Chapter One: The Birth of a Nation
The newly explored region of Mexico was one of the most important regions the Spanish would ever face. Here lied the Aztec Empire, the current rulers of the region, whom had much Gold and wealth to rule with. However, with constant exploration, the Aztecs were, in a series of "domino" effects, spreading the smallpox disease from tribe to tribe, slowly being eradicated and weakened for the inevitable, since the coast was heavily explored before the interior.
Hernan Cortés was given orders from Governor Velásquez of Cuba and Charles V, the new King of Spain (and the Holy Roman Emperor), to lead a grand expedition to explore some fabled areas of wealth, to conquer them too. Velásquez didn't want this, however. He wanted this to only be a purely exploration-only mission to the interior, not conquest as well. It was a bit of an issue too, since Charles V only loosely said "Explore the interior of this land, and with it, bring back goods and greatness for Spain". Cortés interpreted this as a conquest first, with Velásquez thinking it was to at least establish trade with the natives, coming back to Cuba with what trading resources the mainland natives had. Cortés set off for his exploration with what some total 750 people approximately, consisting of soldiers, sailors, doctors, women, explorers, translators, and even some Native American and African slaves on the 27th of March, 1524.
Before the men (and women) were sent off, departing from Havana, Velásquez had second thoughts about the expedition. What was he, a puny governor of Cuba? Sure, it was a big island, the biggest colony of them all. He thought long and hard, and it was the night before that he thought: If Cortés did in fact conquer this Mexico, he would have not only fame, but so much fortune as well. Velásquez, having disputes about the type of mission this was with Cortés not too long ago, had enough. On the morning of the mission, Velásquez pulled out, and ordered Cortés not to set sail, or fear being arrested by the Spanish Monarchy. Cortés, not thinking anything of this, and being angered by Velásquez, set sail, allegedly cursing Velásquez's name in the sky, and shouting positive chants for the monarchy of Spain. Pissed off, Velásquez immediately sent one of his messengers to Spain, where he told the messenger to inform King Charles of "Cortés' Treason", and to await further orders from His Majesty.
Meanwhile (days later), Cortés was already learning of the culture and recent history of inland Yucatan. His translators told Cortés that the Aztec Empire is a bloodthirsty, pagan state, having many cities and nations as tributaries, with their recent expansion becoming a major problem for the locals. Meeting with these different entities, such as Tlaxcala and Oaxaca, gave Cortés an idea. This plan was to get the nearby city-states to revolt against these Aztecs, and then for Cortez to secure the prize and conquer them. This idea was highlighted further when the natives told his translators that the Aztecs were a people whose city was supposedly made out of pure gold. This was high enough of morale for him and his troops.
The Aztecs were foretold, first by omens, then by actual peoples, of incoming invaders. Emperor Montezuma was prepared for them, or rather, preparing. He told his loyal cities to ambush the Spanish when they were on they're way to them. He didn't hear back from them ever, which to Montezuma was a bad sign. Either they were lying and didn't do anything, even treason the Aztecs, or they attempted to kill them but the Spanish got to them. Montezuma had his troops extra prepared and organized for the following days, whenever they might arrive at His palace.
A sacrifice was in order, Montezuma thought.
Velásquez eventually saw his messenger's ship return from Spain. What the messenger told Velásquez totally threw him off-balance, becoming almost angry at the King. Why did Cortés get to have all of that? What if Cortés became the Governor of... this land? What if he was successful?
Then it hit Velásquez. What
if he was
successful? What if he was
not successful? Velásquez kept thinking to himself.
Who knows, Cortés could have died by now! Nobody knows what possible horrors lie in the interior regions. Maybe they have all died out by now, or at least... maybe they'll start to.
* Hernan Cortés, one of his last paintings as a conquistador, circa. 1520
Cortés pushed and pushed onwards, for the glory of Spain. All that gold meant a lot to him. No more the life of a lowly explorer, not juts him, but almost everyone thought. At the moment, them and their 400 or so Tlaxcalan allies were sneaking up to Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs that the Tlaxcala were speaking of. Already, they've lost 255 soldiers (Spanish and Tlaxcalan combined) and 11 sailors to random ambushes from pro-Aztec cities. But they were here now, ready to disarm the Empire of the Aztecs. It was becoming morning, with the sun rising on Cortés's side. He knew that this would be his domain. The Tlaxcalans were told by their military leader to hide deep within the forest surrounding Tenochtitlan, only to come out if their Spanish allies were in trouble.
The Aztecs could do nothing more now than to just prayer. They prayed for the Gods to help them, as always. Montezuma himself, although would never show it, was even a little fearful himself, as his priests had no idea how this would end for the Aztecs. It scared him because his priests always had an answer, always had a why and how. Not today though. Montezuma and his citizens could only wait a possible onslaught. Some scouts were reported earlier that day to get some more men from Tlaxcala.
It turned out that the Gods possibly saved the Aztecs from disaster. Everyone was shouting, claiming that the Gods came from above to aid them. Montezuma was in disbelief. How could they come to help the Aztecs, when the sacrifice was delayed! He got rid of that thought, however, when he did, in fact, see Them hovering around the village. Ecstatic, he ran down to give his regards to Them, hoping to learn the secrets to get rid of the invaders from across the ocean. After discovering being noticed, the Gods started to walk towards the Aztecs. Montezuma, not knowing what to do, gave a bowing gesture to the Gods. They began to speak, but in their language, not Nahuatl. Montezuma had no idea what to do, for once, as the leader of the great warrior nation of the Aztec Empire.
Cortés believed he was facing Montezuma, after all, who else would greet him? Unless it was a person representing Montezuma. Eventually, Cortés was greeted by people who pointed out a building. Via an Aztec who spoke the Tlaxcala language, and then to the Spanish translator, Cortés was informed that it would be their area of residence. Before anything else, Cortés demanded to see the gold that everyone was raving about. A lot of gold was brought out to Cortés, his eyes bulging out. Necklaces, bracelets, ingots, bars, small statues and monuments, and all sorts of jewellery, were brought out to him, being neatly placed out in front. Cortés, trying to keep his attitude at bay and make sure he placed his greedy side away for now, asked Montezuma that he be vassalized and recognized that he be under the Lordship of Charles V of Spain. Montezuma, either not knowing what a Charles V was, thinking it was nothing, or believing it was the leader of the Gods, reluctantly agreed.
Velásquez was watching his personal plantation workers in the field when a ship was docking in the harbour in Havana. On it was a second messenger, who claims that King Charles V had changed his mind. A letter from Charles claims that the economic implications of having another colony would, right now, trigger bankruptcy for Spain, at the worst. With exactly 1,000 soldiers (minus two from scurvy-related deaths), Velásquez was ordered to tell the men where Cortés went, and for them to execute him for treason. With a smile on his face, Velasquez went to work immediately.
A few days were spent in the Aztec capital, with Cortés thinking of plans on how to get the gold back to Iberia. It was of the sad news, that an Aztec revolt occurred, against the addition of a cross and removal of a Quetzalcoatl statue, that got Cortez attention. Four Spaniards were killed, and two more were injured. Cortez, furious, went to Montezuma's palace and kidnapped him and held him hostage, holding him up for treason to Charles V. He demanded that more and more gold were given to him, to make him change his mind. Gold was given, and Montezuma was not in return, making the Aztecs even more weary of the "Gods".
From Tlaxcalan scouts, Cortés learned that a second party of Spaniards were in the Yucatan, making their way to Tenochtitlan. Apparently there was a massacre in a town very close to Tlaxcala, with the men demanding where Cortés was. Concerned that Velásquez had something to do with this, Cortés told 300 of his Tlaxcalan allies and 500 of his Spanish allies to go subdue this attack force, that surprise attacks would work well against them, with the conquistadores having the advantage of knowing the environment, and native allies, with them. Cortés wished them well, and the priest blessed them all once more before they went on their ways.
* Royal painting of Cortez and Montezuma meeting for the first time, circa. 1525
Religious conversions were attempted ever since the Yucatan was discovered in 1523. It was successful at first, with more than the majority of a town converting, although most scholars expect this was due to the presence of men with advanced weaponry and guns. It was much harder to convert the Aztecs, especially since many of whom believed still that Cortés and his men were Gods, although getting skeptical about it. The Tlaxcala were open to Christianity, with primitive propaganda-like stories saying that Christianity taught to be anti-Aztec, and lead the Spanish to be great allies with Tlaxcala, which further lead the Tlaxcalan war machine.
Cortés, counting how many times he counted how much gold he had, finally saw an army march towards Tenochtitlan. It was a Spaniard army. With horror that it could be Velásquez, it wasn't, and it was his original army, although smaller than before. What was said to Cortés about the fight was that indeed, Velásquez sent the troops. What was more surprising, however, was that the invaders had Imperial clothing attire to them; they were a part of Charles' V personal troops. Cortés, initially confused, finally put the puzzle piece together. He knew know that Velásquez must've tarnished Cortés' name to the King, prompting him to commit treason. Scared on the inside, he tried to figure out a way around this. It seemed that this journey was no longer for the court of Spain, but rather, for himself and his troops. He knew that Charles, and even Velásquez, would attempt to squish Cortés many times over. He would be executed, especially now that several hundred Spaniards lay dead in a whole different part of the world that Charles V was foreign to. Cortés, however, became quite cunning and even a better battle expert than from before, and thought of a devious plan in case this did happen, which it would. Cortés just wondered how long until it did.
He needed to formulate a plan, fast. As he no longer respected the King of Spain, he rallied up his allies and all anti-Aztec cities, and he ordered all to sneak up on the city. On the night of November 11th, 1525, the Siege of Tenochtitlan had begun. The 1,400 or so Tlaxcalan allies lead the Native Americans to kill Tenochtitlan's citizens who resisted against Cortés. Some actually welcomed the Tlaxcalans, mainly out of not wanting to die. These numbers were very few, and most people perished. However, a city of seemingly millions of people would be hard to kill. The Spaniards, unknowingly possibly, scared a lot of citizens away to their death in the wild by using cannons, which shot and destroyed many buildings. Montezuma escaped in the process, retreating to the depths of the forest. Unfortunately, he was never heard of again. The siege lasted for two whole days, and with the citizens of Tenochtitlan either dead or scared away, Cortés could finally rest for a second, conquering the Aztecs, and Cortés declared himself ruler of Mexico, which he established a day later. Tenochtitlan's name was kept in honour of the Tlaxcalan allies, who still said that Tenochtitlan's name was of importance to them. Mexico City, however, was allowed to be the official European and documentation name.
Cortés knew, that if he hadn't gotten rid of the Aztecs now, that he would never have, especially with the Spanish coming for him. He had a meeting with his translator, best soldier, military strategist, and the Tlaxcalan leader Xicotencatl the Younger (was heir, until Father died during Imperial Massacre) about possible secession from Spain. Cortés was dead serious about it, but needed to make sure he had support from those who would easily assist him. He had die hard loyalists, and he needed to make a speech to win over the hearts of his soldiers. He convinced Xicotencatl that the only way his people would live, and his culture, would be to join him, as the Spanish would wipe him out, giving him examples of what happened to the Taino people in Cuba, as well as various coastal people of the Yucatan. His military advisors said that if we can rally enough natives and teach them about Charles V army, that we could prove that we are a force to be reckoned with. The strategist suggested that Cortés ask France or Portugal for help to deter the forces that were to come. A lot of things were said from everyone, and Cortés finalized his plan to isolate himself from his so-called King and his so-called Empire.
Immediately, Cortés ordered 10 soldiers and one messenger to travel to France (as well as Portugal) to ask for aid. Meanwhile, Cortés gave the "Innocent Speech" that morning to his soldiers and Native allies. A scribe translated the speech, but that was lost in history, most likely from the Battle of Mexico City. That speech was supposedly highly charismatic and emotional, that it made everyone eager to fight for Mexico. A constitution was laid out, for the people governed under Mexico. The official name at the moment was the Empire of Mexico and Tlaxcala under Cortez I. The "borders" consisted of the old Aztec Empire, the Tlaxcala City-States, and de facto rule on a small path from Tenochtitlan to the Atlantic Coast (on the Yucatan). Xicotencatl said the same speech (with minor differences) to his people, and the Tlaxcala and Spaniards united together, and began to rally up other previously oppressed people for the inevitable attack.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know there may be some spelling errors right now, and *technically* the chapter isn't done (to my liking), but my laptop is about to die and I needed to share this with AH.com before it dies on me!
