Essay 4 – History of Mexico
Why were 300+ Spaniards able to conquer 40,000 Aztecs? Include geographical facts, Research Day of the Dead, What is it? Hernando Cortes was known as the Spanish Conqueror who defeated the Aztecs. He was born in 1485 to minor nobility in southwest Spain. He sailed to the new world in search of his fortune and joined a military expedition in 1518, lead by Diego de Velasquez that captured Cuba. Cortes soon became the mayor of Santiago and married Velazquez sister-in-law.
Cortes was given permission by Spanish governor of Cuba, Diego Velasquez, to take a small group to Mexico on an exploration mission to investigate rumors of a wealthy civilization in central Mexico. Cortes was very ambitious and Velazquez was soon regretting his decision. In fact, he tried to rescind his order but it was too late. Cortes was already sailing to Mexico with a group of 11 ships. His first stop was at the Yucatan coastline before he proceeded to Tabasco. He had little trouble at Tabasco and was able to quite easily overcome the natives. It was here at Tabasco where he first learned about the great wealth of the Aztecs.
Cortes went farther north and established Vera Cruz where he started planning his attack against the Aztecs. While he was Tabasco, he met his mistress La Malinche, who was fluent in Nahuatl, the Aztec language, and enlisted the help of the Tabasco natives. Since Cortes’ men had their doubts about conquering the Aztecs, and to prevent them from deserting the expedition, Cortes burned all his ships. Along his journey to Tenochtitlan, he was able to conquer several other tribes, including the Tlaxalans. He formed alliances with enemies and foes of the Aztecs. He also learned and exploited the myth about the light skinned bearded god-king Quetzalcoatl. According to the legend, Quetzalcoatl taught the Aztecs about