As conqueror of the Aztec Empire in Mexico, explorer of Guatemala and Honduras, and leader of the first expeditions to California, Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés contributed significantly to the establishment of European domination in America. More particularly we see his contribution to Spanish prominence in both Central and South America. His conquests helped shape the origins and history of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Spaniards initially occupied the New World in order to secure commercial networks and ensure a steady flow of goods back across the Atlantic. However, Cortes’ conquests would act as a precedent to a regional dominance over an entire continent. Cortes also played a major role in the eradication of Aztec culture through both disease and physical means. Cortes was indeed one of the pioneers of the Age of Exploration. Nonetheless, his actions can be viewed in a positive or negative light. Hernan Cortes’ condescension towards the Natives he encountered would ultimately lead to a negative perception and thus terrible treatment and his ruthlessness would lead the way for Spanish dominance in the South and Central American regions and other European ventures to the Americas. Cortés was born in 1485 to a poor, noble family in Medellin, a village in Spain. He attended the University of Salamanca, where he studied to become a lawyer. He did not complete his studies, however, deciding instead to go to the New World and make his fortune. This huge decision would in turn have a major impact on the New World. He left for Santo Domingo on a fleet of merchant ships in 1504. For six years, Cortés lived as a landowner in Santo Domingo until 1511, where he joined Diego Velázquez ' expedition to Cuba. For his participation, Cortés received land in Cuba and lived there until 1518. In 1518, Velázquez, governor of Cuba at the time, appointed Cortés to lead a mission to the unexplored lands to the west, the area now known as Mexico. Several Spanish ships had landed in Mexico before Cortés ' expedition. None of these voyages exemplified any sort of true significance; however, they did deliver reports that would pique Cortes’ interest. The reports of wealth and gold tempted Cortés and his followers, although they also wished to conquer new lands for their king and find new civilizations that they hoped to convert to Christianity. For all of those reasons, Cortés funded a mission to Mexico with his own personal fortune and arrived in Cozumel, off the coast of Mexico, on March 12, 1519. Upon arrival on the Mexican coast, Cortés cruised the Yucatan Peninsula. From several encounters with the Mayan people living in the Yucatan Peninsula, he began to hear of an empire based in Central Mexico. This empire was the Aztec Empire. The emperor at the time, Montezuma II, sent emissaries to observe the Spaniards and after discovering through perception that their main concern was gold, gave them many valuable gold gifts. Cortés seeing this as an opportunity to gain wealth, enslave people and most importantly, delight the Spanish Crown. Thus he decided to conquer that wealthy and populous civilization in the name of the king
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Starting in the 14th century, they adapted to the lands of central Mexico and gained power through alliances with the kingdoms already established around Lake Texcoco, eventually developing their own Empire. The indigenous populations of central Mexico attained an advanced level of knowledge in such areas as astronomy, architecture, painting, agricultural methods, literature, and philosophy. This was much more advanced than the European explorers such as Cortes would’ve expected. In the middle of the 15th century, the Aztec emperors began to seek tribute from other areas of Mexico. They also sent out colonists to spread their culture. Living off their tribute from smaller tribal villages and their very productive system of agriculture beyond its time, the Aztecs built the enormous, well-planned metropolis of Tenochtitlán. Several great Aztec emperors had succeeded in conquering much of central Mexico before a weaker ruler, Montezuma, came to power. Montezuma was not as strict or demanding of respect as his predecessors. Montezuma would prove to be very influential in the imminent downfall of the Aztec Empire due to his inaction when the Spanish first presented
Starting in the 14th century, they adapted to the lands of central Mexico and gained power through alliances with the kingdoms already established around Lake Texcoco, eventually developing their own Empire. The indigenous populations of central Mexico attained an advanced level of knowledge in such areas as astronomy, architecture, painting, agricultural methods, literature, and philosophy. This was much more advanced than the European explorers such as Cortes would’ve expected. In the middle of the 15th century, the Aztec emperors began to seek tribute from other areas of Mexico. They also sent out colonists to spread their culture. Living off their tribute from smaller tribal villages and their very productive system of agriculture beyond its time, the Aztecs built the enormous, well-planned metropolis of Tenochtitlán. Several great Aztec emperors had succeeded in conquering much of central Mexico before a weaker ruler, Montezuma, came to power. Montezuma was not as strict or demanding of respect as his predecessors. Montezuma would prove to be very influential in the imminent downfall of the Aztec Empire due to his inaction when the Spanish first presented