Hernando Cortes was born in Medellin, Spain in 1485. He was 14 when he was sent to the University of Salamanca to study law. His parents were both from the middle class family, but not wealthy. They wished their only son, Hernando, would become a lawyer to support the family, but he returned home after only two years. He was looking for adventure in life. Cortes first married Catalina Xuares, a Spanish lady. They did not have any children. After Catalina's death, Cortes married Dona Juana de Zuniga. From this marriage, they had four children, one son and three daughters. He started his military service and became skillful. This was the start of his life as a great explorer and a brilliant strategist. His nickname was Killer. He became really wealthy after finding New Spain. Cortes returned to Spain in 1540 and lived there for the rest of his life. He died near Seville, December 2, 1547 at the age 62.

Major Achievements:

In 1511, Cortes accompanied Diego Velasquez to colonize Cuba. Later, he held the office of Santiago in the new colony. Velasquez sent Cortes to Mexican coast as the commander of the expedition. At the last moment, Diego regretted letting him go as commander. It was too late and Hernando left on November 18, 1518. He took ten ships, well-armed men, 550 conquistadors, 300 Indians, and a dozen horses with him. He arrived at Trinidad and then Havana finding Velasquez still wanting to stop him. Cortes finally reached and took over the city of Tabasco. Cortes found out that Montezuma (the Aztec king) ruled over a large empire called Tenochtitlan, which had lasted for three centuries. He also found out that Montezuma was very powerful and rich. Cortes planned to conquer Tenochtitlan. He founded the town of Vera Cruz and became the captain-general of the new colony. He set out to find Tenochtitlan. On his way, he captured the Tlaxcalans on September 18, 1519. He found and conquered Tenochtitlan. They think he killed 240,000 Aztecs. Cortes became captain of Mexico. In 1536 he discovered the peninsula of California. Hernando got very rich and famous. Then he left for Spain in 1540.

Country:

Spain wanted to conquer Hispania. They wanted to because they needed more food and land. He went to America with a man named Velasquez. They stopped at Cuba to conquer it. He went to Mexico without Velasquez. He conquered Mexico and a small part California. He named them New Spain. When he returned to Spain, he was really rich and famous.

Impact on New World:

When Cortes got to Mexico, he tricked the Aztecs into giving him gold. They gave him plenty of gold because they hoped that they would leave. Then, Hernando Cortes heard about a new tribe coming called the Tlaxcalan. They left Tenochtitlan to capture them. They did. On their way back to Tenochtitlan, Velasquez was coming for Cortes to arrest him. They defeated them and used the remains of the armies to capture Montezuma (their King) and made him talk to the Aztecs. The Aztecs were angry and killed Montezuma. The conquistadors had a war with the Aztecs. The Aztecs lost the war and was defeated. Then Cortes left for California.

Personal Reaction:

I think that Hernando Cortes was mean for killing the Aztecs and was very powerful. I think he is powerful because he has a huge army. I thought that he was also very brave for going on the voyage. I think he never gave up either. He was a very rich man too.

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