Cortes' Conquest of the Aztecs

           Many years before Mexico was a country, it was a large piece of land, with many tribal, ancient civilizations living on it. The area that is now known as Mexico has been home to many different civilizations. One of the first known civilizations to have lived there were the Aztecs. Not much is known about the Aztecs, they were tribal people, who were very good architects. Shortly after the discovery of the “New World”, Spain, sent many military leaders over to the newly found continent, their main mission was to explore it, and claim it under the name of Spain. These men were called Conquistadors. One of the most famous conquistadors, and the one who captured Mexico, was Hernan Cortes.

Hernan was the one in charge of exploring the Mexico area. He set up a camp in Santiago, Cuba. When he learned that there were Aztecs living in Mexico, he had to plan an attack. He traveled down the coast of Cuba, and eventually, crossed the Yucatan strait. From there he traveled around the Yucatan peninsula, and to the city of San Juan de Ulua, attacking many cities along the way like Cozumel, Campeche, and Photochan. After he headed for the Capital city of Tenochtitlan, on the way, he made stops at the cities of Zempoala, Quihuiztlan, and Villa Rica. At the Capital, he killed the Aztec leader, Montezuma, and essentially, wiped out all of the Aztec empire. He then claimed Mexico for Spain, while the other Conquistadors captured the rest of South America. This was the first of the Conquest’s made in Mexico, and led to more, many years down the line.¹ 

Racism in Colonial Mexico 

            The Mexican colonial experience was largely characterized by racism. Under the rule of Spain, the native Mexicans were treated very poorly. There were many Spaniards that traveled to Mexico, and even lived there. They were very racist towards the Mexicans, and treated them, almost like slaves. There was no government in Mexico, they were under the rule of Spain, and had to follow the Spanish laws and regulations. The main religion in Spain was Roman Catholic, and the Spaniards forced the Mexicans, to also follow that religion, even though they didn’t want to. They much preferred the Greek Orthodox religion, but the Spanish didn’t allow them, even after the Independence, they still had to follow Roman Catholic. The economy was also very limited in Mexico as well. The Spaniards were well aware that there were very well made products in Mexico, so in order to fight off competition, they banned the production of certain types of agriculture in Mexico. This severely stunned the economy in Mexico.²

There was also a caste system in place in Mexico that heavily favored the Spaniards. At the top of the caste would be the Spaniards themselves. Because of the enormous wealth in Mexico, compared to other Spanish colonies, many Spaniards were attracted to Mexico, and went there to trade, or even live there.³ With the large amount of Spaniards living in Mexico, they treated the native Mexicans as a minority, and even like slaves. Under the Spaniards were the Creoles. This group actually consisted of many castes.⁴ At the top of the Creole list was the Nouveau Riche. These were the people that had accumulated a very large fortune though some way or the other. These people usually were one generation away from Spanish immigrants, meaning that their parents were born in Spain, but they immigrated to Mexico, and gave birth to their baby, who would be considered a Nouveau Riche. Just under them would be the Cabildo. They were direct dependents of the conquistadors. They lived solely off the riches of their ancestors. They did not work at all, and had a very elegant and good life. After them is the Petite Bourgeoisie. They were the shop keepers, businessmen, school administrators, small-land owners, and pretty much and well-paying job there is. They were also government employees. These were strait decedents of the Aztecs, who had done good in their lives. At the bottom of the Pyramid were the Artisans, they did all the dirty work, and were the lowest class. Some of them did have government jobs, but those were still pretty low, like janitor or night watchmen. They were also direct decedents of Aztecs, but they were in the worse half of the group. Based on this caste system, the longer you had lived in Mexico, the less privileges you have, and the lower on the caste system you would be. This system was very unfair to the Native Mexicans, who had very little rights at all. 

Importance of Mexican Independence Leaders

              The living conditions for colonial Mexico, as you know, were terrible. The natives were poorly treated, and longed for independence. Even some of the Spaniards who had moved to Mexico, wanted to be independent.⁵ In the early stages of the independence, very little was being done, they only had one goal, which was to be self-governed. The only problem was they were not a unified force, they were working in individual forces, ultimately achieving nothing. The one thing that they needed was a leader, someone who would unite them, someone to push them towards a similar goal, someone to even define that goal. During the course of the Mexican’s struggle for independence, there arose many great leaders, some were native Mexicans, some came from other countries, and some even came from Spaniard decent. But it is certain, that what really won them the war were the powerful leaders they had leading them.

            The first of these very influential leaders was Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.⁶ He was a French political, and he was also a priest. He had a deep interest in the Native Indians. He lived in Mexico, and one of his goals in life was bringing independence to Mexico. He was possibly the first leader to have arisen with the intention of freedom. His leader ship did not last long, although it did make a lasting effect on the path of the independence. He rallied a group of about 4,000 untrained men under his influence.⁷ He then led these men to the capital. There was then a huge fight, which ended in the tragic defeat of Hidalgo’s army. Most of his army was killed, and Hidalgo was executed in front of a firing squad. Although he was killed very quickly, he was an example to many people that independence was possible. This was considered the beginning of the war for independence. 

            There were a handful of Hidalgo’s men that went on to become leaders of a rebellion, but the most influential leaders was Jose Maria Morelos.⁸ After the tragic defect of Hidalgo, he wanted to carry on the rebellion. In June of 1813, he called a conference, with a representative from each providence. The purpose of this conference was to discuss the “Future of Mexico as an independent nation.” The major result of this conference, was they drafted up a document, which listed all of the things that they wanted to change in Mexico. They wanted popular sovereignty, universal male suffrage, to make the Roman Catholic Church the official church of Mexico, the abolish of slavery, the end of government monopolies, and the end to corporal punishment. After the Spanish government took notice of this convention, he was captured and executed the same way Hidalgo was. After Morelos died, there were not many influential leaders who arose for the next six years (1815-1821), as such, almost no progress towards independence happened in that time. Almost all of the fighting was by small guerrilla groups. Although Jose also died very quickly, he set the rules for what they were aiming for, and further helped the independence.

            Finally after this stand by, a hero emerges to finally take charge in the independence, Vincente Guerrero, but he has a foe, Sir Augustin de Iturbide.⁹ Augustin was the leader of a small army, sent by Vicery Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, to defeat Guerrero’s army. Augustin was responsible for persecuting many of Hidalgo and Morelo’s forces during their time. So it seemed he was very against independence. Guerrero and his army was in Oaxaca, when Augustin found him. What was supposed to be an easy slaughter for Augustin, turned into a negotiation. Augustin called a meeting with Guerrero to discuss the “principles of a renewed independence struggle.” Augustin tried to negotiate new terms of independence. He and Guerrero had negotiated and agreed on three new terms they would fight for. These terms were that Mexico would have an independent government that is ruled by a conservative European prince, the many peninsulas will have the same rights as the rest of Mexico, and the Roman Catholic Church would remain the official church of Mexico. This was called The Plan of Iguala.¹⁰ Augustin also vowed to help this new independence spread, and see to it until it was over. Augustin had changed from completely against the independence, to becoming the most influential person involved. Augustin rallied a huge army, his original and Gerrero’s combined, and spread this new independence. Other smaller forces joined this new independence, and the army became so large, Spain was forced to resign. Finally, on Spetember 27, 1821, the Treaty of Corboda was signed, which recognized Mexico as a free country under the terms of the Plan of Iguala. Finally Mexico had gained independence, with the help of many very influential leaders, who were vital, in the freedom of Mexico.