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Mexico Histories

Mexico Histories . Mesoamerica Chronology. Paleo-Indian (50-25,000 ya - 7000 BC) hunting and gathering. Probably arrived via Bering Strait Archaic (7000 - 2300 BC )  (agricultural transition, increasingly sedentary, unlike northern Amerindians)

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Mexico Histories

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  1. Mexico Histories

  2. MesoamericaChronology • Paleo-Indian (50-25,000 ya - 7000 BC) hunting and gathering. Probably arrived via Bering Strait • Archaic (7000 - 2300 BC )  (agricultural transition, increasingly sedentary, unlike northern Amerindians) • Pre-classic (2300 BC - AD 250)    (Olmec culture of the Gulf coast) • “CULTURE HEARTH”: subsistence –> civilization • Closest civilization is 7,000 miles away in China • Classic (AD 250-900) • Post-Classic (AD 900-1520)

  3. Pre-Columbian scalar comparisons • 10,000 ancient cities • Olmec-1200 BC: Egypt ruled by Ramses the Great. No civilization in W. Europe • Teotihuacan-600 AD: 200,000 pop when Constantinople had 500,000 pop • Tenochtitlan, Aztec capital- 16th C: 5x larger than London.

  4. “Mesoamerican Culture” • Maize: atole, tamales, tortillas • Maize god central in Popol Vuh, also central for Aztecs • Computations, and Celestial Cycles • Venus • Zero • Base 20 system • Calendars • Solar Calendar—more accurate than contemporary Europe’s—like Gregorian. 18 months x 20 days+5 days • Sacred Round: 270 days • Calendar Round: 52 years • Long count: begins with 0 (Aug 11, 3114 BC)5000 years

  5. Olmec Culture: 1200-400 BC

  6. Olmecs • Discovered in 19th C. • Dated in 1950’s • Heads 5-11 feet high • Architecture and sculpture: stone age technology • No pack animals, yet stone came from 30-80 miles away • No wheels for construction • Stone tools: obsidian, no metal tools • Trade with people in Honduras • Stimulated cultural growth: religions, feathered serpent deities, pyramids, ball playing, sculpture, maize

  7. The Classic Period • AD 250-900 • Teotihuacan in Central Mexico; • city-states in the Maya lowlands • Monte Alban in southern Mexico • Warfare and urban collapse by the end • Power shifts to southern cities: Chichen Itza

  8. Teotihuacan

  9. Teotihuacan: “The place where the gods were made” • Grew during first two centuries AD60000-80,000 inhabitants • Eventually 125,000 (6th largest city in the world during 4th C. ) • Extensive interaction with other Mesoamerican Indians (Tikal and Copan) • Controlled area the size of Belgium • Resource rich, but rulers are anonymous • No written record • Cataclysmic end 650-750 AD, but WHY?

  10. Map of Teo-tihuacan http://archaeology.la.asu.edu/teo/intro/citymp2.htm

  11. Sun Pyramid

  12. Post classic period • AD 900 - 1520 • Aztecs/Tenochtitlan in Central Mexico; • Maya highlands

  13. Post-Classic: Aztec Empire • Emerged 1200 AD on ruins of previous cultures • Eclectic borrowing from Maya and Teotihuacan • Triple Alliance • Tribute as far away as Guatemala; Indirect rule. • Strong military • Rigidly classist • Human sacrifice (like earlier cultures)

  14. Tenochtitlan-1325

  15. Tenochtitlan • Capital of loose confederation of city-states with 25 million pop. Area size of Italy • Pop. 250,000 • 100,000 canoes • Engineering feats building rich farmland in lake Tenochtitlan • Wide bridges and causeways, gardens, zoos and aviaries • Clean: drainage system and nightly garbage pickup

  16. Valley of Mexico • Aztec settled—ideal conditions for original plant domestication • Mexico City emerged here later • Climatic conditions: • 8000 feet • Mild temperatures • Fertile soils • Adequate water

  17. Cortez Lands: • 1519 Cortez lands at Veracruz • “I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart that can be cured only with gold,” • Previously shipwrecked sailors • Jeronimo de Aguilar/ La Malinche • Gonzalo Guerrero • Cortez allies with Tlazcalans • 1521 Cortez takes the Aztec capital

  18. Why were Aztecs defeated? • Conquistadors: • European “war machine”  holy wars against Moors • Militant Catholicism— • Pope granted leadership in all dominions. • Driven by desire for gold • Better Technology • Aztec “Omens”—Moctezuma is indecisive • Different “rules of the game” • Internal weaknesses of Aztecs • Young civilizations • Resentful populations who had been exploited • Lack of immunity to European diseases: smallpox kills many

  19. New Spain: 1521-1700 • Port at Veracruz / Import of brood stocks of work animals • Encomienda system • Building of Mexico City and network of churches • Spain flourishes with silver • Mexican population decline from 12-25 million to 3 million by 1630 • Disease • AbuseRefusal of baptism • Cultural dislocation

  20. The Church’s Influence • Cortez recommends mendicant orders to convert natives to Catholicism: Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians • Vows of poverty; not secular priests. Humanists • Partial conversion: syncretic religion. “Virgin of Guadelupe” • Ethnography • Social reforms-slavery and encomienda outlawed • Bartholome de las Casas, Bishop of Chiapas • Provoked first talk of independence

  21. Colonial Legacies on the Landscape • Urban Landscapes: • Mexico city remade in Spanish colonial image • environmental problems • Flooding and Subsidence • Water supply • Air quality…altitude, and inversions like Denver • Provincial towns: • Plaza with church, royal palace and town hall • Rural Landscapes: • Encomienda Haciendas • Grazing—vaqueros • Agriculture supported by Debt Peonage • Mining: • 18th C. Mexico silver production = rest of world • Repartimento labor

  22. Social Legacies of New Spain • Social/ Racial Caste system: Enforced by law • White ruling class 1 million/7 million • Peninsulares--.3% • Criollos—18% • People of Color • Mestizos-11% • Indians—60% • Mulattos—10% • Black--.2% • FUSION: Intermediate class of native allies; • racial mixingMestizaje • political/governance institutions

  23. Bourbon Reforms-1700-1821 • French maneuver ruler Philip V to power • Modernization influenced by Enlightenment • Streamlined government • Broke up Spanish government monopoly to freer trade • Increased agricultural exports • Success encourages peninsulares to migrate • Racist class system remains economic growth remains in hands of white pop. • Tensions rise between peninsulares and criollos

  24. Independence • Hidalgo: 1810: • “My children—will you free yourselves?” • Criollo, educated, priest, radical • Unwittingly fomented uprising against peninsulares • Criollos realize they are more like pen.than not • Mestizo uprising led by Jose Maria Morelos • Advocated end to caste system, equal rights, redistribution of church lands • Spain liberalizes rule in Mexico • Criollos alarmed by thisMilitary coup aided by church 1821: Plan de Iguala • Independence for everyone, constitutional monarchy, officially catholic, Iturbide installed as Emperor

  25. Years of Chaos: 1823-1876 • Feuds and Class differences: 50 govs in 40 years • No social reforns • Losers and Heroes • Emperor Iturbide: (1823-1833) “distinguished for his immorality”and devastation of the fragile economy • The Gadsden Purchase • Santa Anna: 11 x in office: retreated to hacienda only to pop up to make matters worse • The Alamo 1835 • Peace treaty: traded Texan independence for his life • Mexican American War

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