Cortes and the Burning of the Boats at Vera Cruz
In 1519, Capitan Hernando Cortes and a small army left the Spanish held island of Cuba and set out on one of the greatest conquests in the history of the world. Cortes was going to accomplish his goals no matter the consequences. He put to death some of those who opposed him, got himself appointed Capitan-General in order to get out from under Diego Velazquez's authority, and even destroyed his fleet in an attempt to motivate his men to adapt to his at-all-costs attitude. The destruction of the ships has been widely studied and is still debated today. The dispute is not if he destroyed his ships, but how and to what extent.Many sources claim that Cortes had the ships destroyed secretly. Very few state that Cortes told his men of his intent; but Bernal Diaz tells that Cortes was advised by his men to destroy his ships. (Diaz, 131) Diaz states, ". . . we who were his friends advised him . . . not to leave a single ship in port, but to destroy them all immediately, in order to leave no cause of trouble behind." (Diaz, 130) Diaz goes on to say, "The ships were destroyed with our full knowledge and not . . . in secret." (Diaz, 131) Salvador De Madariaga suggests that Cortes "planted" some friends to advise him to destroy his
(Gomara, 90) This story has been legendary, most people know of Cortes "burning" his boats. that his companions might prevent it, as the doubtless would have done if the realized what he had in mind. Third, he was preventing any of Velazquez's supporters from deserting and taking a ship to Cuba where Vesazquez could use information from them against Cortes. He simply states that they had no ships to retreat to and only God to assist them. (Thomas, 223) It could be said that the destruction of the fleet constituted a physical turning-point in the conquest. (White, 186) It doesn't really matter how or to what extent Cortes destroyed his fleet; the sheer fact that he was willing to die in this endeavor showed his resolve. (Gomara, 91)There is much speculation about why Cortes performed this deed. Bernal Diaz doesn't go into much detail about the effects of the destruction. (Abbott, 128) Hugh Thomas goes farther in detail and says that three ships were not disabled. Gomara states that five of the ships were beached and four were sank. " (Gomara, 90) Another debated topic is to what extent did Cortes destroy the ships. they had noting to rely on, apart from their own hands, and the assurance that they would conquer and win the land, or die in the attempt. Second, he was destroying all possibilities of a retreat to the coast with a ship waiting to take them to safety.
Common topics in this essay:
Bernal Diaz,
Hugh Thomas,
Gomara Cortes,
Diego Velazquez's,
Maurice Collis,
Hernando Cortes,
De Madariaga,
Cortes Lastly,
Jacob Abbott,
Manchip White,
diaz 131,
destroyed fleet,
thomas 223,
bernal diaz,
cortes destroyed fleet,
destruction ships,
ships destroyed,
cortes ships,
white 186,
destroy ships,
white 185,
|
Acceptance Essays
