Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico in 1519 and conquered the Aztec empire by 1521, aided by local translator La Malinche and superior Spanish weapons and technology. In 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared to an Indian peasant where a former Aztec temple stood, with the church adopting a more flexible attitude towards the native population. A massive slave rebellion in Saint Domingue, now Haiti, from 1791-1804 led to independence after Napoleon admitted defeat, making Haiti the first black republic.