By 21st century standards, perhaps they were, but they lived 500 years ago and were courageous examples of their kind. Cortes burned his boats. Literally. You and I may not approve of their methods and their ruthlessness, but to their contemporaries they were conquering heroes. And to their contemporaries, they did nothing wrong.
“...they did nothing wrong...”
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Be careful, now.
Was “accept Catholicism or die” wrong?