Cortes' Conquest of the Aztecs

           Many years before Mexico was a country, it was a large piece of land, with many tribal, ancient civilizations living on it. The area that is now known as Mexico has been home to many different civilizations. One of the first known civilizations to have lived there were the Aztecs. Not much is known about the Aztecs, they were tribal people, who were very good architects. Shortly after the discovery of the “New World”, Spain, sent many military leaders over to the newly found continent, their main mission was to explore it, and claim it under the name of Spain. These men were called Conquistadors. One of the most famous conquistadors, and the one who captured Mexico, was Hernan Cortes.

Hernan was the one in charge of exploring the Mexico area. He set up a camp in Santiago, Cuba. When he learned that there were Aztecs living in Mexico, he had to plan an attack. He traveled down the coast of Cuba, and eventually, crossed the Yucatan strait. From there he traveled around the Yucatan peninsula, and to the city of San Juan de Ulua, attacking many cities along the way like Cozumel, Campeche, and Photochan. After he headed for the Capital city of Tenochtitlan, on the way, he made stops at the cities of Zempoala, Quihuiztlan, and Villa Rica. At the Capital, he killed the Aztec leader, Montezuma, and essentially, wiped out all of the Aztec empire. He then claimed Mexico for Spain, while the other Conquistadors captured the rest of South America. This was the first of the Conquest’s made in Mexico, and led to more, many years down the line.¹