02/20/2023
504 Years Ago Today: Cortes (and Cabrillo) Leave Cuba for Mexico
in 1519, Hernan Cortes and a group of 500 European conquistadors and the African and Native Americans they had enslaved left the newly conquered island of Cuba for Mexico. Cortes had been in the West Indies for twelve years, more than 1/3 of his life by this point in time, and was serving as a magistrate in the new Spanish Empire in the Americas. Cortes grew up in the city of Medellin, Spain, a small city with a sizeable Jewish and Muslim population who were forced to leave Spain during his childhood.
Cortes first landed in the Americas in Santo Domingo where he became an operative of the current Spanish governor. During his time on the island of Hispaniola, Cortes obtained a small encomienda, a Spanish method of enslaving Native Americans and expropriating their land and wealth granted to colonizers. He also participated in the conquest of Cuba in which he likely played a part in a series of atrocities against Indigenous people and lobbied the Cuban governor, who he worked for, to enslave Native Americans more intensively.
Cortes’ voyage was commissioned by Cuban governor Diego Velazquez (Cortes’ father-in-law) who sought a follow-up to a recent expedition to Mexico which was presumed to have disappeared (it would return before Cortes left). Cortes’ official orders claimed the main purpose of his voyage was to promote Christianity—a common claim amongst Spanish imperial functions—that gave a veneer of legitimacy to quests of conquest and plunder. And plunder was clearly on Cortes’ mind as he prepared; he gathered far more men and supplies than the governor thought were appropriate, leading the governor to send instructions firing Cortes, which were never delivered because the messenger was murdered by Cortes’ brother-in-law on his way to deliver the official orders.
As he prepared to leave, Cortes and his operatives seized all the domestic animals in the city of Santiago from the local butcher against his will, demonstrating both his ruthlessness and desire to leave well prepared. For four months as he prepared his expedition, Cortes avoided directly meeting with the governor or his representatives and traveled to various ports in Cuba to purchase or demand food, horses, additional ships, and other materials for his trip. He also successfully recruited the governor’s friends and allies making it hard to challenge his authority and the intentions of his voyage.
One of the junior members of Cortes’ expedition was Juan Cabrillo. On this voyage, Cabrillo participated in the conquest of the Aztec Empire, one of the most complex and wealthy nations on Earth. This religiously justified invasion was one of the most brutal acts of imperial violence in North American history. This experience undoubtedly influenced his expectations as he led his own expedition to California over 20 years later.
(CF)
