April 22, 1519 · Gulf Coast of Mexico Theater
April 22, 1519
Landing on Good Friday near modern Veracruz, Cortés founded a town, had its new council elect him captain-general, and thereby legally severed himself from the governor of Cuba who had sent him. He received Moctezuma's envoys and their gifts of gold, and won over the Totonacs of Cempoala — the Aztecs' resentful tributaries — as his first indigenous allies. Then, to end all talk of return, he ran his ships aground.
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