Marquis's+page


 * ==//In 1485, Hernando Cortes was born in in Medellin, Extremadura, Spain.His parents were Martin Cortes de Monroy and Catalina Pizarro Altamirano.In 1499, Hernando Cortes was attended at the University of Salamanca.In 1501,he failed at Law and left University.In 1502, Cortes heard stories about the New World and joined the expedition to the West Indies led by Nicolas de Ovando with Diego Velazquez.Hernando Cortes was commanded of a man called Quintero.In 1502, the Ovando voyage consisted of 2,500 settlers and 30 ships.The Ovando expedition reached Hispaniola and the young Hernando Cortez proved popular with his mentor Quintero and Nicholas de OvandoIn 1460-1532, Cortes proved to be an excellent soldier under the command of Spanish soldier named Diego Velazquez .In 1511, Diego Columbus, the new governor of Hispaniola resolved to conquer the island of Cuba and selected Diego Velazquez as commander of the expedition.In 1511, the expedition to Cuba consisted of four vessels with 300 men. Hernando Cortes was chosen to accompany Velazquez on the expedition.Cuba was quickly subjugated by the Spanish expedition force.In 1513,the town of Bayamo on Cuba was established.In 1514, the towns of Trinidad, Santo Espiritu, Puerto Principe, and Santiago de Cuba were foundedIn 1511, Hernando Cortes settles on the island of Cuba and becomes a rancher.On May 1, 1518, a fleet under Juan de Grijalva left Santiago de Cuba explores the coast of Mexico and sends back favorable reports to VelazquezIn 1518, Velazquez decides to explore further and chooses Hernando Cortes to captain an expedition to establish a colony in MexicoOn February 19, 1519, with a force of 600 men, and less than 20 horses Cortez sets sail for Mexico.In 1519,Hernando Cortes and his soldiers sailed to the Yucatan Penisula and march inland to Tenochtitlan.March, 1519 , Cortes lands in Mexico, and suppresses the town of Tabasco. He meets a woman called Malinche who becames his mistress, guide and interpreter.Cortes establishes the town of La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. To prevent any possibility of desertion and retreat he literally burns all of his boats.Cortes learns about the fabulous riches of the Aztec Empire and marches his troops inland to discover the land of the Aztecs.Cortes forces an alliance with the Aztec Indians of Tlaxcala and learns about their customs, culture and religion.Cortes learns of Quetzalcoatl the 'Winged God - Feather Serpent'. This Aztec legend was about a light skinned, bearded God-King of Civilisation and learning who was revered by the Aztecs as Christians revered Jesus Christ.The arrival of Cortes and his Spanish soldiers coincided perfectly with the predicted return of the God-King Quetzalcoatl.Cortes heads further inland and reaches the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs believe that Cortes could be Quetzalcoatl their light skinned, bearded God-King.On November 1519, Montezuma II, the Aztec king does not stop Cortes and his force from entering Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital which houses thousands of Aztecs.Cortes meets no resistance and establishes a headquarters inside Tenochtitlan.To maintain his position he takes Montezuma as hostage and forces him to swear allegiance to King Charles V of Spain.Meanwhile Velasquez had sent 1,400 soldiers to arrest Cortes. Hernando Cortes decides to march to the coast to do battle with the soldiers but instead he persuades them to join him.//==
 * ==//1520: Cortes is attacked by thousands of Aztec warriors on his return to Tenochtitlan. The Aztec attack was prompted by the slaughter of 600 Aztec nobles whilst Cortes was away//==
 * ==//Cortes tries to calm the Aztecs by releasing Montezuma but the Aztecs stone him to death//==
 * ==//1520: Hernando Cortes and his soldiers are forced out of Tenochtitlan//==
 * ==//1521: Hernando Cortes returns to Tenochtitlan with reinforcements//==
 * ==//1521 August 13 Plague strikes the Aztec population and Tenochtitlan falls to Cortes//==
 * ==//Hernando Cortes conquered 5 Million Aztecs with less than 1000 soldiers//==
 * ==//1528: Cortes returns to Spain and was given the title "Marques del Valle de Oaxaca."//==
 * ==//1530: Hernando Cortes returned to the New World and settles in Cuernavaca, Mexico//==
 * ==//1533: Hernando Cortes makes his final expedition and discovers Baja in California//==
 * ==//1534: Hernando Cortes explored California for a year before returning to Mexico//==
 * ==//1540: Hernando Cortes returns home to Spain for the last time//==
 * ==//1541: Spain fears the power that Hernando Cortes has in the New World - Cortes is denied any government post in Mexico and his reputation is smeared by rumours that he murdered his wife, Catalina Xuarez but he is given permission to fight against the Moors and the Pirates of Algiers//==

[[image:http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/images/hernando-cortes.jpg width="180" height="217" caption="Hernando Cortes - Spanish Explorer"]]
**__Websites that could be used for your research:__** @http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/spanish-conquistadors.htm

@http://www.pbs.org/opb/conquistadors/mexico/adventure2/a1.htm

@http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/theconquest/a/09armsconquest.htm

@http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/topics/spanish_conquest.html

@http://kids.britannica.com/

@http://encarta.msn.com/

@http://everything2.com/title/Peninsulares

@http://www.answers.com/

@http://www.about.com/

**Included below is an example of researching, cut and pasting important information, paraphrasing the information, citing the website, and posting on your wiki for your group presentation.

Mr. Martin-section 5: pp. 78-80, "Harsh Life for Native Americans." A key point that I found interesting is found on page 79 and how the priest Bartolome de Las Casas tried to intercede on behalf of the Native Americans for better conditions. I used the website:** ****http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/theconquest/a/09armsconquest.htm****

** In the search box at the top of the page, I typed in "Bartolome de Las Casas," and was given different options of researching this individual and I chose the first option. **


 * I found something very interesting in that it showed that Las Casas did more than petition the government for better conditions for the Native Americans, he actually tried to do something about. It also showed me that throughout history, there were always people who were involved with social justice even with the chance of placing themselves in great harm.

(From the website) First Experiments: Las Casas convinced Spanish authorities to allow him to try and save the few remaining Caribbean natives by taking them out of slavery and placing them in free towns, but the death of King Ferdinand in 1516 and the resulting chaos over his successor caused these reforms to be delayed. Las Casas also asked for and received a section of the Venezuelan mainland for an experiment: he believed that he could pacify the natives with religion, not weapons. Unfortunately, the region that was selected had been heavily raided by slavers, and the natives’ hostility to the Europeans was too intense to overcome.

The Verapaz Experiment:  In 1537, Las Casas wanted to try again to show that natives could be controlled peacefully and that violence and conquest were unnecessary. He was able to convince the crown to let him send missionaries to a region in north-central Guatemala where the natives had proved particularly fierce. His experiment worked, and the natives were brought under Spanish control peacefully. The experiment was called Verapaz, or “true peace,” and the region still bears the name. Unfortunately, once the region was brought under control, greedy colonists took the lands and enslaved the natives, undoing almost all of Las Casas’ work.  This is an example of my paraphrasing the above section from the website, citing my source, and how it would look on your expert group wiki:  **

A key point that I found interesting is found on page 79 and how the priest Bartolome de Las Casas tried to intercede on behalf of the Native Americans for better conditions. I found something that I found very interesting section very interesting because it showed that Bartolome did more than petition the government for better conditions for the Native Americans, he actually tried to do something about. It also showed me that throughout history, there were always people who were involved with social justice even with the chance of placing themselves in great harm.
 * Mr. Martin-section 5: pp. 78-80, "Harsh Life for Native Americans."**

Las Casas found that even with his interventions on behalf of the Native Americans, he needed to show the government that more needed to be done. He was allowed to take the remaining Caribbean natives to Venezuela to start a free town, but his first attempt failed due to slave traders and hostility from the local natives. His second attempt found him using missionaries in Guatemala to subdue the natives using peaceful means and was successful. That area of Guatemala is still called "true peace." Unfortunately, the greed of the colonists undid Las Casas work as they took native's land and enslaved many of the residents. (Retrieved on November 1, 2009 from [] )