Mexican History

1. Mexican History and
Systems of Empire

2. Parts Unknown Debrief
 What aspect of Modern Mexico was most surprising to you?
Why was this surprising?
 What signs of Mexican cultural dimensions did you see in the
episode?
 Which issue facing Mexico do you think is most important to
understanding the nation?

3. Day 1: Systems of Empire in
Mexico
 I can explain the systems that the Spaniards put in place
in New Spain and how they impacted Mexico over the
long term.
 I can use OPVL source analysis to critically examine a
mural.

4. Mexico Before Colonization

5. The Geography of Mexico

6. Exploration
 1492: Columbus lands in Santo Domingo (Dominican
Republic) and sets up a colony focused on making profit.
 1517: Spanish Explores travel to Mexican coasts looking
for workers (slaves).

7. Conquistadores
& The Aztecs
 In 1512, Cortes and his men defeat the Aztec empire with
assistance from thousands of native allies, Guns, Germs,
& Steel.

8. The Spanish Empire
The Purpose and Goal
of the Empire was to
bring riches and wealth
back to Spain.
Systems needed to be
put in place in order
for that to happen.

9. The Plaza of Three Cultures
 On August 12, 1521, heroically defended by Cuauhteoc
[emperor of the Aztecs], Tlatelolco fell into the hands of
Hernan Cortes. It was neither a triumph nor a defeat: it
was the painful creation of the mestizo nation that is
Mexico today.”

10. A Blend of Cultures in New
Spain
 European and African cultures blended with Indigenous
cultures to create a distinct new culture.
 Music, Dance, Food, Language.
 Plagues decimated the Indigenous populations from 12
million to 1 million in about 100 years.
 Intermarriage was common.

11. System #1: La Casta
 A System of racial identification that created a class structure within
Mexico. Your skin color upon birth determined which caste you
belonged to. This could not change.

12. Las Castas
 Peninsular: (Blancos) European Born Spaniards Living
in Mexico.
 Creole: Mexican-Born Spaniards who were considered
white.
 Mestizos: Mixed blood European-Mexicans.
 Indios: Decedents of the Native populations of Mexico.
 Negros: African Slaves (10%) and their decedents.

13. Economic Development in
New Spain
 The goal of the colonies was to make money for Spain
 Economic development focused on gathering and
exporting raw materials to Spain.
 Gold, Silver, Cocoa,
 Limited Development of industry.

14. System of Empire #2:
Hacienda
 A Hacienda is a large estate owned by a Spanish Owner.
These lands arose with the seizure of Native land by
Spanish Conquistadors.
 Goal: Take what was left of Indian lands and put it in the
hands of Spanish landowners.
 Indians were paid very small wages to work on the
Hacienda – which was always owned by a Spaniard.

15. The Problem for Indians
 Spanish landowners bought or stole almost all
the land in Mexico (link to today)
 Indians were rounded up into small areas so they
could be “Christianized.” But the real motive
was often to take their land.
 Indians that needed money (wedding, funeral,
bad crop, etc.) borrowed from Spanish
landowners…but now were in debt for the rest
of their lives….Trapped.

16. The Catholic Church
in New Spain
 Spaniards aimed to convert as many people as possible to
Christianity.
 Indigenous communities often accepted Christianity but
also blended in some of their traditional beliefs.
 The Church played a key role in banking, education, and
land management. These all advantaged the Spanish
settlers.

17. OPVL

18. Day 2:
The Creation of a Nation
 I can explain the events that led to Mexico gaining its
Independence.
 I can define Conservative and Liberal.
 I can use quiz, quiz, trade to identify and sort key terms
and ideas.

19. Conservative
 Someone who wants the political, social & economic systems of
their country to either A) remain the way they are OR B) return to
how they were at an earlier time.

20. Liberal
 Someone who wants the political, social &
economic systems of their country to change.

21. Events in Europe
 Spain was conquered by France in 1808 and the Spanish
King was arrested.
 Spain created a new constitution that called for popular
voting rights and a representative government. They also
called for more revenue from New Spain.
 This heightened tensions between the Creoles and
Peninsulares.
 Mestizo citizens were struggling and also upset.

22. El Grito de Dolores
 “The Cry of Dolores”: September 16, 1810
 Father Miguel Hidalgo, a creole priest, called for
Independence and managed to gain thousands of
followers.
 EL Grito de Dolores

23. Independence
 In 1816, the Spanish King returned to power, only to be forced
to sign a new Liberal constitution in 1820 because of a popular
uprising.
 In 1821, Conservative Peninsulares and Creoles who feared that
they would lose their legal privileges in Mexico, called for
independence.
 After a short war against Spain, Mexico gained its
independence.

24. El Plan De Iguala
 Mexico signed the Plan de Iguala (The Three Guarentees)
 Religion: Roman Catholic Church as the State Religion
 Social Equality: Creoles get the same rights as Peninsulares
 Independence: Constitutional Monarchy with a European
Ruler

25. After Independence
 Many Peninsulares left Mexico.
 Infrastructure was destroyed during the war.
 Mexico lacked roads and bridges and struggled to build any
because they could not collect taxes.
 The Presidency was a revolving door of rich landowners who
controlled their own armies.
 Instability throughout the country.
 Little impact on the lives of the Mestizos…Still lacked rights
and economic opportunities.

26. The War of
North American Intervention
 Antonio Lopez Santa Ana was President of 11 different
Governments
 Kept Central Government Weak and Taxes Low
 United States saw opportunity and expanded into
Mexico’s Territory North of the Rio Grande (Arizona,
Texas, New Mexico)

27. Loss of Land and Pride

28. Conservative and Liberal
Antonio Lopez Santa Ana Bentio Juarez

29. Liberals & Conservatives
Liberals
 In Mexico in the 19th century (1800s),
liberals were mainly educated, middle
class professionals like teachers, &
lawyers who lived in cities or urban
areas.
 Liberals generally wanted to
distribute the ownership of land more
broadly & to change the political &
economic systems of Mexico to give
every Mexican more political rights &
power rather than the systems being
dominated by an elite few.
Conservatives
 In Mexico in the 19th century
(1800s), conservatives were mainly
wealthy landowners, Creoles, who
wanted a political system that
would preserve their wealth &
privilege.
 Conservatives generally did NOT
want to share land in Mexico with
mestizo or indigenous Mexicans.

30. Rise of the Liberals:
La Reforma
 La Reforma: A Liberal group who called for the lessening
of the power of the Catholic Church and Military Leaders
in Mexico.
 Benito Juarez: Mestizo Lawyer who rose to power from
nothing.

31. Juarez as President
 Juarez wrote the Constitution of 1857
 Created a government run Education System.
 Limited the Power of the Catholic Church. Forced them to
sell much of their land.
 Broke up Tribal Lands into Individually Owned Lands
Didn’t Work because Rich landowners bought them
instead.
 Encouraged foreign investment to build infrastructure.
 Juarez died in 1872 of a heart attack

32. Diaz’s Rule
 Porfirio Diaz rose to power (through a coup) as
President following Juarez’s death and stayed in
power for over 30 years. During his rule…
 The Rich continued to buy land…
 30 families owned half of Mexico by 1900 
More Poverty
 Mexico engaged in foreign trade  More
Foreigners…90% of all industry and 25% of
land owned by foreigners.
 Oil and Coal were discovered  Controlled
by Foreigners
 Pan, o Palo (Bread or Stick): Created a large
police force to maintain his rule (stick) and
rewarded his supporters with benefits (bread).

33. Mexican Revolution
 A major armed struggle between 1910-1920 that reshaped Mexican
Social, Political, Environmental, Cultural, and Economic landscape.
 Main goal was to end Diaz’s 30 year rule and to solve inequality within
society.
 A variety of factions rose up to fight against Diaz’s government.

34. Factions of The Revolution
 Zapatistas (Southern Mexico)
 Led by Emiliana Zapata
 Called for land reform and redistribution of Hacienda Land to the
peasants.
 Villistas (Northern Mexico)
 Led by Pancho Villa
 Called for land reforms and improved working conditions for rural
peasants and urban workers.
 Constitutionalists
 Called for democracy established by the 1857 constitution
 Supported by the United States

35. The Mexican Revolution
 1912-1914: The various rebel armies fought battles all around Mexico against
the national Army.
 Leaders such as Zapata and Villa rose to international fame.
 1914: The Constitutionalists (with help from the U.S.) took power of the
presidency.
 Arranged a meeting between then three factions to bring peace to Mexico.
 The meeting broke into violence between the major armies and led to a
continued struggle.

36. A Continuing Struggle
 Villa & Zapata made an alliance to overthrow the
Constitutional Government and fighting increased.
 Villa: “Those are men who have always slept on soft
pillows. How could they ever be friends of the people who
have spent their whole lives in nothing but suffering?”
 The Villa-Zapata army was crushed after attempting to
occupy Mexico City and the Constitutionalist took control
of the country.

37. The Constitution of 1917
 The Constitutionalist Government crafted a the 1917
Constitution.
 The Constitution Increased the role of the Mexican
Government in the lives of Mexicans with policies such as…
 Redistributed land to rural farmers
 Allowed for the creation of Labor Unions
 Took control of oil and mineral deposits
 Created a separation of Church & State

38. Results of the
Mexican Revolution
 While not all accepted the Constitution, it did mark the end of
the Revolution.
 Diaz’s Government ended
 The Hacienda System Ended
 Kicked out Foreign Investors and the Mexican Government
took control of the Oil Business.
 Increased Nationalism among Mexicans.
 Eventual Rise of the PRI (Held power from 1930’s to 1990’s).
 Between 1.5-2 Million Mexicans died during these conflicts
and much of the Mexican infrastructure was destroyed.

39. Miguel Hidalgo

40. Antonio Santa Anna

41. Benito Juarez

42. Porfio Diaz

43. Emiliano Zapata

44. Pancho Villa

45. Alvaro Olbregon

46. Identification Practice:
Quiz, Quiz, Trade
 Hacienda
 La Casta
 El Grito de Dolores
 Mexican Independence
 El Plan de Iguala
 The War of North
American Intervention
 The Constitution of 1857
 Porfio Diaz (Rule)
 Mexican Revolution
 The Constitution of 1917

47. Day 3:
The Economics of Mexico
Essential Question: How did Mexico's economy modernize
and who/what are the winners and losers from this process?

48. Key Terms
 Import: Brining goods or services in from other countries
for purchase.
 Export: Sending goods or services to other countries for
sale.

49. Subsidies
 Subsidy: money that is paid usually by a government to
keep the price of a product or service low or to help a
business or organization to continue to function.

50. Nationalization &
Privatization
 Nationalization: the process of transforming private
assets into public assets by bringing them under the public
ownership of a national government or state.
 Privatization: is the process of transferring an enterprise
or industry from the public sector to the private sector.
The public sector is the part of the economic system
that is run by government agencies.

51. Mexico’s Economy Following
the Revolution
 Mexico remained dependent on trade with the U.S. to support its
economy. This became a problem when the Great Depression hit.
 To combat this, the Mexican Government created a program called
the Import Substitution Industry (IPI).
 This program was designed to create factories in Mexico that would
increase domestic production and limit the need to trade with outside
nations.
 ISI created a trade surplus and helped the Mexican economy.

52. Mexico Nationalizes Business
 During the 1930’s Mexico was the 3rd largest oil producer in the
world.
 In 1938, workers went on strike against British & U.S. owned oil
companies to raise wages.
 The foreign companies refused, so the Mexican Government seized
control of the companies and their land and took control of them.
 This process is called nationalizing resources.
 This move was widely popular in Mexico.

53. Mexico During WWII
 When war broke out in Europe, Mexico became a perfect
place to buy goods from because they were not impacted
by the conflict.
 An economic boom led to a rise in population (from 20
million to 70 million) and the rise of cities.
 Mexico’s ISI policy and natural resources were largely to
thank for this growth.

54. Impacts of Mexico’s Rise
 The cities in Mexico were not able to support the increase of people
living in them and there grew a rising lower class.
 A middle class developed who became conservative in their economic
decision making because they wanted to keep what they had gained
during the Economic Boom.

55. Mexico’s Foreign Debt
 Mexico’s agriculture struggled to feed its growing population in the
1960s & 1970’s. As a result, they were forced to import food from the
U.S. to feed its population.
 Even though it made huge amounts of money from oil, the
Government’s debt quickly rose during this period and threatened the
stability of the Mexican economy.

56. Mexico Privatizes
 A global recession in the 1980’s hurt Mexico’s profits
from exporting oil.
 The Mexican Government was forced to cut social services
that helped the urban poor survive.
 In order to try to save the economy, the Government
decided to sell the nationally owned companies and
limited government influence in the economy.

57. NAFTA
 In 1992, Mexico, the United States, & Canada signed a trade agreement
known as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
 NAFTA lowered taxes on imports and exports so that imports from
Canada and the US were cheap for Mexicans and exports from Mexico
were cheaper for Canadians and Americans.

58. The Benefits of NAFTA
 Mexico exports more than it imports.
 Industries such as steel and glass manufacturing has made billions for
Mexico.
 Foreign companies invested in Mexican infrastructure and factories.

59. The Negative Effects of
NAFTA
 Huge factories called Maquiladoras were created by foreign
companies in Northern Mexico.
 American companies moved factories to Mexico to take
advantage of only having to pay a fraction of the price of
wages to Mexican workers ($2.50/hour vs. $20/hour).
 Large amounts of pollution.
 Cheap agriculture products like corn from the U.S. have
crippled Mexican agriculture.
 Inequality has risen with the wealthy becoming richer and the
poor remaining poor.