The History past and present of Mexico
Uploaded by almostarmychic on Mar 15, 2007
Mexico was filled with various civilizations that had sprung up throughout the years, but the Aztecs were the most memorable. When looking at the numbers, it seems near impossible that Hernan Cortez and his four hundred men could conquer a great empire. The Spaniards, however, had many advantages. One of the main things that they had going for them was that they were more advanced in technology. The Aztecs had never seen a horse before, so they were naturally frightened when they first saw these “overgrown dogs” charging towards them with men riding upon their backs. Another thing that was new to the natives was the use of guns. They thought that this weapon they all carried was supernatural. This leads us to the third and major reason why Hernan Cortez was able to defeat the Aztecs. They thought that these invaders were unsatisfied gods. It was this belief that ultimately finished them. They were torn between their religion and their safety. They put up a good fight, but in the end they were conquered.
For about three hundred years, Mexico was ruled by the Spanish. During this time, the population fell from about twenty-five million to just over six million. The main cause of this was the European diseases that the natives had no immunity to, but a fraction of this decrease was from straight-up murders by the Spaniards. People were forced to convert to Catholicism, and the Church gained much power and wealth. During the French Revolution and the American War of Independence Spain lost much of its power and influence in Mexico. The idea of becoming independent from Spain began to spread, but foreign nations started taking advantage of the weak Mexico. The United States bought Texas, New Mexico, California, and Arizona for fifteen million U.S. dollars, and there were several different dictators that came into power. A number of revolutionary groups stood up, and in 1917 a congress made a new constitution which is what the present one is based on today.
The type of government that runs Mexico is a Federal Republic. Vicente Fox, the current president, is the first real president without a majorly corrupt election in a long time. Some of the languages that are frequently spoken are Spanish, different forms of Mayan, and Nahuatl. There is an estimated 105,202,903 people living in Mexico as of July 2005.
The past relations with the United States of...