MexicoLand of the Aztecs

Latin America

• Includes all lands south of Mexico.• Called “Latin” because most

countries use Spanish as their official language.• The Spanish language is rooted in

Latin, the language of the Roman Empire.

Geography• There are two mountain ranges in

Mexico, the Sierra Madre Oriental (East) and Occidental (West).• Volcanoes dot the Mexican

landscape.• Volcanic soil is rich in nutrients,

which makes for good farmland.

Coffee

Corn, Wheat, Rice

Bananas, Papaya, Avocado

Mining

• Volcanoes also bring useful minerals to the surface, including Silver, Gold, Copper, and Lead.

Oil!

• Mexico has oil in the Gulf. Much of this oil is exported to the United States.

Tourism• Mexico is a premier travel

destination for its beaches and tropical weather.

Earliest settlers• 10,000+ years ago, nomadic hunters drifted southward and settled the lands of Mexico.

• By 3500 BC, they were growing corn, squash, and beans.

• The Olmecs developed a great civilization, followed by the Toltecs and Zapotecs.

Aztecs

• By 1300, the Aztecs were the dominant power in Mexico.• Their capital city, Tenochtitlan, is

now known as Mexico City.• The Aztecs built the city on an

island in a lake.• Over 300,000 people lived in

Tenochtitlan.

Aztecs• Built Pyramids and temples to their gods• Performed human sacrifice on altars

Spanish Conquest• Hernando Cortez -

Conquistador• Took 600 men to

Mexico• Burned ships• Got help from non-

Aztec natives• Kidnapped king

Montezuma

Smallpox

• Native Americans had no previous exposure to European diseases

• 95 percent of population had died of disease or war in 80 years.

Colonization

• Native Americans enslaved throughout Mexico• Spanish Colony for 300 years• Mexicans forced to convert to Catholicism• Named Mexico after the Aztec people, who

also called themselves the Mexica.

Mestizo

• 60% of Mexico is Mestizo• Mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry.

Independence

• 1821-Father Hidalgo, a Catholic priest, starts a revolt that leads to independence.

• 1871- Porfirio Diaz, a dictator, encourages foreign investment in Mexico

• Mexico becomes a modern, industrial nation

Revolution!

• 1910- two revolutionary leaders fight for a new constitution:– Pancho Villa– Emiliano Zapata

• Nearly 1 million Mexicans die in the fighting• 1917- A new constitution was written• By 1920s Institutional Revolutionary Party

takes control of the government.

The New Constitution

• The revolution took land (haciendas) from rich landowners and distributed it to the poor.

• The constitution took more land from the rich and created communal farms called ejidos

Modern Problems

• Overpopulation in cities• No jobs in rural areas• Mexico city:– Half of population is unemployed– Grows by 2000 people per day