Age of Discovery in the Early Modern Age
Iker Cisneros, Alaitz Conde, Ion Perez
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Introduction
The history of our world and of the modern-day nations that compose it is littered with explorations, either for knowledge, wealth or power. Although several of these explorations did not succeed, those that did reshaped the world into what it is now, giving European kingdoms power and land while oppressing the indigenous communities of the places they claimed for themselves. The most prominent of these took place in the 16th and 17th centuries and were undertaken by several explorers whose names went down in history. One of these explorers was Hernán Cortés, who, in the early 16th century, was responsible for Spain’s conquest of the Aztec Empire in Mexico. His exploration was a watershed moment in the history of Spain, Mexico and the colonisation of America, and understanding it, its causes and its consequences is crucial to fully comprehend the Age of Discovery.
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Maps
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How was Hernán Cortés considered…
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...by the Mexica (Aztecs)?
At first, the perception was ambiguous and bewildered: some Mexica nobles saw Cortés and the Spaniards as powerful and dangerous beings because of their technology (weapons, horses, steel). There is the famous myth that Moctezuma thought Cortés was Quetzalcoatl, but today many historians believe that this was a later interpretation, reinforced by Spanish chroniclers to justify the conquest.
Very soon, the view changed: Cortés was clearly seen as a violent invader, responsible for massacres, the desecration of temples, and the collapse of Tenochtitlan. For the Mexica who survived the conquest, Cortés remained a symbol of destruction, betrayal, and the loss of the indigenous world.
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...by other indigenous peoples?
Peoples like the Tlaxcalans saw Cortés as a useful ally against the Mexica, who dominated them and demanded tribute and prisoners for sacrifices. For them, Cortés was not a saviour, but rather a strategic tool for liberation from Mexica power. Over time, many of these allies also realized that Spanish rule was not freedom, but another form of subjugation.
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...after the Conquest?
In the indigenous collective memory, Cortés remained a feared and hated figure, associated with disease, slavery, and the loss of land. In Spanish and Creole tradition, he was exalted as a hero and conqueror. In modern Mexican history, he is often seen as primarily responsible for the beginning of colonialism, although it is also acknowledged that the conquest was made possible by indigenous alliances.
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Question I: Understanding historical context
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Although exploration and travel to different continents, especially Asia, wasn’t unusual in the late Middle Ages and early Modern Age, the period known as “the Age of Discovery” was crucial in history, as it was the moment when Europeans first established colonies overseas, especially in the newly discovered continent of America. Even though it began in the late 15th century, the Age of Discovery developed fully in the 16th and 17th centuries, with most colonizers being Spanish, Portuguese, French, English or Dutch. This period of time is considered by many to be the beginning of globalisation, and its importance is reflected in the social and economic impact it had worldwide and in the knowledge and scientific developments it provided to Europeans.
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Upon studying the travels of European explorers, the colonisation they carried out, and the effects said colonisation had on the indigenous people of their destinations, one question inevitably arises — was European colonisation unavoidable? Despite the initial serendipity of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America in 1492, the eventual docking of European ships all the way across the Atlantic was pretty much inevitable. In fact, the Norse had explored and settled in North America for a short period of time about 500 years before Columbus’s exploration. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it was usual for European traders and merchants, as well as explorers, to undertake journeys to Eastern territories, both to trade with goods unavailable in Europe — such as spices — and to explore the unknown world, a very popular concept within Humanists. The need for new trading routes was what eventually led to the discovery of America, a situation which, as previously stated, was inevitable, especially considering the sociopolitical and religious situation in Europe and Asia at the time — the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, for example, blocked the traditional spice trading route, so Europeans had to look for new ones. European Christians’ religious rivalry with Islam was also partially responsible for these changes. All things considered, even if Columbus hadn’t discovered America and the Portuguese hadn’t begun exploring Africa, their eventual discoveries and explorations were inevitable and would’ve still taken place during the Early Modern Age.
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What was avoidable, however, was the colonisation of the indigenous population of America, although, when researching the religious situation in Europe at the time, the reasons behind it might make a little more sense, and it might be deemed inevitable given the historical context. It’s no secret that religion was possibly the main factor behind it. Christians believed it was their responsibility to spread the Gospel, and, upon meeting natives with different religious beliefs, they felt obligated to convert them to Christianity — in fact, pope Alexander VI’s papal bull Inter caetera, issued in 1493, dictated that all indigenous people from Spanish-claimed territories in the New World must be converted to Catholicism, and this is exactly what Christian colonisers did to the indigenous people of America. Furthermore, these lands often had resources unavailable in European soil, which monarchs and rulers often deemed necessary to establish their dominance and power. Gold, for example, was one of the main goods Europeans sought for themselves, as, after Christopher Columbus had informed them of the material’s presence in America, they believed natives weren’t worthy of it. In their eyes, it was a necessity to colonise the indigenous peoples, so, considering their mindset, we could say the colonisation was inevitable, despite the initial finding of America being accidental.
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When it comes to Spain’s conquest of what is today Mexico, led by Hernán Cortés, was, at its core, an example of the previously mentioned religious reasons for colonisation, very similar to the previous expulsion of Muslims and Jews from the kingdom, although economic factors also played a crucial role, especially in the look for gold, as did the monarchs’ wishes for more power compared to other European nations which had also begun to settle in the New World. The Catholic Monarchs, responsible for the full Christianization of the Iberian Peninsula, were set on converting native Americans too, as they believed it to be their obligation. In fact, Cortés and his men allegedly saw St James leading them to victory, using religion to justify their actions once more. So, considering the mindset of Spaniards of the time and their rulers, it’s not surprising that they conquered and colonised modern-day Mexico and forced the indigenous tribes into conversion. This is by no means a justification for colonisation but an insight on the hypocritical and corrupted state of the Christian religion at the time, the beliefs held by the followers of and encouraged by the leaders of which made the destroying of ancient civilisations and cultures and the colonising of its people, to a certain extent, inevitable.
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Question II: Exploring European motivations
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European countries developed a very big motivation due to the discovery of America, a very big part of the population thinks that they developed this motivation only for the territory and the economy of their countries, but that isn’t very true. Yes, it was mostly because of the growing economy of the European countries: Spain, like other European countries, expanded their influence amongst Asia, and, in a travel to India, they discovered America, and in that same century, the fifteenth, they introduced America to the world markets. That was the main reason but, at the same time, other types of reasons like political and religious reasons influenced their decisions.
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Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conqueror of the Aztec Empire, had a special focus on them. And his motivations were multifaced, primary driven by the pursuit of wealth, power and glory. That focus on the Aztec Empire, made his expedition to explore the zone, into a colonization war unfollowing the rules that their governor put. That was risky, but they conquered the Empire by getting their lands. But at the same time, the native people got angry with him and that made many people disagree with the country, and that in the future, will affect the independence of Mexico.
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Their motivations were not the same as the actual outcomes because they wanted to do exploration and they colonized the Empire. And their motivations after they conquered the territory were not as good as they thought they would be. After a long time with the help of other things Mexico got the independence. A very good point is that now they earned and they took all the gold from that part, but they also used it badly and then they lost it. Many European explorers were motivated by a desire to spread Christianity. The Catholic Church played a significant role in encouraging exploration, often providing missionaries to accompany explorers. In exchange for territorial control, European powers would often be tasked with converting indigenous populations to Christianity, a practice that led to the spread of European religious and cultural values across the globe.
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Some contradictions of this conquest were that the Aztec people had their own culture, and Hernán Cortés said that, if they converted to Christianity, he would be their friend; if they did not, there would be consequences. As the Catholic Monarchs ruled the country, they wanted to unify all their territories by converting all of them to Christians. And at the same time, many people started travelling from the Iberian Peninsula to this colonies, and this also affected the Spanish economy.
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Question III: Competition among powers
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The fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521 was not solely the work of 800 Spaniards led by Hernán Cortés, but rather a complex military campaign involving thousands of indigenous allies who sought to overthrow the Aztec Empire. Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, speaking at a conference series, highlighted that Cortés implemented a strategic plan to overcome the Mexica resistance. A key tactic involved cutting off the fresh water supply to Tenochtitlan by disabling the aqueduct from Chapultepec, a move Cortés described as a "great stratagem." The Spanish forces were divided into three main groups, supported by the deployment of brigantines to assault the lake-bound cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco. Pedro de Alvarado was stationed in Tacuba with a considerable contingent of Spanish soldiers and over 25,000 allied indigenous warriors. Cristóbal de Olid was positioned in Coyoacan with a similar setup, including over 20,000 allied troops. Gonzalo de Sandoval occupied Iztapalapa with over 30,000 indigenous fighters from various allied communities. While Bernal Díaz del Castillo reported slightly different indigenous numbers, the core of Cortés' strategy relied on this massive indigenous support, totaling approximately 75,000 allied warriors alongside the 800 Spaniards. The construction and deployment of 13 brigantines were crucial, equipped with cannons and arquebuses, allowing the Spanish to effectively lay siege to the seemingly impregnable city. This naval advantage enabled them to counter the thousands of Mexica canoes, control movement on Lake Texcoco, and prevent supplies from reaching the city, both by water and through blockades on the causeways. Matos Moctezuma emphasized that the Spaniards' success was rooted in their ability to capitalize on the widespread resentment and enmity many indigenous groups harbored towards the Aztecs due to their oppressive tribute system and military expansion.
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The Aztec power structure was built on warfare and agriculture, as symbolized by the dual dedication of the Templo Mayor to Tláloc (rain god) and Huitzilopochtli (war god). Their economic might was bolstered by the constant influx of tribute from conquered territories, including exotic goods and raw materials, and the subjugation of communities that resisted led to looting, capture of women and children, and destruction of property, fostering deep-seated hatred towards the Mexicas. The notion of indigenous allies being "traitors," as popularized by Elena Garro's story "La culpa es de los tlaxcaltecas," was questioned by Matos Moctezuma, who argued that these groups were defending themselves against Aztec domination and were not inherently disloyal. He noted that allies included not only Tlaxcalans but also Huejotzincas, Texcocanos, and others whose lands were threatened by the Aztecs. The final surrender on August 13, 1521, marked a clash of different warfare philosophies: the Mexica's use of obsidian-edged weapons and their practice of capturing enemies for sacrifice versus the Spanish's lethal weaponry and their objective to eliminate opposition. The legendary exchange between Cuauhtémoc and Cortés, where the former supposedly asked to be killed, was reinterpreted by Matos Moctezuma as a request for ritual sacrifice, a crucial aspect of Mexica warrior culture. The failure to grant this request, stemming from misinterpretations through multiple languages (Nahuatl, Maya, Spanish), resulted in the ultimate cruelty from the Mexica perspective: the destruction of their city and the denial of a warrior's honorable end. The fall of Tenochtitlan was thus a consequence of strategic military innovation, crucial indigenous alliances fueled by deep-seated grievances, and a fundamental divergence in the understanding and practice of warfare.
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After the first trip to the Americas, the European powers started a battle, a race to conquer all the territory from those lands. Spain and Portugal who were the first countries that discovered the southern part of these lands, they made the Treaty of Tordesillas. This treaty decided that Portugal and Spain will divide the territory between themselves, but with other countries and conquerors coming to the Americas, new disputes of territory were created; Spain and Portugal still being good friends, good partners. But at the same time, Spain and the British had disputes at the northern part of the new world and at that time they didn’t have the best relations between them. The British and Spanish people had some troubles to decide how they were going to divide the territory, and finally Spain got the territory from Mexico after the victory of Hernán Cortés and the peninsula of Florida. Then those territories were used to form Mexico and USA. Russia had also conquered Alaska and had some problems with the British. The relations between the main conquerors, the British, Spain and Portugal, were a little bit strange. Spain and Portugal had a great friendship, but the British wanted more and the relations with them went down. Also, other European countries were mainly a little bit angry because they couldn’t get territory, or at the same time happy, with the new markets of the world.
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Question VI: Analysing global effects
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After the big discovery of the Americas, there wasn’t an instant change on the trade and the economy, but after a few months of integrating this colonies, European explorers expanded their reach, and they established new trade routes that connected Europe to previously isolated regions of the world. These sea routes facilitated the exchange of goods, culture, and ideas, and marked the beginning of a global economy. Three main trade routes were created, the Silk Road and Maritime Routes to Asia, the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Columbian Exchange.
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The Silk Road and Maritime Routes to Asia were mainly specified on the search for valuable spices. The traditional land-based Silk Road had been the primary route for trading spices and silk between Asia and Europe, but by the 15th century, this route was increasingly dominated by Ottoman Turks. This prompted European powers to look for direct maritime routes to Asia. After a successful voyage to India, the Portuguese controlled all the spices routes.
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One of the most tragic and economically significant consequences of European exploration was the establishment of the transatlantic slave trade. As European colonies in the Americas expanded, the demand for labour on plantations, particularly for crops like sugar, tobacco, and cotton, grew exponentially. This led to the forced transportation of millions of Africans to the Americas. The Atlantic slave trade became a central pillar of global commerce, with European ships transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to work in the Americas and bringing raw materials back to Europe for processing. The transatlantic slave trade devastated African societies, as millions of people were forcibly removed from their homeland. Entire communities were torn apart, and the economic and social systems of many African nations were deeply disrupted. The legacy of slavery continues to have far-reaching social and economic consequences in both Africa and the Americas.
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The voyages of Columbus and other explorers initiated the Columbian Exchange, a vast exchange of plants, animals, foods, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds. European explorers brought new crops such as wheat, barley, and sugar to the Americas, while they introduced American crops like maize, potatoes, and tomatoes to Europe. This exchange had profound effects on global agriculture, diets, and economies. The introduction of new crops and resources helped fuel the growth of European economies. The global exchange of agricultural products also created new markets for goods, leading to increased global trade. However, the Columbian Exchange also introduced diseases like smallpox to the Americas, devastating indigenous populations.
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Hernán Cortés, the explorer who defeated the Aztec Empire, started one of the most important trade markets between the Old and the New worlds, the precious metals market. On the zone that nowadays we consider Mexico, Spain got a lot of the gold that Aztecs used to use as religious figures or to make jewellery, and they started making gold ingots. That market gave Spain a lot of gold that they then lost in the two World Wars, using it badly with other countries. Also, nowadays a lot of people think that the gold from the Americas, mostly from Mexico, was stolen by Spain, and the main part of that gold was stolen by the British ships, in the 15th and the early 16th centuries.
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Conclusion
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Conclusion
Question IV: Impact on Indigenous cultures
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Conclusion
When describing the relationships between colonisers and colonised, a term often used is “cultural exchange”, which refers to the sharing of culture and traditions from both parties. However, this term is not exactly accurate to describe the situation within the colonisation of America, at least not in Hernán Cortés’s conquest of Mexico. Despite the conquerors’ belief that they were bringing culture to the natives they thought to be savages, and thus educating them, in reality no long-lasting cultural exchange took place, as, for there to be an exchange, there must be a willing giving and taking from both sides of the deal. Upon the arrival of Cortés and his men to what is now Mexico, they were greeted by the locals, who, according to the Spaniards, thought they were their gods. Gifts were exchanged when Cortés docked in Veracruz between him and representatives of Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, although it is believed that Cortés’s later display of firearms — which were unknown to the indigenous population — made them a bit weary. Cortés was later given more gifts of gold, cloth, jewellery, and other displays of Aztec riches by Moctezuma himself, a case which was similar for previous alliances he’d made with other civilisations, such as the Tlaxcalans. It is also said that he converted four Tlaxcalan leaders to Christianity, thus promoting the “exchange”, although the natives’ understanding of the Christian faith is debated. However, albeit all facts mentioned are true, the indigenous people’s willingness to please Cortés, and thus the several gifts they gave him — especially Moctezuma II — all came from fear, as one of Cortés’s most successful techniques to establishing his power in Mexico was fearmongering. This strategy of his, which can mostly be seen in the Massacre of Cholula, led natives to giving him gifts and treating him fairly to gain his favour and avoid being massacred. Thus, no such thing as a cultural exchange ever happened between both communities: the Spaniards imposed their own religion, massacred some indigenous settlements, enslaved thousands of their people, and eventually erased all remains of their culture, whereas the natives tried to please them with gifts which the Spaniards deemed useful, gold being the prime example and also one of the resources stolen by the conquerors after they’d imprisoned Moctezuma. While the Spaniards did bring some advancements, especially within technology, which was much more advanced in Europe than it was in America at the time, and Moctezuma and Cortés developed a friendship during Cortés’s stay at Tenochtitlan (during which the Aztec emperor was allegedly captive) and, according to some accounts, taught each other how to use European weapons and play Aztec games, perhaps the term “cultural exchange” ought not to be used to describe the overall situation, especially considering that this certain situation lasted about six months only.
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Conclusion
Unsurprisingly, a big part of the indigenous population wasn’t happy with the Spaniards’ stay in their land, despite the emperor’s initial friendship with them. For the first few months, no direct violence arose, but the newfound instability in the Aztec Empire that was caused by diverging views on the settlers resulted on political conflicts within the Empire. The violent Aztec resistance started on mid-May 1520, after Cortés’s men had slaughtered unarmed priests in Tenochtitlan. Aztecs therefore launched a counterattack, marking the beginning of the war which would end with the fall of the Aztec Empire the following year. Despite this, they were successful at first, keeping the Spaniards trapped under siege for over a month, and, when reinforcements arrived, the Aztecs laid a trap on them: they let them in, only to slaughter them off. Spaniard conquerors and their Tlaxcalan allies managed to escape, but not without having lost about a thousand men each, on what is known as “La Noche Triste” (the Tragic Night), although they managed to kill Moctezuma.
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Conclusion
Aztec resistance became harder from that moment on. Spaniards were winning the battles, or at least reaching a tie, given that both sides suffered great losses. Furthermore, they had been slaughtering several tribes and conquering important cities within the lands of the Empire. Moreover, Spanish men brought smallpox with them, which affected not only Tenochtitlan but also most civilisations of the area, including those who were allies with Spain. Eventually, the disease claimed the lives of half of Tenochtitlan’s population, amongst which was Moctezuma’s successor, his brother Cuitlahuac. Despite all this, Aztecs were still resisting as they could, but the fact that the Spaniards had allied with several other civilisations who helped plan the extension of Spanish rule was a huge disadvantage for them. Tenochtitlan eventually fell to Spanish conquerors in August 1521, although violence didn’t end then and continued for decades, with the Spaniards murdering and torturing natives and destroying the culture. The remaining Aztecs eventually had to adapt to Spanish rule. Survival for indigenous people in what was then called New Spain was tough — those who had been part of the nobility pre-conquest still enjoyed some privileges, but many natives were enslaved, and the colonisers lived off their labour until the 1550s. Furthermore, the Aztec education system was replaced by a very limited Christian education, limiting the knowledge of indigenous people and erasing Aztec culture, as well as their pre-Christian traditions. However, resistance to Spanish rule was always present, which eventually resulted in Mexican independence in the early 19th century.
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Conclusion
Question VII: Divergent perspectives
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Conclusion
Government Structures, Laws, and Social Hierarchies
Before the conquest, the Aztec Empire had a centralized government headed by the tlatoani, with a clear social hierarchy (nobles, warriors, priests, merchants, and peasants). After the conquest, the Spanish imposed the colonial system, governed by the King of Spain through the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Spanish laws, Catholicism, and a new social hierarchy based on ethnic origin (peninsulares, Creoles, mestizos, indigenous people, and Africans) were introduced.
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Conclusion
Treatment of Indigenous Peoples and Enslaved Populations
The Aztecs dominated other indigenous peoples through tribute and warfare, but they did not seek to eliminate their cultures. In contrast, the Spanish subjugated indigenous peoples through violence, epidemics, and systems like the encomienda, which forced their labour. They also brought enslaved Africans, expanding labour and racial exploitation within the colonial empire.
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Conclusion
Continuities and Changes Across Empires
One continuity was the use of military control and the collection of tribute to maintain power. However, there were significant changes: the Spanish profoundly transformed religion, the economy, and social organization, integrating Mexico into a global empire and replacing indigenous structures with a European colonial system.
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Conclusion
Question VIII: Long-term consequences
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Conclusion
Spain’s colonisation of Mexico had many consequences, many of which still have an effect on the country today. While some can be seen as more “positive”, like the introduction of Catholicism, which eventually led to Mexican independence (since many of Mexico’s revolutionary leaders were Catholic priests), those that matter most today are related to the inequality still suffered by indigenous communities.
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Conclusion
After the Spanish had conquered Mexico, they implemented a caste system which organized social classes based on race: Europe-born Spaniards were, of course, at the top of the pyramid, whereas indigenous Mexicans were almost at the bottom, with only African slaves beneath them. This led to a long-lasting racism in the country which can still be seen today. Spaniards colonisers at first, and then Mexican revolutionary leaders, believed that the best way to end the inequality suffered by the indigenous people was to terminate their race through the process called “mestizaje”, which consisted on marrying indigenous women to white Spaniards in order to make their descendants’ skins as white as possible, a belief rooted in racism which unfortunately succeeded, as “mestizos” (half-white, half-indigenous Mexicans) now make up most of Mexico’s population. The indigenous people that remained and didn’t marry white colonisers were thus segregated and marginalized to “pueblos de indios”, small communities exclusive to the indigenous population which were established to separate them from the colonisers and their descendants. These “pueblos” were often looked down upon by wealthier citizens, and suffered from major inequalities, having little and weak infrastructure and barely any public services. The situation still goes on today, with the quality of the services in the “pueblos” that remain being far worse than that of cities.
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Conclusion
Nowadays, 70% percent of Mexico’s indigenous population lives in poverty, and 1 in every 4 indigenous citizens faces extreme poverty, a situation which is even worse for indigenous women, with about 80% living in poverty. Furthermore, 47% of indigenous Mexicans are behind on their education, as many children don’t attend school, and those who do attend often receive poor education and drop out as teenagers to find work to sustain the family; it has also been proved by a study conducted by CONEVAL that the illiteracy rates in the indigenous community is eleven times higher than those of non-indigenous communities. Moreover, 43% of people who speak an indigenous language have low-paying, manual jobs, and indigenous people often get less job opportunities than their white or "mestizo" counterparts with the same level of education because of racial discrimination. All this is a direct result of the racism implemented by the Spaniards’ caste system, which clearly still affects the indigenous population of Mexico today. This consequence of colonisation was completely unethical, as it strips the native population of Mexico, the first to ever live there, from their basic human rights, and it’s crucial for modern-day societies and governments (especially those of Mexico and Spain) to address these injustices and the role Spanish colonisation played in causing them in order to come up with reasonable, doable solutions for them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Age of Discovery was a crucial period of history, and Hernán Cortés’s conquest of Mexico added to the historical significance the period holds. Although it was caused by several different reasons, and influenced by diverging situations across Europe, the conquest of Mexico proved to be very important for Spain, although it wasn’t as valuable for the indigenous population of the area, who saw their temples destroyed and their culture erased, and still suffer from the consequences today. Understanding the history of our ancestors, their actions and the consequences said actions had is vital for avoiding repeating history and for being able to live together in an empathetic, collaborative society where every culture is respected and celebrated.
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Bibliography
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- E. Hernández-Medina, et al. “The Impacts of Spanish Colonialism on the Socioeconomic Status of the Indigenous Community in Mexico.” Claremont.edu, Pressbooks, 2023, pressbooks.claremont.edu/id001po12/chapter/vivis-chapter/.
Cortes is remembered like one of the most important conquerors of the European conquest of America. With a force of only 600 men, he conquered one of the most sophisticated empires of America by tricking the emperor of the empire a move that was key for the conquer, by that move he avoided a bloodbath that would result in the death of all of his men because the Aztec army was more powerful than the Spanish one. That’s one reason of why he became one of the most memorable conquerors of all time.
Another reason why he has been remembered is the famous moment of the burning of the ships. A burning that never actually happened. Cortés often turned necessity into a virtue, and in 1519, when he reached the coast of Veracruz to begin the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the ships he had sailed from Cuba with were in such poor condition that only three of the ten that had set sail could be salvaged for future voyages. Cortés then made the decision to scrap them, thus closing off any possibility of return for those who did not wish to continue the advance toward Mexico or who felt legally bound to the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez, whom Cortés had disobeyed by departing without his permission.
The imperialism and the colonialism of Spain possibly will destroy all the culture of the indigenous tribes. Hernan Cortes conquered Mexico by killing and robbing lots of innocent people. This conquest changed the life of those who lived in the Aztec empire. Following the conquest of Tenochtitlan, expeditions were launched north and south of Mesoamerica with two primary objectives: the search for precious metals (gold and silver) and evangelization. The colonization of the western region began when Cortés dispatched Cristóbal de Olid to Tzintzuntzan (Michoacán). Simultaneously, Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán explored present-day Jalisco and Zacatecas, founding Guadalajara in 1530, with a permanent relocation occurring in 1542. Between 1534 and 1548, silver deposits were discovered in areas now known as Taxco (Guerrero), Zacatecas, and Guanajuato. This led to the establishment of presidios, defensive outposts near mines to protect against nomadic groups, and missions, which were crucial for northern colonization. Friars attempted to evangelize nomadic groups in these northern territories, but the process was slow and not uniformly successful. Meanwhile, Pedro de Alvarado led an expedition southward in pursuit of precious metals, demanding them from the Maya.
Cortes faced numerous challenges to conquer the Aztec Empire, for this he made alliances with other tribes that lived in Mexico and were tired of make the things that the Aztec empire said. One moment that was key for the conquest was the capture of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II. The capture of Moctezuma II gave Cortes the control of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan without immediate bloodbath. This audacious move destabilized the Aztec leadership and gave Cortes a significant strategic advantage. However, the situation soon escalated into violence, leading to a series of battles that culminated in the eventual siege and fall of Tenochtitlán in 1521.
Hernán Cortes de Monroy was born in 1485 Medellin (Badajoz) and died the 2 of December 1547 in Castilla de la Cuesta (Sevilla). He was 1st Marquis of the valley of Oaxaca. Was a Spanish conquistador, military commander, explorer, captain general and writer who led an expedition that caused the conquest of the Aztec Empire. One of the most notable achievements of Hernan Cortes was causing the fall of the Aztec empire, one of the most sophisticated empires in America. Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico in 1519 with a small force of only 600 men.
The Age of Discovery in the Early Modern Age
iker cisneros
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Transcript
Age of Discovery in the Early Modern Age
Iker Cisneros, Alaitz Conde, Ion Perez
Start
Introduction
The history of our world and of the modern-day nations that compose it is littered with explorations, either for knowledge, wealth or power. Although several of these explorations did not succeed, those that did reshaped the world into what it is now, giving European kingdoms power and land while oppressing the indigenous communities of the places they claimed for themselves. The most prominent of these took place in the 16th and 17th centuries and were undertaken by several explorers whose names went down in history. One of these explorers was Hernán Cortés, who, in the early 16th century, was responsible for Spain’s conquest of the Aztec Empire in Mexico. His exploration was a watershed moment in the history of Spain, Mexico and the colonisation of America, and understanding it, its causes and its consequences is crucial to fully comprehend the Age of Discovery.
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Maps
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How was Hernán Cortés considered…
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...by the Mexica (Aztecs)?
At first, the perception was ambiguous and bewildered: some Mexica nobles saw Cortés and the Spaniards as powerful and dangerous beings because of their technology (weapons, horses, steel). There is the famous myth that Moctezuma thought Cortés was Quetzalcoatl, but today many historians believe that this was a later interpretation, reinforced by Spanish chroniclers to justify the conquest. Very soon, the view changed: Cortés was clearly seen as a violent invader, responsible for massacres, the desecration of temples, and the collapse of Tenochtitlan. For the Mexica who survived the conquest, Cortés remained a symbol of destruction, betrayal, and the loss of the indigenous world.
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...by other indigenous peoples?
Peoples like the Tlaxcalans saw Cortés as a useful ally against the Mexica, who dominated them and demanded tribute and prisoners for sacrifices. For them, Cortés was not a saviour, but rather a strategic tool for liberation from Mexica power. Over time, many of these allies also realized that Spanish rule was not freedom, but another form of subjugation.
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...after the Conquest?
In the indigenous collective memory, Cortés remained a feared and hated figure, associated with disease, slavery, and the loss of land. In Spanish and Creole tradition, he was exalted as a hero and conqueror. In modern Mexican history, he is often seen as primarily responsible for the beginning of colonialism, although it is also acknowledged that the conquest was made possible by indigenous alliances.
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Question I: Understanding historical context
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Although exploration and travel to different continents, especially Asia, wasn’t unusual in the late Middle Ages and early Modern Age, the period known as “the Age of Discovery” was crucial in history, as it was the moment when Europeans first established colonies overseas, especially in the newly discovered continent of America. Even though it began in the late 15th century, the Age of Discovery developed fully in the 16th and 17th centuries, with most colonizers being Spanish, Portuguese, French, English or Dutch. This period of time is considered by many to be the beginning of globalisation, and its importance is reflected in the social and economic impact it had worldwide and in the knowledge and scientific developments it provided to Europeans.
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Upon studying the travels of European explorers, the colonisation they carried out, and the effects said colonisation had on the indigenous people of their destinations, one question inevitably arises — was European colonisation unavoidable? Despite the initial serendipity of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America in 1492, the eventual docking of European ships all the way across the Atlantic was pretty much inevitable. In fact, the Norse had explored and settled in North America for a short period of time about 500 years before Columbus’s exploration. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it was usual for European traders and merchants, as well as explorers, to undertake journeys to Eastern territories, both to trade with goods unavailable in Europe — such as spices — and to explore the unknown world, a very popular concept within Humanists. The need for new trading routes was what eventually led to the discovery of America, a situation which, as previously stated, was inevitable, especially considering the sociopolitical and religious situation in Europe and Asia at the time — the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, for example, blocked the traditional spice trading route, so Europeans had to look for new ones. European Christians’ religious rivalry with Islam was also partially responsible for these changes. All things considered, even if Columbus hadn’t discovered America and the Portuguese hadn’t begun exploring Africa, their eventual discoveries and explorations were inevitable and would’ve still taken place during the Early Modern Age.
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What was avoidable, however, was the colonisation of the indigenous population of America, although, when researching the religious situation in Europe at the time, the reasons behind it might make a little more sense, and it might be deemed inevitable given the historical context. It’s no secret that religion was possibly the main factor behind it. Christians believed it was their responsibility to spread the Gospel, and, upon meeting natives with different religious beliefs, they felt obligated to convert them to Christianity — in fact, pope Alexander VI’s papal bull Inter caetera, issued in 1493, dictated that all indigenous people from Spanish-claimed territories in the New World must be converted to Catholicism, and this is exactly what Christian colonisers did to the indigenous people of America. Furthermore, these lands often had resources unavailable in European soil, which monarchs and rulers often deemed necessary to establish their dominance and power. Gold, for example, was one of the main goods Europeans sought for themselves, as, after Christopher Columbus had informed them of the material’s presence in America, they believed natives weren’t worthy of it. In their eyes, it was a necessity to colonise the indigenous peoples, so, considering their mindset, we could say the colonisation was inevitable, despite the initial finding of America being accidental.
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When it comes to Spain’s conquest of what is today Mexico, led by Hernán Cortés, was, at its core, an example of the previously mentioned religious reasons for colonisation, very similar to the previous expulsion of Muslims and Jews from the kingdom, although economic factors also played a crucial role, especially in the look for gold, as did the monarchs’ wishes for more power compared to other European nations which had also begun to settle in the New World. The Catholic Monarchs, responsible for the full Christianization of the Iberian Peninsula, were set on converting native Americans too, as they believed it to be their obligation. In fact, Cortés and his men allegedly saw St James leading them to victory, using religion to justify their actions once more. So, considering the mindset of Spaniards of the time and their rulers, it’s not surprising that they conquered and colonised modern-day Mexico and forced the indigenous tribes into conversion. This is by no means a justification for colonisation but an insight on the hypocritical and corrupted state of the Christian religion at the time, the beliefs held by the followers of and encouraged by the leaders of which made the destroying of ancient civilisations and cultures and the colonising of its people, to a certain extent, inevitable.
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Question II: Exploring European motivations
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European countries developed a very big motivation due to the discovery of America, a very big part of the population thinks that they developed this motivation only for the territory and the economy of their countries, but that isn’t very true. Yes, it was mostly because of the growing economy of the European countries: Spain, like other European countries, expanded their influence amongst Asia, and, in a travel to India, they discovered America, and in that same century, the fifteenth, they introduced America to the world markets. That was the main reason but, at the same time, other types of reasons like political and religious reasons influenced their decisions.
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Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conqueror of the Aztec Empire, had a special focus on them. And his motivations were multifaced, primary driven by the pursuit of wealth, power and glory. That focus on the Aztec Empire, made his expedition to explore the zone, into a colonization war unfollowing the rules that their governor put. That was risky, but they conquered the Empire by getting their lands. But at the same time, the native people got angry with him and that made many people disagree with the country, and that in the future, will affect the independence of Mexico.
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Their motivations were not the same as the actual outcomes because they wanted to do exploration and they colonized the Empire. And their motivations after they conquered the territory were not as good as they thought they would be. After a long time with the help of other things Mexico got the independence. A very good point is that now they earned and they took all the gold from that part, but they also used it badly and then they lost it. Many European explorers were motivated by a desire to spread Christianity. The Catholic Church played a significant role in encouraging exploration, often providing missionaries to accompany explorers. In exchange for territorial control, European powers would often be tasked with converting indigenous populations to Christianity, a practice that led to the spread of European religious and cultural values across the globe.
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Some contradictions of this conquest were that the Aztec people had their own culture, and Hernán Cortés said that, if they converted to Christianity, he would be their friend; if they did not, there would be consequences. As the Catholic Monarchs ruled the country, they wanted to unify all their territories by converting all of them to Christians. And at the same time, many people started travelling from the Iberian Peninsula to this colonies, and this also affected the Spanish economy.
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Question III: Competition among powers
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The fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521 was not solely the work of 800 Spaniards led by Hernán Cortés, but rather a complex military campaign involving thousands of indigenous allies who sought to overthrow the Aztec Empire. Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, speaking at a conference series, highlighted that Cortés implemented a strategic plan to overcome the Mexica resistance. A key tactic involved cutting off the fresh water supply to Tenochtitlan by disabling the aqueduct from Chapultepec, a move Cortés described as a "great stratagem." The Spanish forces were divided into three main groups, supported by the deployment of brigantines to assault the lake-bound cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco. Pedro de Alvarado was stationed in Tacuba with a considerable contingent of Spanish soldiers and over 25,000 allied indigenous warriors. Cristóbal de Olid was positioned in Coyoacan with a similar setup, including over 20,000 allied troops. Gonzalo de Sandoval occupied Iztapalapa with over 30,000 indigenous fighters from various allied communities. While Bernal Díaz del Castillo reported slightly different indigenous numbers, the core of Cortés' strategy relied on this massive indigenous support, totaling approximately 75,000 allied warriors alongside the 800 Spaniards. The construction and deployment of 13 brigantines were crucial, equipped with cannons and arquebuses, allowing the Spanish to effectively lay siege to the seemingly impregnable city. This naval advantage enabled them to counter the thousands of Mexica canoes, control movement on Lake Texcoco, and prevent supplies from reaching the city, both by water and through blockades on the causeways. Matos Moctezuma emphasized that the Spaniards' success was rooted in their ability to capitalize on the widespread resentment and enmity many indigenous groups harbored towards the Aztecs due to their oppressive tribute system and military expansion.
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The Aztec power structure was built on warfare and agriculture, as symbolized by the dual dedication of the Templo Mayor to Tláloc (rain god) and Huitzilopochtli (war god). Their economic might was bolstered by the constant influx of tribute from conquered territories, including exotic goods and raw materials, and the subjugation of communities that resisted led to looting, capture of women and children, and destruction of property, fostering deep-seated hatred towards the Mexicas. The notion of indigenous allies being "traitors," as popularized by Elena Garro's story "La culpa es de los tlaxcaltecas," was questioned by Matos Moctezuma, who argued that these groups were defending themselves against Aztec domination and were not inherently disloyal. He noted that allies included not only Tlaxcalans but also Huejotzincas, Texcocanos, and others whose lands were threatened by the Aztecs. The final surrender on August 13, 1521, marked a clash of different warfare philosophies: the Mexica's use of obsidian-edged weapons and their practice of capturing enemies for sacrifice versus the Spanish's lethal weaponry and their objective to eliminate opposition. The legendary exchange between Cuauhtémoc and Cortés, where the former supposedly asked to be killed, was reinterpreted by Matos Moctezuma as a request for ritual sacrifice, a crucial aspect of Mexica warrior culture. The failure to grant this request, stemming from misinterpretations through multiple languages (Nahuatl, Maya, Spanish), resulted in the ultimate cruelty from the Mexica perspective: the destruction of their city and the denial of a warrior's honorable end. The fall of Tenochtitlan was thus a consequence of strategic military innovation, crucial indigenous alliances fueled by deep-seated grievances, and a fundamental divergence in the understanding and practice of warfare.
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After the first trip to the Americas, the European powers started a battle, a race to conquer all the territory from those lands. Spain and Portugal who were the first countries that discovered the southern part of these lands, they made the Treaty of Tordesillas. This treaty decided that Portugal and Spain will divide the territory between themselves, but with other countries and conquerors coming to the Americas, new disputes of territory were created; Spain and Portugal still being good friends, good partners. But at the same time, Spain and the British had disputes at the northern part of the new world and at that time they didn’t have the best relations between them. The British and Spanish people had some troubles to decide how they were going to divide the territory, and finally Spain got the territory from Mexico after the victory of Hernán Cortés and the peninsula of Florida. Then those territories were used to form Mexico and USA. Russia had also conquered Alaska and had some problems with the British. The relations between the main conquerors, the British, Spain and Portugal, were a little bit strange. Spain and Portugal had a great friendship, but the British wanted more and the relations with them went down. Also, other European countries were mainly a little bit angry because they couldn’t get territory, or at the same time happy, with the new markets of the world.
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Question VI: Analysing global effects
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After the big discovery of the Americas, there wasn’t an instant change on the trade and the economy, but after a few months of integrating this colonies, European explorers expanded their reach, and they established new trade routes that connected Europe to previously isolated regions of the world. These sea routes facilitated the exchange of goods, culture, and ideas, and marked the beginning of a global economy. Three main trade routes were created, the Silk Road and Maritime Routes to Asia, the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Columbian Exchange.
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The Silk Road and Maritime Routes to Asia were mainly specified on the search for valuable spices. The traditional land-based Silk Road had been the primary route for trading spices and silk between Asia and Europe, but by the 15th century, this route was increasingly dominated by Ottoman Turks. This prompted European powers to look for direct maritime routes to Asia. After a successful voyage to India, the Portuguese controlled all the spices routes.
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One of the most tragic and economically significant consequences of European exploration was the establishment of the transatlantic slave trade. As European colonies in the Americas expanded, the demand for labour on plantations, particularly for crops like sugar, tobacco, and cotton, grew exponentially. This led to the forced transportation of millions of Africans to the Americas. The Atlantic slave trade became a central pillar of global commerce, with European ships transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to work in the Americas and bringing raw materials back to Europe for processing. The transatlantic slave trade devastated African societies, as millions of people were forcibly removed from their homeland. Entire communities were torn apart, and the economic and social systems of many African nations were deeply disrupted. The legacy of slavery continues to have far-reaching social and economic consequences in both Africa and the Americas.
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The voyages of Columbus and other explorers initiated the Columbian Exchange, a vast exchange of plants, animals, foods, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds. European explorers brought new crops such as wheat, barley, and sugar to the Americas, while they introduced American crops like maize, potatoes, and tomatoes to Europe. This exchange had profound effects on global agriculture, diets, and economies. The introduction of new crops and resources helped fuel the growth of European economies. The global exchange of agricultural products also created new markets for goods, leading to increased global trade. However, the Columbian Exchange also introduced diseases like smallpox to the Americas, devastating indigenous populations.
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Hernán Cortés, the explorer who defeated the Aztec Empire, started one of the most important trade markets between the Old and the New worlds, the precious metals market. On the zone that nowadays we consider Mexico, Spain got a lot of the gold that Aztecs used to use as religious figures or to make jewellery, and they started making gold ingots. That market gave Spain a lot of gold that they then lost in the two World Wars, using it badly with other countries. Also, nowadays a lot of people think that the gold from the Americas, mostly from Mexico, was stolen by Spain, and the main part of that gold was stolen by the British ships, in the 15th and the early 16th centuries.
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Conclusion
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Conclusion
Question IV: Impact on Indigenous cultures
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Conclusion
When describing the relationships between colonisers and colonised, a term often used is “cultural exchange”, which refers to the sharing of culture and traditions from both parties. However, this term is not exactly accurate to describe the situation within the colonisation of America, at least not in Hernán Cortés’s conquest of Mexico. Despite the conquerors’ belief that they were bringing culture to the natives they thought to be savages, and thus educating them, in reality no long-lasting cultural exchange took place, as, for there to be an exchange, there must be a willing giving and taking from both sides of the deal. Upon the arrival of Cortés and his men to what is now Mexico, they were greeted by the locals, who, according to the Spaniards, thought they were their gods. Gifts were exchanged when Cortés docked in Veracruz between him and representatives of Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, although it is believed that Cortés’s later display of firearms — which were unknown to the indigenous population — made them a bit weary. Cortés was later given more gifts of gold, cloth, jewellery, and other displays of Aztec riches by Moctezuma himself, a case which was similar for previous alliances he’d made with other civilisations, such as the Tlaxcalans. It is also said that he converted four Tlaxcalan leaders to Christianity, thus promoting the “exchange”, although the natives’ understanding of the Christian faith is debated. However, albeit all facts mentioned are true, the indigenous people’s willingness to please Cortés, and thus the several gifts they gave him — especially Moctezuma II — all came from fear, as one of Cortés’s most successful techniques to establishing his power in Mexico was fearmongering. This strategy of his, which can mostly be seen in the Massacre of Cholula, led natives to giving him gifts and treating him fairly to gain his favour and avoid being massacred. Thus, no such thing as a cultural exchange ever happened between both communities: the Spaniards imposed their own religion, massacred some indigenous settlements, enslaved thousands of their people, and eventually erased all remains of their culture, whereas the natives tried to please them with gifts which the Spaniards deemed useful, gold being the prime example and also one of the resources stolen by the conquerors after they’d imprisoned Moctezuma. While the Spaniards did bring some advancements, especially within technology, which was much more advanced in Europe than it was in America at the time, and Moctezuma and Cortés developed a friendship during Cortés’s stay at Tenochtitlan (during which the Aztec emperor was allegedly captive) and, according to some accounts, taught each other how to use European weapons and play Aztec games, perhaps the term “cultural exchange” ought not to be used to describe the overall situation, especially considering that this certain situation lasted about six months only.
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Conclusion
Unsurprisingly, a big part of the indigenous population wasn’t happy with the Spaniards’ stay in their land, despite the emperor’s initial friendship with them. For the first few months, no direct violence arose, but the newfound instability in the Aztec Empire that was caused by diverging views on the settlers resulted on political conflicts within the Empire. The violent Aztec resistance started on mid-May 1520, after Cortés’s men had slaughtered unarmed priests in Tenochtitlan. Aztecs therefore launched a counterattack, marking the beginning of the war which would end with the fall of the Aztec Empire the following year. Despite this, they were successful at first, keeping the Spaniards trapped under siege for over a month, and, when reinforcements arrived, the Aztecs laid a trap on them: they let them in, only to slaughter them off. Spaniard conquerors and their Tlaxcalan allies managed to escape, but not without having lost about a thousand men each, on what is known as “La Noche Triste” (the Tragic Night), although they managed to kill Moctezuma.
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Conclusion
Aztec resistance became harder from that moment on. Spaniards were winning the battles, or at least reaching a tie, given that both sides suffered great losses. Furthermore, they had been slaughtering several tribes and conquering important cities within the lands of the Empire. Moreover, Spanish men brought smallpox with them, which affected not only Tenochtitlan but also most civilisations of the area, including those who were allies with Spain. Eventually, the disease claimed the lives of half of Tenochtitlan’s population, amongst which was Moctezuma’s successor, his brother Cuitlahuac. Despite all this, Aztecs were still resisting as they could, but the fact that the Spaniards had allied with several other civilisations who helped plan the extension of Spanish rule was a huge disadvantage for them. Tenochtitlan eventually fell to Spanish conquerors in August 1521, although violence didn’t end then and continued for decades, with the Spaniards murdering and torturing natives and destroying the culture. The remaining Aztecs eventually had to adapt to Spanish rule. Survival for indigenous people in what was then called New Spain was tough — those who had been part of the nobility pre-conquest still enjoyed some privileges, but many natives were enslaved, and the colonisers lived off their labour until the 1550s. Furthermore, the Aztec education system was replaced by a very limited Christian education, limiting the knowledge of indigenous people and erasing Aztec culture, as well as their pre-Christian traditions. However, resistance to Spanish rule was always present, which eventually resulted in Mexican independence in the early 19th century.
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Conclusion
Question VII: Divergent perspectives
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Conclusion
Government Structures, Laws, and Social Hierarchies
Before the conquest, the Aztec Empire had a centralized government headed by the tlatoani, with a clear social hierarchy (nobles, warriors, priests, merchants, and peasants). After the conquest, the Spanish imposed the colonial system, governed by the King of Spain through the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Spanish laws, Catholicism, and a new social hierarchy based on ethnic origin (peninsulares, Creoles, mestizos, indigenous people, and Africans) were introduced.
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Conclusion
Treatment of Indigenous Peoples and Enslaved Populations
The Aztecs dominated other indigenous peoples through tribute and warfare, but they did not seek to eliminate their cultures. In contrast, the Spanish subjugated indigenous peoples through violence, epidemics, and systems like the encomienda, which forced their labour. They also brought enslaved Africans, expanding labour and racial exploitation within the colonial empire.
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Conclusion
Continuities and Changes Across Empires
One continuity was the use of military control and the collection of tribute to maintain power. However, there were significant changes: the Spanish profoundly transformed religion, the economy, and social organization, integrating Mexico into a global empire and replacing indigenous structures with a European colonial system.
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Conclusion
Question VIII: Long-term consequences
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Conclusion
Spain’s colonisation of Mexico had many consequences, many of which still have an effect on the country today. While some can be seen as more “positive”, like the introduction of Catholicism, which eventually led to Mexican independence (since many of Mexico’s revolutionary leaders were Catholic priests), those that matter most today are related to the inequality still suffered by indigenous communities.
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Conclusion
After the Spanish had conquered Mexico, they implemented a caste system which organized social classes based on race: Europe-born Spaniards were, of course, at the top of the pyramid, whereas indigenous Mexicans were almost at the bottom, with only African slaves beneath them. This led to a long-lasting racism in the country which can still be seen today. Spaniards colonisers at first, and then Mexican revolutionary leaders, believed that the best way to end the inequality suffered by the indigenous people was to terminate their race through the process called “mestizaje”, which consisted on marrying indigenous women to white Spaniards in order to make their descendants’ skins as white as possible, a belief rooted in racism which unfortunately succeeded, as “mestizos” (half-white, half-indigenous Mexicans) now make up most of Mexico’s population. The indigenous people that remained and didn’t marry white colonisers were thus segregated and marginalized to “pueblos de indios”, small communities exclusive to the indigenous population which were established to separate them from the colonisers and their descendants. These “pueblos” were often looked down upon by wealthier citizens, and suffered from major inequalities, having little and weak infrastructure and barely any public services. The situation still goes on today, with the quality of the services in the “pueblos” that remain being far worse than that of cities.
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Conclusion
Nowadays, 70% percent of Mexico’s indigenous population lives in poverty, and 1 in every 4 indigenous citizens faces extreme poverty, a situation which is even worse for indigenous women, with about 80% living in poverty. Furthermore, 47% of indigenous Mexicans are behind on their education, as many children don’t attend school, and those who do attend often receive poor education and drop out as teenagers to find work to sustain the family; it has also been proved by a study conducted by CONEVAL that the illiteracy rates in the indigenous community is eleven times higher than those of non-indigenous communities. Moreover, 43% of people who speak an indigenous language have low-paying, manual jobs, and indigenous people often get less job opportunities than their white or "mestizo" counterparts with the same level of education because of racial discrimination. All this is a direct result of the racism implemented by the Spaniards’ caste system, which clearly still affects the indigenous population of Mexico today. This consequence of colonisation was completely unethical, as it strips the native population of Mexico, the first to ever live there, from their basic human rights, and it’s crucial for modern-day societies and governments (especially those of Mexico and Spain) to address these injustices and the role Spanish colonisation played in causing them in order to come up with reasonable, doable solutions for them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Age of Discovery was a crucial period of history, and Hernán Cortés’s conquest of Mexico added to the historical significance the period holds. Although it was caused by several different reasons, and influenced by diverging situations across Europe, the conquest of Mexico proved to be very important for Spain, although it wasn’t as valuable for the indigenous population of the area, who saw their temples destroyed and their culture erased, and still suffer from the consequences today. Understanding the history of our ancestors, their actions and the consequences said actions had is vital for avoiding repeating history and for being able to live together in an empathetic, collaborative society where every culture is respected and celebrated.
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Bibliography
Bibliography
Cortes is remembered like one of the most important conquerors of the European conquest of America. With a force of only 600 men, he conquered one of the most sophisticated empires of America by tricking the emperor of the empire a move that was key for the conquer, by that move he avoided a bloodbath that would result in the death of all of his men because the Aztec army was more powerful than the Spanish one. That’s one reason of why he became one of the most memorable conquerors of all time.
Another reason why he has been remembered is the famous moment of the burning of the ships. A burning that never actually happened. Cortés often turned necessity into a virtue, and in 1519, when he reached the coast of Veracruz to begin the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the ships he had sailed from Cuba with were in such poor condition that only three of the ten that had set sail could be salvaged for future voyages. Cortés then made the decision to scrap them, thus closing off any possibility of return for those who did not wish to continue the advance toward Mexico or who felt legally bound to the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez, whom Cortés had disobeyed by departing without his permission.
The imperialism and the colonialism of Spain possibly will destroy all the culture of the indigenous tribes. Hernan Cortes conquered Mexico by killing and robbing lots of innocent people. This conquest changed the life of those who lived in the Aztec empire. Following the conquest of Tenochtitlan, expeditions were launched north and south of Mesoamerica with two primary objectives: the search for precious metals (gold and silver) and evangelization. The colonization of the western region began when Cortés dispatched Cristóbal de Olid to Tzintzuntzan (Michoacán). Simultaneously, Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán explored present-day Jalisco and Zacatecas, founding Guadalajara in 1530, with a permanent relocation occurring in 1542. Between 1534 and 1548, silver deposits were discovered in areas now known as Taxco (Guerrero), Zacatecas, and Guanajuato. This led to the establishment of presidios, defensive outposts near mines to protect against nomadic groups, and missions, which were crucial for northern colonization. Friars attempted to evangelize nomadic groups in these northern territories, but the process was slow and not uniformly successful. Meanwhile, Pedro de Alvarado led an expedition southward in pursuit of precious metals, demanding them from the Maya.
Cortes faced numerous challenges to conquer the Aztec Empire, for this he made alliances with other tribes that lived in Mexico and were tired of make the things that the Aztec empire said. One moment that was key for the conquest was the capture of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II. The capture of Moctezuma II gave Cortes the control of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan without immediate bloodbath. This audacious move destabilized the Aztec leadership and gave Cortes a significant strategic advantage. However, the situation soon escalated into violence, leading to a series of battles that culminated in the eventual siege and fall of Tenochtitlán in 1521.
Hernán Cortes de Monroy was born in 1485 Medellin (Badajoz) and died the 2 of December 1547 in Castilla de la Cuesta (Sevilla). He was 1st Marquis of the valley of Oaxaca. Was a Spanish conquistador, military commander, explorer, captain general and writer who led an expedition that caused the conquest of the Aztec Empire. One of the most notable achievements of Hernan Cortes was causing the fall of the Aztec empire, one of the most sophisticated empires in America. Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico in 1519 with a small force of only 600 men.