New religion New economy Creating the colony The Independence Movement Mexico today

 Loss of the war Spanish conquest forced Aztecs to change their society  Disease Smallpox epidemic forces society to change because of loss of workers  Loss of religion The loss of the war and onset of smallpox made the Aztecs question their religion

 Aztecs felt their gods had abandoned them during the siege of Tenochtitlan  Cortex requested “religious persons of goodly life and character.”  After three years, priests of the Franciscan order came off a Spanish ship at Veracruz  Franciscan priests vowed to live in the poorest conditions, never to get married, and always to obey their superiors without question  Cortes kissed their robes which amazed the Aztecs as they had never seen Cortes treat anyone with such respect

 Franciscans converted many surviving Aztecs to Catholicism The Franciscans destroyed the Aztec temples and codices  Just as some Muslims and Jews had practiced their faith in secret in Christian Spain, some Aztecs continued some of their religious practices after conversion  Catholic priests and missionaries take over the education of the children Instruction is based on Catholicism

 Aztec society had been based on war, farming, trading and tribute to the gods  Spanish introduced the encomienda system  Similar to the systems used in other areas under Spanish Control  With each piece of land the Spanish were entitled to a certain number of Aztec workers  The landowners were supposed to treat them well and educate them in the Christian religion, but most did not

 Economy changed to a ladder system with the Spanish at the top and the Aztecs at the bottom

THE SPANISH CROWN takes 20% of all gold and valuables found in New Spain GOVERNOR OR VICEROY Collects taxes that support him, the colonial government and the Spanish crown SPANISH CONQUISTADORS Given encomiendas with Aztec workers, after paying taxes, they keep the remaining profits THE AZTEC PEOPLE Do the actual work on the farms and in mines for little more than the basic needs

 Had failed to deliver on the riches he had promised to his loyal followers  He put in place two attempts to solve this problem  Encomienda system Gave the settlers Aztec “slaves” and land  Cortes passed the marriage law Every Spaniard had to bring his wife from Spain or marry an Indigenous woman Failure to marry within six months meant the loss of their encomienda

 Cortes had shifted focus from short- term goals, finding gold and returning to Spain – to the long term goal of colonizing Spain  The children that resulted from the unions of the Spanish and Aztecs were known as the Mestizo  Today Mestizo’s are the largest portion of the Spanish population  lCpEFdpXEA lCpEFdpXEA

 King Carlos of Spain took the governorship of New Spain from Cortes  Appointed Don Antonio de Mendoza  Became the Viceroy (royal representative in New Spain)  Widely believed King Carlos feared that Cortes would declare himself king of the colony and separate from Spain

 Mendoza deliberately limited Cortez’s power and kept him away from Mexico City  The purpose of appointing the viceroy was to ensure the colony was under the direct control of the Spanish crown  King’s purpose of the colony was to keep the flow of gold, silver and farm products going to Spain to pay for European wars

 The people of New Spain, could soon see what was in the interests of the King was not necessarily good for them  While wealth was flowing back to Spain, shortages of roads, schools, housing were widespread in New Spain  Disconnect arose from every class of society

 The indigenous peoples were the descendants of the Aztecs  Many Mestizos grew up in great poverty and felt Spain was exploiting Mexico and giving nothing in return  Jose Maria Morelas was the Mestizo leader of the Mexican independence movement in the early 19 th century  His army of indigenous people was better prepared than the Spanish forces often  The Spanish eventually captured and executed Morales  Today he is a national hero in Mexico  

 The descendants of Spanish settlers in Mexico were called Creoles  They were the most privileged and wealthy class in Mexico  Tired of increasing taxes and inspired by the French and US revolutions, they came to support the independence movement  Discontent was present across society, so in 1821 Mexico became independent from Spain 

 an estimated population of over 112 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country.  Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.  Mexico has one of the world's largest economies, and is considered both a regional power and middle power.  In addition, Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD in 1994

 Mexico has the 13th largest nominal GDP and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity.  GDP annual average growth for the period of 1995–2002 was 5.1%.  Foreign debt decreased to less than 20% of GDP.  From 2000 to 2004, the population in poverty has decreased from 24.2% to 17.6% in the general population and from 42% to 27.9% in rural areas.

 According to a 2008 UN report the average income in a typical urbanized area of Mexico was $26,654, a rate higher than advanced nations like South Korea or Taiwan  the average income in rural areas just miles away was only $8,403, a rate comparable to developing countries such as Russia or Turkey  In 2006, trade with the United States and Canada accounted for almost 50% of its exports and 45% of its imports.  Mexico is the largest North American auto- producing nation, recently surpassing Canada and the U.S. 

HOT BUTTON ISSUE: NAFTA

 Mexico is the twenty-third highest tourism spender in the world, and the highest in Latin America.  The vast majority of tourists come to Mexico from the United States and Canada.  Many other visitors come from Europe and Asia.  A small number of tourists also come from other Latin American countries.  

 Mexico represents the largest source of immigration to the United States.  About 9% of the population born in Mexico is now living in the United States.  28.3 million Americans listed their ancestry as Mexican as of 2006  Mexico is home to the largest number of U.S. citizens abroad 

HOT BUTTON ISSUE : MEXICAN IMMIGRATION