Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0241/02410.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 19KB | 334 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02410}
$Pretitle{279}
$Title{Mexico
Note on the History of Mexico}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Embassy of Mexico, Washington DC}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Mexico, Washington DC}
$Subject{mexico
new
social
political
spain
independence
later
called
constitutional
years}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Country:     Mexico
Book:        Mexico an Overview
Author:      Embassy of Mexico, Washington DC
Affiliation: Embassy of Mexico, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Note on the History of Mexico

Introduction

     Mexico is both an old and a young nation: young in the sense that it did
not become an independent State until the early 19th century and old in that
it encompasses the ancient Indian culture that flourished before the arrival
of the Spaniards, and the Spanish one that prevailed for three centuries.

     The history of Mexico involves the achievement of the native
pre-columbian population, the accomplishments of the colonial society and the
effort of many generations thereafter, to consolidate an independent country.

The Prehispanic Era

     Mexico is the site of one of the six oldest civilizations in the history
of mankind. When the Spaniards arrived in the land that is now Mexico, they
found a mosaic of peoples that had evolved from a primitive stage to a high
degree of civilization. Each one of those native cultures had an identity of
its own, but over the course of centuries they influenced one another; this
condition has led modern anthropologists and archaeologists (1943) to coin the
concepts of "Mesoamerica" or Middle-America for the area of developed or
highly civilized population and Arido-America for the northern area of Mexico
covering part of what later become annexed to the United States (1848). Social
scientists have established four periods of upward evolution of those
cultures.

The Archaic Period

     Comprises the time between the arrival of the first nomadic tribes of
hunters to the area and the discovering of agriculture. The excavations in
Tlapacoya, near Mexico City, show that the first human settlers arrived some
21,000 years ago. By 3,500 B.C. the primitive tribes began to farm, plant
and harvest, living in rudimentary villages and producing objects related to
agriculture, such as baskets and "metates" (a slightly concave grinding slab
used with a long pestle).

     The Preclassical Period started around 2,000 B.C., during which the
agrarian economy was fully consolidated, and complex forms of social and
political organization were developed. The Olmecs in the South and the
Preclassical cultures of the Valley of Mexico were the two major
representatives of that period. The Olmecs is considered the "mother culture
of Mesoamerica", because it fostered the great civilizations that, during
the Classical Period (200 B.C. 900 A.D.), built the magnificent cities of
Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, Uxmal, Bonampak, etc.

     The Mayans in the Yucatan peninsula, and Central America, and the
Teotihuacans in the Central Plateau and the Zapotecs of Monte-Alban were the
three leading cultures of the Classical Period.

     Around 900 A.D. new waves of northern warlike tribes entered Mesoamerica
and conquered the civilized communities already established. The invaders,
however, assimilated the culture of their victims shortly after they conquered
them. With this a new era began, called the Postclassical Period. The Toltecs
were the first to develop this new type of society.

     Meanwhile, the Chichimecas moved down to the Central Plateau and
progressively occupied the shores of the lake located in the Valley of
Mexico. The last of those groups to arrive were the Mexicas, who came in the
early 14th century. They asserted their hegemony over their neighbors in the
Valley, and from there they extended their rule to large areas of North
America and almost the whole of Mesoamerica. The name of Mexico derives
from them.

     By 1516, when the Spaniards were making the first incursions on the coast
of Yucatan, the Mexica Empire was at its zenith. It capital,
Mexico-Tenochtitlan, symbolized their accomplishments. Built in two tiny
islands, it was an example of ingenuity, advanced engineering and urban
design. The central plaza, with its temples, palaces, schools, museums and
markets, showed not only the artistic sensibility of these peoples, but it
was also an expression of a civilized society with an advanced political
organization and a complex religion.

     It was, in short, an example of the grandeur of the Prehispanic cultures
in Mesoamerica.

New Spain: Conquest and Colonial Rule

     The Spanish expansion into the New World was given impetus by the
circumstances that prevailed in the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 15th
century, which were a mixture of religious zeal and social, economical
pressures.

     Hernan Cortes reached the shores of Veracruz in 1519 and two years
later completed the conquest of the Mexicas [later called Aztecs] after the
siege and capture of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. At the beginning, he encountered
little opposition in his venture, but after having occupied the metropolis
they were expelled again. A massacre ordered by Pedro de Alvarado incensed the
Mexicas into revolt. The Mexicas and Tlatelolcas put up a fierce resistance
before the Spaniards finally re-conquered the city.

     Once the military conquest was completed, a second stage of the Spanish
enterprise began; it was what has been called the "spiritual conquest", and
was carried out by missionaries of the major monastic orders: Franciscans,
Dominicans, Augustinians and Jesuits.

     Mercantilism was the framework of the economic organization. The
metropolis tried to exert an almost absolute monopoly over commercial activity
as well as a strict control over every activity in the colonies, but it was
not successful in many areas. Mining, especially silver and other precious
metals, was the main source of income in New Spain. By the 18th century, it
produced more than half of the world's production, and it was the richest
kingdom of the Spanish Empire.

     The society of New Spain had a unique cast and very particular problems.
Indians and Spaniards legally had the same status but in reality there were
remarkable differences. Immediately after the conquest, some natives were
subjected to the control of the conquistadores under the institution of the
"encomienda" (distribution of indian among the conquistadores) until they were
converted to Catholicism and baptized; during that period they had to work for
their master and accept his absolute authority. Later, even though the Crown
issued several laws protecting them and provided communal lands to be
cultivated by Indian communities, the Indians were still in an inferior
position. The Spanish were, among themselves, divided into two groups: the
Europeans or "Peninsulares", and the Creoles or "Americanos", the former
generally came to occupy the higher ranks in political and military positions;
the latter were permanent settlers and their descendants were landowners,
miners, businessmen, and also held secondary positions in the army and
controlled the municipal posts. The Creoles were proud of being Americans and
resented the political preeminence and privileges of the Europeans, mainly
because they conceived themselves as the backbone of the colony.

     At the bottom of society were the "Mestizos" an offspring of the
interracial contacts between Spaniards and Indians, as well as other racial
combinations called "castas".

The War of Independence.

     Mexico won her political independence from Spain in 1821, after eleven
years of painful struggle. It was an outcome rooted at the core of the 18th
century thinking and social conditions and precipitated by the Napoleonic
invasion of Spain in 1808.

     When Charles IV and his son Ferdinand VII were forced to abdicate in
favor of Napoleon's brother Joseph, and were kept prisoners in the city of
Bayona, the Spanish people refused to recognize the imposed king and rebelled.
In the absence