After Columbus found other parts of the world, there was many other men, who were mostly Spanish, who decided to follow in his foot steps. One of these was Hernando Cortés.
Cortés was born in 1485 in the Providence of Castile. At the age of fourteen, he went to school to study Latin, all though his classmates thought of him as sickly and mischievous. At the age of sixteen, he heard of Columbus’s discoveries and wanted to become an explorer.
So, in 1504, he joined his first New World expedition that was traveling to Cuba. He then worked in the civil government for many more years. Finally, in 1518, he led his first expedition to explore Mexico. All though he was ordered to cancel the voyage, he ignored the commands and continued. His fleet consisted of eleven ships with about five hundred men. On his arrival, he found many friendly natives, but he had to kill many of them because he wanted to make the land Spanish territory.
There was one problem though; They were greatly outnumbered by the mighty Aztec Empire, so it seemed impossible that his army of five hundred could take down a whole nation. But, by the end, their army consisted of thousands. How? Cortés found many city-states who had owed allegiance to the Aztecs, but actually hated them. He used this to his advantage. Starting from the Mexican coast, he fought his way to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán. The Aztec vassals he met, joined forces with him and fought along side. And so, the Aztec emperor, Montezuma was killed by his own men in the fight, leaving no heir to take over. By 1521, Cortés had had control for good.
King Charles I of Spain then appointed Cortés as governor of New Spain. (This region eventually became what we know today as Mexico.) Cortés then rebuilt Tenochtitlán and explored other parts of Mexico. He then voyaged to Honduras, Baja and even California, but sadly died in 1547 on his way back from his exploration.
When his legend reached Spain, it was very quickly exaggerated. Many of the men who went with him were just peasants, but after the Aztec conquest, they gained riches and wealth. Many wanted to follow in Cortés’s footsteps and be successful themselves. But many of the people who tried to follow him, weren’t successful because they were not prepared for the hard work.
Cortés is best remembered for the violent and bloody conquest of the Aztec Empire, but while he was rather headstrong, he wasn’t a cruel governor and ruler. Sadly, those who followed him were repeatedly merciless and often vilified by the people they ruled over.
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