Mexico History

Mexico’s history is long and eventful. The first residents reached the area more than 20,000 years ago.

In time, the descendants of these first immigrants produced monumental architecture, incredibly precise calendars and advanced agricultural accomplishments (they gave the world corn, chocolate and tomatoes).Beginning around 1200 BC, a series of great civilizations waxed and waned in the central and southern portions of Mexico, including the Olmecs, the Maya, the Toltecs and a number of other groups.

 The Aztecs began their rise to power around AD 1200, establishing their capital at Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City) and eventually conquering all other groups in central Mexico. Like some of their predecessors, they were a warrior civilization. Rivals who were forced to pay tribute to the Aztecs were looking for an opportunity to throw off their rule, and that opportunity soon presented itself.

Cortes first stepped ashore on the island of Cozumel in 1519 and established the town of Veracruz on the gulf coast. With just 500 followers, the conquistador engineered the downfall of an Aztec empire. With Cortes' victory, a new people, culture and nation arose. The Spanish colonial capital - Mexico City - was literally built from the rubble of Tenochtitlan. For the next 300 years it served as the center of the vast colony of New Spain.

Mexican patriots fought for and gained independence from the Spanish crown by 1821. The ensuing decades were turbulent for the new country: Mexico passed through years of dictatorship and instability. From the 1830s through the 1850s, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna ruled the country. During this period, Mexico lost half of its territory in wars against rebellious Texans (in 1836) and against the U.S. (in 1847).

The modern era began in 1910 with the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution. The decade-long conflict produced some of Mexico's most enduring figures, including the rebel leaders Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) held power through the next seven decades, giving Mexico one of the longest-lasting governments in Latin America.

The 1990s were unstable for Mexico. After years of state control, the government began liberalizing the economy, joining the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. For a time, the economy seemed to be booming until a massive devaluation of its currency dragged the country back into crisis. That same year, a small group of rebels in Chiapas State, calling themselves Zapatistas, staged a rebellion that drew international attention to the poverty endured by the country's Amerindians. A series of high profile political assassinations rocked already waning faith in the government. After several prominent victories by opposition candidates in local and regional elections, Vicente Fox was elected president in 2000, breaking the PRI's hold on power for the first time since the Revolution.