Mexico History

1. Mexico History The Aztec people and other groups such as the Mayan lived in Mexico before the Spanish arrived. • 1521 The Spanish conquest took around two years, as Cortes took Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capitol. Abundance of gold and silver kept the Spanish interest. • 1821 Independence from Spain as Iturbide made himself emperor. Most of the land was owned by a few rich families. Haciendas(ranches) covered most of Mexico where poor landless peasants worked the land. Later Benito Juarez led a reform movement and was elected president.

2. 1917 Corruption after Juarez rule results in a revolution and civil war led by Madero, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. A new constitution and ½ of the land given to peasants. • 1929 Institutional Revolutionary Party(PRI) rose to power and by corruption and fraud held control until 1997. • 1997 two rival parties won control of congress and 2000 Vicente Fox became president. • 2006 Calderon won the presidency, marred by fraud, opponents tried to keep him from office.

3. Culture Tenochtitlan had beautiful palaces, gardens, temples and lakes. Canals linked parts of the city. This is where the Aztec did human sacrifice.

4. Cortez built Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochtitlan. Brought the Spanish language and Roman Catholicism which dominates the country today. • Mexico has a large mestizo population(people of mixed Native American and Spanish heritage. • Many public buildings have murals portraying the history of Mexico by such artists as Diego Rivera and Juan O’Gorman. • Pyramids dominated the Aztec capital, later the Spaniards built missions all over the country.

5. Economics • Trying to close gap between rich and poor. • Move from agricultural to a modern industrial economy. Urbanization • Oil reserves have helped pay for developing industry. • Maquiladoras-factories that assemble imported materials into finished products to export(clothing, furniture and electronics). • NAFTA- brought prosperities to millions but some argue this led to environmental damage and loss of farming jobs.

6. Today’s Problems • Safety- drug cartels fighting among themselves and the government has killed countless innocents and have hurt the tourist industry. • Emigration- many come to the US legally or illegally to find work. Often sending much of the money back to Mexico. • Unemployment and without a good education young people can not find good jobs. Education is becoming more important as Mexico becomes more industrialized.