Mexican History and Murals

1. Mexican History and Murals

3. Aztec Society, 1345-1521 • 1345- Aztecs founded city of Tenochtitlán on Lake Texcoco • 1502- Moctezuma II come to power • A city with palaces, bridges, temples, canals, and a marketplace • A tribute to the greatness of the Aztecs & their imperial dominoation.

5. Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs, 1521 • Hernán Cortés- Arrived in Tenochtitlán in 1519 and conquered the powerful Aztec empire within 2 yrs.

6. …con’t • Cortes was able to conquer the Aztecs for several reasons: • He resembled the god-king Quetzalcóatl • Allied with nations conquered by the Aztecs • Brought smallpox & other disease from Spain, which killed thousands of Indians • Used horses, metal armor, muskets, cannons • Starved the Aztecs by taking control of the city • The Aztecs surrendered in August 1521

8. Creation of the Mestizo, 1500s • The indigenous population was decimated by disease & forever changed by forced racial mixing. • The mixing of Spanish & Indigenous peoples created the mestizos.

10. Spanish Treatment of Indians1500s-1800s • Spanish colonists were cruel & oppressive • The Catholic Church believed the indigenous people were heathens & considered it their God-given mission to “educate” & “Christianize” them.

11. Spanish Build Up Their Colony, Using the Indigenous People , 1500-1800s • The Spanish colony was built with indigenous people’s labor. • The King of Spain gave large land grants to Spanish colonists, along with the right to force labor from the indigenous population living on the land. • Indigenous people built churches, roads, buildings & worked the mines. • Disease, inhumane conditions, & brutal working conditions reduced the Indigenous population from 25 million in 1521, to 1 million by 1700.

13. Mexican Independence, 1810-1821 • Before their Independence: • Mexican society was divided according to skin color & heritage: • Peninsulares: Spaniards born in Spain; held top positions in government, church, and military. • Criollos/Creoles: Pure Spanish blood born in Mexico; wealthy upper class, owned haciendas, ranches, & mines. • Mestizos- Mix of Spanish & indigenous blood; lived in poverty, worked hard, had few rights. • Indigenous people (Indians)- pure indigenous people, lowest class, mistreated by colonists, and church, had little or no rights.

14. Mexican Independence Declared, 1810 • September 16, 1810 Father Miguel Hidalgo declares Mexican independence from Spain. • Father Hidalgo was mainly supported by the criollos, who were prevented from governing their country by peninsulares.

15. The majority reclaim the power • Feeling like the majorities needs are not met: The indigenous and Mestizo masses revolt against Hidalgo. • Father Hidalgo & other revolutionaries were killed by 1811 but the indigenous people & mestizos continued the fight. • Jose Maria Morelos becomes leader and pointed out the social inequality. However, he was killed soon after. • Agustin Iturbide, a criolle eventually lead Mexico to gain independence in 1821.

17. Benito Juárez Leads 1861-1872 • Juárez was a Zapotec from Oaxaca. • 1861- was elected president of Mexico after leading the liberals (people who want to change society) during a bloody civil war against conservatives (people who wanted to keep things the same). • He supported freedom, the previous leader’s ideas of freedom of speech and press, and some government control over the Church.

18. France Conquers Mexico, 1862-1867 • Mexico was conquered by French emperor Louis Napoleon Bonaparte III and Juarez’s term was interrupted. • Archduke Maximilian of Austria was made emperor of Mexico • Juárez returned to take back Mexico, Maximilian was executed, & Juárez was able to continue making Mexico more democratic and just.

20. Dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz/Repression(1876-1910) • 1876- Porfirio Diaz overthrows weak government established after Juarez’s death. • Mexico had social & economic problems, was in debt to foreign governments. • Diaz, a dictator, ruled with an iron fist for 34 years. • He used rurales, or government forces to enforce “peace” in the countryside so the peasants wouldn’t rise up against him.

21. Diaz focused on business & industry, invited foreign investors, built railroads, improved mining, ports, farming, manufacturing, and mining. • His reforms modernized Mexico, but benefited only a few wealthy people.

22. During his time the campesinos, or peasants lived in virtual slavery. Unlike before, the campesinos did not own their own land but were wage earners on other people’s land. • Life for the poor was worse that before independence: peasants lost their land, were illiterate, malnourished, and life expectancy was 30 years.

26. The Mexican Revolution(1910-1920) • 1910- Unhappy peasants revolted. • Francisco Madera took charge. • Was for were for the people because he was the son of a landowner who was jailed for revolting against Diaz. • “Viva la Revolucion!” was heard everywhere. • After 6 months of fighting, Diaz resigned and fled to Europe & Madero became preFsident.

27. Madero soon faced revolts; was overthrown& killed by his own general Victoriano Huerta (with the support of the US). • Huerta became president; faced revolts from Emiliano Zapata (in the south) & Pancho Villa (in the north). • Venustiano Carranza became president of Mexico; he turned against Zapata & Villa, & later had them killed. • Alvaro Obregon became president in 1920; he brought peace and 70 years of rule by the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party).

29. The Legacy of the Mexican Revolution • Redistribution of land to peasants • Constitution of 1917- return of land, rights factory workers, protection of democratic freedoms. • Zapata & Villa are viewed as heroes.