![]() Not only did the Spaniards' armaments - steel weapons, arquebuses and crossbows - prove superior in the clash, but so did Cortes' horses. The Spanish force overpowered them, and the Natives surrendered. "He and his men removed and destroyed the pagan idols, and replaced them with crosses and figures of the Virgin Mary."Ĭortés' force then continued sailing west to Tabasco, where it encountered resistance from Native warriors. In Cozumel, an island off the Yucatán coast that was one of the first places the Spaniards landed, Cortés learned of various rituals, "including human sacrifice of the Natives to their many gods," Cosme said. ![]() "His view on the Indigenous people was similar to the majority of Europeans of that day - they were inferior culturally, technologically and religiously," Cosme said. The Spanish were eager to settle in the region, and Cortés was also interested in converting Native Americans to Christianity. In February 1519, Cortés' ships reached the Mexican coast at Yucatán, which was the domain of Mayan-speaking peoples. Velázquez canceled the voyage at the last minute, but Cortés ignored his orders and set sail with 11 ships and more than 500 men. Velázquez appointed Cortés' captain-general of the expedition, according to Britannica, but soon grew increasingly jealous of Cortés' power and influence. In 1518, he convinced Velázquez, who was by that time the governor of Cuba, to grant him permission to lead an expedition to Mexico, which the Spanish had come into contact with earlier that year. He was able to purchase a house in Santiago and gain considerable influence among the colonists, according to Britannica.ĭespite his success, Cortés was hungry for more power. Cortés' time in Cuba made him wealthy because he was able to buy enslaved people and have them work the land he had acquired. After the conquest, Cortés served as a clerk to the treasurer and later as mayor of Santiago, a town which had been established after the conquest and served as the island's capital for a brief time until the establishment of Havana in 1515. In 1511, he joined Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar's expedition to conquer Cuba, which was occupied by at least two major Native American groups, the Taíno and the Guanahatabey. In the CaribbeanĬortés spent seven years on Hispaniola, living in the town of Azua and working as a notary and farmer. In 1504, at age 19, Cortés set sail for the New World. ![]() At the same time, they could not simply decide to mount an expedition without official sanction they had to seek authorization from colonial officials.Ĭortés decided to seek fortune and adventure in Hispaniola (modern-day Dominican Republic and Haiti). Consequently, their expeditions were often privately funded. ![]() According to the Thought Company, a website that covers history and science, many of these explorers were ambitious men who had been professional soldiers or were mercenaries and often acted on their own initiative rather than seeking funding from the Spanish Crown. "For individual explorers, gaining public fame could potentially make them rich," Cosme said. (Columbus was initially convinced he'd reached Asia, which is why the region is called the "West Indies," according to Britannica.) Reports of Columbus' journey caused a wave of excitement in Spain and Europe, and several more expeditions set out to explore this "New World" in the following years.Ĭortés was eager to be part of the dynamic movement. However, Columbus' expedition failed to reach its intended destination and instead stumbled upon the Americas, which were completely unknown to Europeans at the time. (Image credit: Dimitrios Karamitros via Shutterstock) Map with the route of Hernan Cortes exploration of Central America. ![]()
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