Mexico’s History and Culture

1. Mexico’s History and Culture Chapter 7/ Section 2

2. Olmec • By 1500 B.C. the Olmec were living in Mexico • The Olmec lived on the humid southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico • They built temples and statues and traded carved stones.

3. The Maya • Between AD 250 and 900 the Maya built large cities in Mexico and Central America. • They built stone temples, studied the stars, developed a detailed calendar, and kept good written records. • The Mayan civilization suddenly collapsed sometime after 900.

4. The Aztec • After the decline of the Maya, people called the Aztec moved from northern Mexico to central Mexico. • In 1325, they built their capital in Tenochtitlan. This city was one of the most impressive cities of the time. • Two of the most important things to the Aztec people were their powerful empire and their gods.

5. Colonial Mexico and Independence • In 1519 Hernan Cortes and the Spanish came over, brought a lot of men, weapons and small pox and took over the land.

6. Colonial Times • After the conquest, Spanish and American Indian people who were native to Mexico started to mix and they formed a new group of people called the mestizos. • The Spanish wanted to spread Christianity so they set up Church outposts called missions. • After the conquest the Spanish monarch started taking over farmers land and made them into Haciendas, which made wealthy landowners very rich.

7. Independence • Miguel Hidalgo led the Mexicans to revolt against the Spanish and in 1821 Mexico won its independence.

8. Later Struggles • After Mexico got its independence, it went to war with the United States over land. Mexico lost the war and territory. • Under Benito Juarez’s presidency he allowed Hacienda’s to form, which took away land from small village owners. • As a result the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910.

9. Culture • Many Mexicans speak Spanish and about 90 percent of all Mexicans are Roman Catholic because of the Spanish influence • Some people also speak American Indian. • Some people have cultural practices that combine American Indian and Mexican cultures. An example is celebrating the Day of the Dead.