The Age of Exploration was a time when many great discoveries occurred. There has also been great growth for Europeans. During this time there was a great decline for the Native American people. Some of these European explorers tried to help others as well as themselves along the journey. Other Europeans helped themselves by making others suffer for their lives. One person who can be described like this is Hernando Cortes. Cortes was born around 1485 in Medellin, Spain. He is best known for defeating the Aztec Empire and reclaiming Mexico for Spain. Although he claimed a piece of land for Spain, I believe Cortes does not deserve to be called a great leader. He destroyed the Aztec civilization and wiped out almost all of the Aztec people. Not only that, Cortes used many people and even the Aztecs to gain more power. Killing people and ending a powerful civilization during the Age of Exploration does not make Hernando Cortes a "great" leader. Hernando Cortes does not deserve to be called a great leader because he wanted to have control over power....