Colonial Mexico
Photo: Attributed to Diego Rivera, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Mexico was already populated by a number of Mesoamerican indigenous societies, with several cities larger and grander than any in Europe, when the first Spanish expeditions arrived on its shores. This is the history of their conquest and the mestizaje, or mixing of European, Indigenous, and African peoples to form a new nation. This article focuses on the history beginning with the first European encounters in the early 16th century, through periods of silver mining and evangelization and finally ending with the War for Independence from Spain in 1810.
ConquestAfter Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to the new world in 1492, he and several other explorers sailing under the Spanish flag made subsequent voyages, settling in Cuba, and using that as a base for further…
New SpainIn the early 16th century, Spain claimed most of North and South America, a claim that was legitimized by a papal decree that essentially recognized what is now Brazil as Portuguese territory and just about everything…
Silver MiningGold was what Cortes lusted after with all his greedy heart, and he did indeed find lots of gold in Mexico, but silver is the metal that truly made Spain the richest empire on earth for more than 300 years.
EvangelizationThe conversion of souls to Christianity was a major part of Spanish colonization from the very first explorations. Missionaries were participants in the conquest of all Mesoamerican civilizations.
MestizajeRacial divides cause myriad problems in societies where people are treated as unequal.
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Colonial Mexico" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Attributed to Diego Rivera, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons