Hernan Cortes: A Hero Or Villain?

The Aztecs were a civilization located in Mexico with a ruler by the name of Montezuma II. They were not peaceful people, but rather known as warriors. They were especially not peaceful when the Spanish came to Mexico. A Spaniard by the name of Hernan Cortes sailed out of Cuba in 1518 and encountered a civilization named the Aztec. It was horrible for just one man’s greed to end a whole civilization.

Hernando Cortes ignored the rules of the queen and took on Mexico, he arrived with 500 men and 11 boats around 1519. Cortes united with natives from the battle in Mexico, but killed others with a deadly force.

I’ve heard that people wanted Hernan Cortes to be in a museum of historical explorers, but I'm here to tell you that he should not be in that museum of historical explorers for being another villain in history. So I hope that with this information, you don’t put him in your museum. He would be better known as an explorer with one goal, fame and fortune.

Hernán Cortes is one of Spain's most influential explorers. He heard of the failed expeditions that had been repelled by the indians, and he believed that he could succeed where they had failed. In 1519, he landed of the coast of mexico with about 600 troops, 16 horses, and some cannons. The armour they wore and the guns, horses, and cannons had never been seen by the indians before. The message quickly got back to Moctezuma, who sent emissaries to make peace with the conquistadors. This soon was found to be unsuccessful and Cortés started making his inland trek to Tenochtitlán. As he was making his way, he ran into many villages, many of which he recruited to help him in the fight against the Aztec people. Cortés himself was thought to be Quetzalcoatl by Moctezuma, a god-king that swore to return one

PerceivJuan ponce de Leon discovers the present Florida. De Leon became a very rich person by finding gold and farming. Another thing is he sold things to sailors traveling to Spain. Overall De Leon was a good man aka he was a hero rather than a villain.

When you think of Columbus what comes to mind? A hero? A villain? Most people think he is a hero, but many do not think of the things he did to people such as slavery, beatings, raping, etc. He is most known for discovering America, but he only got to the Bahamas. Columbus was an Italian explorer that sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Columbus Day should not be celebrated because of the awful things that don’t make up for the discoveries that Christopher Columbus did.

Hernan Cortes’ conquest of the Aztec Empire gave birth to three hundred years of Spanish rule in Mexico. Miguel Hidalgo, a Catholic priest, and leader of the independence movement united: indigenous peasants, poor creoles, nobility in Spanish America and the Catholic church within the colony to depose Spaniard royalist power which Cortes had given birth to (Mckay 684). This unlikely alliance stemmed from the widespread discontent of Spaniard viceroy assumption of control of the government of New Spain from its capital in Mexico City after Napoleon’s coup in 1808 (Mckay 684). The signing of Iturbide’s Plan of Iguala ended eleven years of struggle for independence, and the end of Spaniard control. This plan not only established Mexico as a constitutional monarchy but as well solidified the cultural transition from the polytheism of the Aztec Empire to the strong monotheism of the newly emerging Catholic Church. Because “the colonial system depended on the loyalty of the clergy: the priests controlled the people,” this allowed the Catholic Church’s influence to grow within the colony (Lynch 109). The separation of the Catholic Church from the Spanish crown played a vital role in the attainment of independence. Considering the separation of the Catholic Church from the Spanish crown and how the Plan de Iguala concluded the Mexican War of independence, I intend to explore: How the Catholic Church changed the Mexican War of Independence?

Hernan Cortes was a Spanish Conquistador who dreamed of riches, a title of nobility, and fame. He planned to obtain these by leading an expedition into the New World. Spaniard’s dreamed that conquering Mexico would give them great wealth and Cortes as able to do this. He conquered parts of Mexico and caused the fall of the Aztec Empire. Cortes was so successful because he was a remarkable strategist. One

Hernan (also Hernando or Fernando) Cortes was born in Medellin, Estramadura, in Spain in 1485 to a family of minor nobility.

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who owned land in Cuba. He soon heard of Spanish expeditions being repelled by Indians, and as a result, he set out to do what others could not. In 1519 Cortés landed on the coast of Mexico with 600 men, 16 horses, and several cannons. He then began a trek towards the inland of Mexico where the heart of the Aztec Empire was located. Shortly after beginning his voyage, Cortés met a young Indian woman named Malinche. She served as Cortés’s advisor and translator and later helped him form alliances with local Native American tribes. Cortés made it to the Aztec capital and soon captured Moctezuma, the Aztec emperor. After forcing Moctezuma into many contracts, Cortés and his army were driven from the

Explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto was born c. 1500 to a noble but poor family in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain. He was raised at the family manor. A generous patron named Pedro Arias Dávila funded de Soto's education at the

Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador which meant that he went out to conquer land with his army. He and his army were thirsty for gold, taking other people’s treasure to make it into theirs an example of that were the Aztecs. The Aztecs were people who had build a big empire in in Tenochtitlan and they had large amounts of gold but soon enough that empire was destroyed by Hernan killing and conquering people to the point that the Aztecs became afraid of the Spanish.Therefore, Hernan Cortes is a villain because of all of the pain and destruction he caused.

In today’s world, we have many famous explorers that we study in text books. One person that is lesser known is Hernan Cortez. Hernan Cortez was born into a lesser noble family in the year of 1485. He was born by the name of Hernan Cortez Pizarror (aztec-history,com). Hernan was destined by his parents to become a lawyer. Setting his own path, Hernan Cortez became a conquistador instead at the age of nineteen. Denying his orders to not set sail, Hernan took eleven ships and more than five hundred men to the Mexican Coast (biography.com). Later becoming a ruler and a criminal, he died December 2, 1547.

Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro were explorers from Spain that sailed to the Americas and made many interesting voyages.They both faced separate challenges and difficulties along the way. During their difficulties Cortes and Pizarro acquired allies to help them on their expeditions. Cortez and Pizarro were both very fierce and conquered many areas.

Soldier and conqueror Bernal Díaz del Castillo in his book The True History of the Conquest of New Spain labeled Hernán Cortés “a valiant, energetic, and daring captain” and compared him to the likes of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Hannibal. Hernán Cortés was an ambitious conquistador and eventually defeated the mighty Mexican empire. A problem, however; emerges when distinguishing between the rational and romanticized versions of Cortés’ exploits. Bernal Díaz was present during the conquest, but his account was written much later and cannot be expected to be unbiased. Modern interpretations of Cortés can piece together all document and find that he stretched the truth to further his own gains. Cortés’ personality, goals, and actions have been interpreted differently since the days of the conquest, and have changed the way the conquest has been understood.