Abhinay Appannagari

Mid Term Report

The OriginalsThe earliest known civilization in the

Americas is the Olmecs. They had a long history, stretching from 1500 BCE to 400 BCE. The Olmecs had calendars and a written language, however, very little is known about their language.

). By 1200 BCE the Olmecs had cities that included the oldest pyramids we know of in the Americas, these early pyramids were earthen mounds and very little is known about them.

The Maya

The MayaThe Mayans are probably the most well

known ancient Mexican culture because a lot of their history is still around today. The Mayan people were very diverse and could speak over thirty languages and lived in dozens of environments.

The Mayan gold and riches is what sparked Cortés’ interest in Mexico, he wanted to become extremely wealthy with all of the Mayan gold objects, This greed caused the Maya to be the first ones to fight the first battles against the Spanish invaders.

Spanish ConquestThe whole point of being a Spanish

knight was to obtain land and win converts to the Catholic Religion.

The Spaniards had the intention of fighting in the name of Jesus Christ and to spread Catholicism to the natives of Mexico

Cortes’ GreedCortes told his men that they were

fighting to promote Catholicism , but in reality was only interested in becoming extremely wealthy with the gold and riches the Natives possessed.

Later even his own men whom once were noble knights for the catholic church began feeling the sense of greed which later caused Cortes to take over the Ancient city of Tenochtitlan.

TenochtitlanTenochtitlan was considered to be one of

the largest if not the largest city in the world at this time.

Tenochtitlan was more organized and clean than any city the Europeans have ever seen.

The city had canals and water ways, even an irrigation system for agriculture.

The Spaniard’s greed was fueled by how wealthy the city was because they had gold and jewels everywhere you looked

Colonization Cortes taking over Tenochtitlan eventually

caused the Spanish colonization of Mexico and the creation of new Spain.

Spain began spreading Catholicism and building churches to promote their religion to the natives and force conversion

The colonial period lasted from 1512-1810 and included a period of conquest which was from 1521-1650

During 1650-1810 Mexico began having many independence issues until eventually in 1810 the Mexican born Spaniards declared war against the Spanish authorities .

Independence the Mexican War of Independence

which began in 1810. This war was a conflict between the people of Mexico (Mexican-born Spaniards) and the Spanish colonial authorities and lasted eleven years. The war started when Hidalgo y Costilla declaration sparked a war. In 1821 independence from Spain was achieved by the Treaty of Cordoba and the First Mexican Empire began.

The New RepublicThe New Republic adopted a liberal

constitution which is very similar to that of the United States. The main political parties in the New Republic were the Conservatives and the Liberals. The Conservatives composed of people that favored the Catholic church, Landowners, and a monarchy while the Liberals were the people who favored a secular government and a republic.