Cortes translator for when they moved through the lands.
After three months there, he return to Cuba to get more soldiers to help him in his expedition
(Castillo). When he returns to his expedition, he goes into battle against natives in Tabasco
and wins. He keeps a few women as slaves to commemorate his victory (Castillo). As he
continues his expedition further, Aguilars ability to translate begins to diminish because of
the different native languages but one of the women he kept as a slave is pretty smart and
learned English pretty quick so she becomes Cortess new translator Malinche and new
mistress (Castillo). Many say that without Malinche, Cortes would never have been able to
conquer Mexico.
His next step in his expedition was meeting up with Moctezuma the King of
Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was the main city in Mexico and for the Aztecs. He asked the

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Aztecs to arrange a meeting with him and they do. Moctezuma invites Cortes and his whole
army into the city of Tenochtitlan and provides them with many gifts (Castillo). Cortes
seeing all the wealth they are providing him sends word to the crown that the natives believe
Cortes is a god and are providing him with much wealth for the crown. After a few days
there though, Cortes hears news about natives killing his comrades in Veracruz. Angered by
this action, Cortes seizes Moctezuma and keeps him captured. Cortes uses this to his
advantage and uses Moctezuma as a puppet king (Castillo). He leaves him as King because
he knows the people wont follow him so he just uses Moctezuma as a puppet to do his
wishes (Castillo). Just when everything seemed to be going according to plan, Velazquez
sends Narvaez on an expedition to get rid of Cortes. Cortes hears of this and leave
Tenochtitlan in the hands of Pedro de Alvarado while he goes to settle business with Narvaez
at shore (Castillo).
Cortes arrives to the shore and has an all-out battle between his soldiers and
Narvaezs soldiers. He win the battle and convinces the rest of Narvaezs soldiers to join him
for they could be part of the great group of men to have conquered Mexico (Castillo). After
all this, things get worse. While he left Alvarado in charge, he killed many of the natives in
Tenochtitlan and this led them to start an up rise against Moctezuma and they killed him and
kicked out the Spanish soldiers gaining control once again of their own city. Hearing this,
Cortes get angry and decides its time to conquer Tenochtitlan. In order to do this, Cortes
reaches out to all the natives that are enemies of the Aztecs and all those who want to see
them destroyed (Castillo). Then on January 1521 Cortes finally attacks Tenochtitlan and
burns down the whole city. Then on August 13, 1521 the Aztec empire completely vanished

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and he claimed all the land for Spain and called it Mexico City (Castillo). Though he would
partake in many more expeditions and finance other expeditions for new conquistadors, no
expedition would ever be as great and successful and his conquest of Tenochtitlan.
After conquering Tenochtitlan, King Charles would appoint him to govern but Cortes
was not pleased because the King assigned four other individuals to govern with him so he
wouldnt have too much power (Castillo). This angered Cortes but he did not care for he was
satisfied was his accomplished expedition. Cortes began the whole process of creating
Mexico City by destroying all the temples that the Aztecs had and replacing them with
Christian churches (Castillo). He then continued to just destroy all the buildings and make
the city have a more European looks setting the ground floor for European cities to come.
He would finally finish all his expeditions and financing expeditions in the year 1547
when he would return to Seville. Once he arrived in Seville, he was stricken with dysentery
and would die of pleurisy at the age of 62 in Seville on December 2, 1547 (Levy).

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Work Cited

Castillo, Bernal. The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico, 1517-1521. 2nd Da Capo Press ed.
Cambridge, MA: Da Capo, 2003. Print.

Levy, Buddy.
Aztecs.New York: Bantam, 2008. Print.

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