Delayed Voyaging

April 1, 1502
Oh what miserable pain I have undertook today. I was going to be an apprentice to Christopher Columbus on his 4th voyage, but now I am not going. Today I decided to be a risk-taker and try to sneak over the wall of the girls’ boarding school to say goodbye to my dearest girlfriend. I was making great progress, and I was shrouded from being seen. However, the ledge on which I was standing collapsed under my feet. It made a big raucous and all the ladies peeked over the edge and too catch a glimpse to find out what the noise was. They saw me, under the rubble, and the girls quickly alerted the headmaster of the school. From there I had to run from the school as the headmasters chased me through the courtyard. I knew I must escape, and the walls enclosing the school were my only option. I leapt through the air onto the lattis and tried to climb up the wall. However, I missed my step and fell very awkwardly on my leg, shattering the bones. The pain went numb instantly, and I was rushed to the surgical officer. I underwent surgery immediately. It was successful, but alas I will not be able to learn from Columbus. I had looked forward to the voyage, but I had brought this upon myself. I will heal up and voyage again very soon.

Reaching the New World

March 9, 1504
Today I, Hernan Cortes has officially began my voyaging to the new world. Thanks to the money which was generously raised by my parents, my voyage to Santo Domingo, has been made possible. Led by Nicolas de Ovando, we sailed from Spain to Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo is relatively new, as Columbus discovered it 12 years earlier. My arrival in Santo Domingo was one to be remembered for a very long time. The natives welcomed me with open arms. They granted a small piece of land and I was named public notary in the town of Azua. The Dominicans have really welcomed us with good intent, but they seem to have liked my compass, and when they asked to see it, they did not return it to me. However, I like Santo Domingo and I have a feeling that we will stay here for a while

Voyage to Cuba

May 13, 1511
When Diego Velazquez asked me to join him on his voyage to Cuba, I was ecstatic. We would be sailing for the country of Spain, to conquer the island of Cuba. It started off well at first, however, things have taken a turn of worst. We have had to fight off the Native Americans, and I have been violently killing them, shedding their blood across their native soil. They have not been willing to cooperate with us, and we have been forced to take matters into our own hands. However, that is not in the best interests in our plans, we just wanted to peacefully conquer the islands. The civilians hate me, and they have thrown me in jail, due to the fact I have not married Catalina. I was publicly humiliated when I had to marry her in public, and it was a low point in my life. This voyage has not gone smoothly, but I think smoother seas are ahead.

Heading to Yucatan

September 29 1518
Word has reached me of the newfound wealth that lies in the islands west of Cuba. Whispers have reached me about this island of Yucatán, and of the treasures that it hides. Diego Velázquez, who with I traveled to Cuba on an earlier expedition, has already decided that another voyage to these islands is needed. I see no reason why he would not choose me to lead this monumental journey. The tension that once was between us has hopefully faded, and Velázquez will forgive me for my stubbornness. I believe that he may still think that I wish to overthrow him, and if that is the case, then it may jeopardize my chances of leading this voyage. I pray that he has forgiven me, for I have already begun the planning of the journey across the Atlantic to explore these islands. I have also ordered that the galleons be built, at my own expense, so I must be the one who leads this expedition to the islands.

Searching for Grijalba

July 15 1518
I have received my orders for my journey to Yucatán: We are to find Juan de Grijalba, who had followed Francisco Hernández de Córdoba to Yucatán and was presumed missing. We are also to search for Cristóbal de Olid, who has recently been reported missing after leaving to search for Juan de Grijalba. Seems kind of ironic, to send a search party to go find another search party. At least this time they choose the right man to send to find someone. I have also received word that we are being permitted to interact with the natives there and we are allowed to barter with them. My five galleons have been completed and I have assembled a small army of around 700 men to help assist me if I run into any trouble. I have also equipped my men with firearms and the galleons with cannons. I shall return with great success and I will be praised for finding the lost sailors, and Velázquez will see that I am one of the greatest sailors of this time.

Failure at Conzumel

January 2 1519
We have had to embark on our journey a tad too early, due to rumors of Velázquez attempting to replace me had reached my ears and I simply could not let that happen. We had been sailing from port to port, gathering the materials that we left without little by little. Each time we have arrived in a new town, a herald has given me the same message over and over: Santiago de Cuba has ordered that my men and I are to turn around and report back to Velázquez because Grijalba had returned. I have ignored these foolish orders, for my quest had a greater objective that finding Grijalba. I set sail on this expedition to obtain glory and riches, and then I was going to find Grijalba. Currently, we are resting in a village on the island of Cozumel, just off the coast of Yucatán. We have begun bartering with the natives, and we have begun converting everyone we can to Catholicism. Unfortunately, these natives have no gold and only little trinkets of little value. Perhaps I will have to make my fortune by selling them as slaves to other places like Yucatán.

Discovering Tobasco

March 4, 1519

I conjured a way to cover my failure of finding riches on the island of Cozumel, and it was by sailing up the River Tabasco. We landed on a beach a few days ago, met the natives who inhabited this area. We call them Tabascans, I have tried communicating with these people, but I have had no luck so far. They seem to have no understanding of Spanish and some have seemed a bit angry after my reading of the royal proclamation taking official possession of the land for the Spanish Crown. Hopefully this will please Velázquez and the Spanish Crown, since Spain is at constant war with the other European countries. They fight over these new lands, for they believe that they need to take as much as possible from other countries for free and sell them to the other countries. This will ultimately win Spain what I call “points”, and whichever country holds more lands in the new land will have more “points”. This new gain of land will please the Spanish Crown, and I shall be greatly rewarded for it. Soon, we may also engage in battle with the Tabascans, and control the land that they have power over. O yes, this will cover my earlier failure well enough for me to still obtain a tremendous amount of wealth and power.

Meeting Montezuma and capturing Tenochtitlan

November 9,1519
We have taken a huge step in our conquest by finally seizing control of Tenochtitlan After conquering Tlaxcala, we have set our sights to conguering Tenochitlan, the head city of the Aztec Empire. Along with my troops we marched into the head city and demanded to see Montezuma, head of the Aztecs. At first he and his advisors were insecure about meeting us, but after we bore him gifts, Montezuma was more than happy to meet us. When we sat down to talk to him, Montezuma told us that he was following our march to Tenochtitlan. He was following our conquest closely, and hoping we would not strike. He also professed that he had very little gold, and by the way he said it, he sounded like he was hiding something. However, we could not strike a deal with Montezuma, and Tenochtitlan still remained in Aztec control. Instead of leaving, we stayed in Tenochtitlan and tried to figure out what we could do to conquer the city. We were depleted and outnumbered by the Aztecs and could not take it by force. That was when we decided to capture Montezuma. We held him hostage in his palace and then presented him a letter from Vera Cruz. It had Aztec tax collectors being accounted for the death of Spanish soldiers. Stunned, Montezuma had no choice but to give control over the city to us. We had done it without war and practically shed no blood. Whether we hold on on to Tenochtitlan remains to be seen, but for know we control basically all the Aztec empire. Now we must convert all of the Aztec Citizens to Spanairds.

Return to Tlaxcala

June 30, 1520
Today is a very sad day for the conquest of the Aztec Empire. After we seemingly captured Tenochtitlan, or at least we thought, the Aztec citizens have banded together to drive us out. The Aztecs have become fiercer and fiercer in their attacks against us, and without Montezuma in their way, the are hungry and ready to kill us. I left Tenochtitlan to strengthen my grip hold on Mexico, and left Pedro Alvarado, one of my loyal soldiers in charge. However, the Aztecs seemed to have united under Panfilo Navarez, one of my soldiers back in the days of Cuba. Navarez was sent by Diego Velaquez in an attempt to yet again stop me, but this time it seems to be working. When I got back, I quickly ambushed his camp on May 29 and within a few hours my army and I conquered Navarez and all of his men. I was pleased at this, but less pleased when I found out about how Tenochtitlan was. Alvarado was not ready at all for the job and during the time I was gone, he lost on hold on Tenochtitlan and the Aztecs re-conquered it. The Aztecs ambushed Pedro and burned the Spanish Palace. I then ordered Montezuma to demand calm to the city, but the disorderly Aztecs threw a rock at his head, and now Montezuma is injured and infected, and his caretakers are unwilling to tend to him. In vain. I tried to conquer a bridge to lead us to Tenochtitla, but the Aztec forces were there to defend their frontload. We are now in short supply. These battles have taken quite a toll on our soldiers. We will march back to Tlaxcala, and strengthen up our troops. I will not rest until Tenochtitlan is in Spanish hands.

Fall of the Aztecs

August 31, 1521
It has finally happened! I with the help of my troops have finally conquered all of the Aztec Empire and claimed the land for Spain. After a year of preparation back in Tlaxcala, we entered Tenochtitlan on April 18 with reinforcements and new ships thanks to the work of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. Cuahetomic, who had taken over for Montezuma who died from his wounds from the rock pelted at him, stood strong and would not give up. I broke my army up into 4 regions so that we could weaken the already depleted Aztec forces. Pedro de Alvarado went to the shores of Tacuba, Christobal de Olid went to shore up Coyoacin, and Gonzalo de Sandoval went to attack the bridge, which connected Coyoacin to Tenochtitlin. I took the 4th region and had control over the brigantines. Within a few days we had cut off the Aztecs water supply. For the next few months we succeeded in blocking the city, but the Aztecs were still feisty and would kill many of our warriors. However, today we landed a full out assault on them. We attacked on all sides on the city and shed so much Aztec blood, a far cry from when we first conquered Tenochtitlan by the letter which had the Aztec tax collectors killing our soldiers. Our force simply just overpowered the Aztecs, and by the time it was over Tenochtitlan was left in ruins. Buildings became rubble; thousands of corpses lay in the streets, a sure sign of victory. I have finally conquered my goal of conquering the Aztec Empire. It was not easy, I had resistance from not only the Aztecs but also Diego Velaquez, who on numerous accounts tried to ruin my voyage. However, this will go down in history for Spain. A Spanish conquistador named Hernan Cortes has conquered the Aztecs

Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Baker, Daniel (Ed.). (1993). Explorers and discoverers of the world. Detroit: Gale Research.

"Cortés, Hernán (1484-1547)." DISCovering Biography. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Discovering Collection. Gale. Ridgewood High School - NJ. 26 May. 2008 .

"Cortés Leads Spain Against the Aztecs, February, 1519-August 13, 1521." DISCovering World History. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Discovering Collection. Gale. Ridgewood High School - NJ. 26 May. 2008 .

de Las Casas , Bartolome (1542). Brief Account o the Devestation of the Indies. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from /www.isidore-of-seville.com/ Web site: http://academic.udayton.edu/bradhume/hst103/hst103common.htm

Halsall, Paul (1997). A Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from www.fordham.edu Web site: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/aztecs1.html

Hernan Cortes. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from www.mariner.org Web site: http://www.mariner.org/exploration/index.php?type=explorer&id=34

Hernan Cortes . Retrieved May 26, 2008, from library.thinkquest.org Web site: http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/cortes.html

Klos , Stanley (2000). Hernan Cortes. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from virtualology.com Web site: http://virtualology.com/hallofexplorers/HERNANDOCORTES.COM/

Marrin, Albert (1986). Aztecs and Spainairds: Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico. New York: Atheneum.

Morris , Bayard (1969). Five Letters of Cortes to the Emporer's . New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

"Native Chronicle of the Conquest, c. 1519." DISCovering U.S. History. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Discovering Collection. Gale. Ridgewood High School - NJ. 26 May. 2008 .

Portilla, Miguel Leon (1962). An Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from /www.isidore-of-seville.com/ Web site: http://academic.udayton.edu/bradhume/hst103/hst103common.htm

Thatcher, Oliver (1907). Hernan Cortes:Exerpt from Second Letter to Charles V. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from /www.isidore-of-seville.com/ Web site: http://academic.udayton.edu/bradhume/hst103/hst103common.htm

Townsend, Camilla. "Cortés, Hernán." World Book Online Reference Center. 2008. [Place of access.] 27 May 2008 .

Waldman, Carl, and Alan Wexler. "Cortés, Hernán." Encyclopedia of Exploration: The Explorers, volume 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE53&iPin=EEXI247&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 26, 2008).

Wood, Michael (2001). PBS: Conquistadors: Cortes. Retrieved May 26, 2008, from www.pbs.org Web site: http://www.pbs.org/conquistador