Hernando Cortez Life Paper / Fall Of Aztec Empire (1st Person)

1095 words - 5 pages

I conquered Mexico and was a captain in the Spanish army; I was made first governor of Mexico and ruled Mexico for about 20 years from 1521 to 1540 (Nanney, 1). I, Hernando Cortes, should be in the History Hall of Fame because I conquered all of Mexico, used my cunning to bring down a mighty empire with few men, and set the stage for further conquest by the Spanish (Nosotro, 1).I was born in Medellin Spain in the year 1485 to a family of lesser nobility. I attended the University of Salamanca but I was tired of small town life and was persuaded by stories of riches to go to the New World (Pavlovic, 1). When I arrived in Hispaniola, I joined an expedition to Cuba led by the local Spanish ...view middle of the document...

My second major achievement was gaining allies with many of the local tribes. After learning of the great power and wealth of the Aztecs I knew we were going to need more men to conquer their magnificent city (Jacobs, 31).We came across a tribe called the Totonacs who hated the Aztecs and once we expressed our idea of conquering them, they quickly joined our march (Ramen, 33). As we were moving closer to Tenochitlan and learning about their empire we got to a place under Aztec rule called Quiahuiztlan where Aztec officials were coming to collect taxes. I convinced the chief of Quiahuiztlan to imprison the officials and we questioned them with help of the locals to learn of Tenochitlan and let the Aztecs know we were in town. (January, 31). We moved on and arrived at the tribe of the Tlaxcans. A vicious people who had no ally and every enemy. We had to unfortunately fight them but once we won, we got them to fight along side us and to fight the Aztecs (Pavlovic, 1)My third major achievement was conquering Tenochitlan and the Aztec empire by steadily marching to Tenochitlan and sparking a war with the Aztecs. I did not want to destroy Tenochitlan so my men, some Totonacs, the Tlaxcans, and I marched into Tenochitlan where we were like Gods, we were offered to have a rest, but I said to Montezuma, Spaniards never tire. (Jacobs, 46). I had to leave Tenochitlan because I was labeled an outlaw because Velazquez believed I was not coming back and had to go to the coast and defend myself (Ramen, 42). When I returned Alvarado; whom I left in charge, slaughtered numerous Aztec priests and nobles and he and 400 of my men were trapped in a temple with Montezuma as a prisoner. He sent Montezuma out to try to calm his people but he was stoned to death by rocks and my men were pinned down (Nosotro, 1). The...

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