Born in Medellin, Estremadura, Spain. Hernando Cortes went to college. After a while he quite and went to look for adventure. Adventure he found in 1504 when he and Diego Velasquez conquered Cuba. Velasquez sent Cortez and 600 men to find a land he had heard of that was full of riches in Mexico. He reached the mainland and founded a city named Veracruz. Indians opposing the Aztecs told Cortes of the Aztec capital, full of riches, in Tenochtitlan now known as Mexico City. The Aztecs saw them as white gods with their horses, cannons, and ships. they showered Cortes with riches but it wasn’t enough so he kidnapped the Aztec ruler Montezuma and controlled the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs tried to fight back but the tribes that the Aztecs had controlled for years where on Cortes’ side and they out numbered the Aztecs. In that same year of 1521 Mexico became a Spanish colony.For his achievement the king of Spain appointed Cortes the governor of Mexico. In 1536 Cortes went on to discover the southern tip of California. Cortes’ selfishness cost him his position. He returned to Spain to find that everyone hated him. He died coldly with no friends in 1547.
