This is hell if it were a country.

Since 1980 Mexico has been trying to join the global market.

Pride of indigenous resistance but also knowing they have Spanish conquistador blood within them.

Spanish still have more wealth and land creating tension

Olmec, Mayas, Teotihuacanos, Aztec

• 1200 B.C.E Southern Mexico

• “Mother Civilization”

• Cultivation and irrigation techniques, fine art, stone monuments, pictographs (first written language in Western Hemisphere)

• 150 C.E Guatemala

• Conquered other kingdoms (first city-states) required tax but left to govern themselves

• Pyramid, temples, palaces, complicated calendar system based on crops

• Hierarchical

• 150 C.E Valley of Mexico

• Teotihuacán carefully built in grid pattern: was religious and trading center.

• Pyramid of the Sun (third largest pyramid in the word)

• 7th century Valley of Mexico

• Took over as power declined due to food shortages (Toltecs returned before Aztecs)

• Build island city Tenochtitlán in Lake Texcoco with

• complex political, military, and religious bureaucracy

• tax collectors, courts of justice, and mail service

• Aztecs require humans from city-states for labor, sacrifices for political intimidation

• Fine arts,  massive stone statues, royal library with books documentary society

To find faster trade routes to Asia and shortage of labor

Dominican Republic

the Aztec emperor

led the third expedition with 15 years of experience

the Spanish knew what to expect while the Aztecs did not know European weapons, horses, armor, and large ships.

Hernán Cortés captured Moctezuma, took gold and killed 8 thousand Aztec nobles so the Aztecs retaliated.

With the supplies from the unhappy city-states under the rule of the Aztecs, they won through blockade of supplies and reinforcements. The Aztecs were superior in military.

They destroyed Tenochtitlán and built Mexico city on it. New Spain became the riches and the indigenous population reduced to less than one million

Directly from Spain (peninsulares) →

Spanish born in colony (criollos) →

Indigenous people, freed Africans →

Slaves

New Spain exports raw materials (gold, silver, cacao) and imports European manufactured goods. Few navigable rivers, so transport is expensive and slow. No economic development in New Spain to protect producers in Spain.

• excavated silver from mines in the north,

• worked on haciendas (large estates given to wealthy Spaniards by the Spanish crown),

• transported goods across the country as porters,

• built New Spain’s cities with the stone from indigenous buildings.

• Culture mixed between indigenous, Spanish, and African creating new musical styles, dances, and cultural and religious practices.

• Landowners adopted indigenous customs

• The indigenous, after losing land, moved to the city and adopted Spanish customs.

• Intermarriages also created new racial categories

Though slavery of indigenous people was illegal in 1542, tribes still pay money. In exchange the Colonial government protected indigenous rights like land to live on.

Control stronger in cities central or southern, however there are Spanish settlements in the north for gold.

• Practices were merged and 90% of Mexicans now are Catholic

• Provided education, manly for white males

• Place to loan money in absence of banks

• Gifts of money from elite allow church to own lots of land.

1808, Napoleón Bonaparte conquered Spain and put King Ferdinand VII in jail. The national assembly the made a new constitution.

• Voting rights

• Representative Government

• More money from New Spain

They thought it would threaten they traditional privileges and the financial demand would squeeze them dry

Frustrated about limited opportunity and growing poverty took it out on local government.

a criollo parish priest who often talked about taking back land, typically to give to the indigenous people.

Miguel Hidalgo attacked a nearby mining town with 20 thousand farmers armed with machetes and shovels, killing both peninsulares and criollos.

A mestizo parish priest, one of Hidalgo’s officers, fought in the south of Mexico city winning control.

In 1813 he declared Mexico’s independence.

The King sent troops to Mexico and he was also forced to accept the liberation by a rebellion

A plan the criollos and peninsulares created to preserve privilege. It calls for equality between the two, Roman Catholicism and monarchy.

Instability

• Disease killed 600,000

• Mining, agriculture, and industry suffered

• Wealthy peninsular and colonial administrators left taking money and skills.

• Silver mines flooded and machinery was ruined.

• No infrastructure like roads, bridges, and ports.

Weak political control with a disconnect with leaders and the populace cause the government to be unable to collect taxes and therefore no money.

Political control struggled as leader lasted less than a year. Mainly dominated by wealthy landowners.

Antonio López de Santa Anna: most powerful political figure.

Borrowing money from other countries amassing foreign debt.

Caste War of the Yucatán was a Mayan rebellion from 1847 to 1854 but was later defeated.

To prevent hostile indigenous groups and populate it.

The U.S citizens clashed with Mexican authorities over land rights, slavery, and tax. In 1836, they declared independence.

Someone who led a 6,000 man army to defend Texas but lost.

In 1845 the U.S wanted more land like California and New Mexico but the Mexican government refused so the U.S declared war.

They had no central army, were poorly equipped, trained and organized. Generals would led individual strategies instead of an organized one.

Before they were confident they would win but after there was more patriotism and hate towards the U.S

The criollo elite, scared of more instability, signed the treaty of Guadalupe. In exchange for 15 mil Mexico surrendered half its territory.