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accounts of Cortés, Díaz del Castillo, and
Sahagún’s informants make Cortés’s one of the
most fully documented of all Spanish expedi-
tions of discovery and conquest.
CORTÉS SETS FORTH
Cortés’s popularity as mayor of the Cuban
town of San Juan de Baracoa helped him enlist
volunteer soldiers for his expedition, which
attracted investors as news of Grijalva’s find-
ings of the Maya civilization spread. Cortés
organized a powerful force so swiftly that he
was forced to leave Cuba in secret, after learn-
ing that Velásquez had become suspicious of
his plans and intended to revoke his commis-
sion for the venture. Cortés sailed on February
10, 1519, with 11 ships, 508 men, and 16
horses. When the expedition reached the
island of Cozumel, 12 miles off the YucatánWhen Hernán Cortés first encountered the Aztec, they had a highly developed culture. In this detail of
a drawing from Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España,Aztec people are cultivating fields and
socializing.(Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-124461])(^54) B Discovery of the Americas, 1492–1800
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