Mexicos War for Independence :: essays research papers fc

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mexico is the northernmost country of Latin America. It lies just south of the United States. The Rio Grande forms about two-thirds of the boundary between Mexico and the United States. Among all the countries of the Western Hemisphere, only the United States and Brazil have more people than Mexico. Mexico City is the capital and largest city of Mexico. It also is one of the world's largest metropolitan areas in population. Hundreds of years ago, the Indians of Mexico built large cities, developed a calendar, invented a counting system and used a form of writing. The last Indian empire in Mexico, the Aztec, fell to Spanish invaders in 1521. For the next 300 years, Mexico was a Spanish colony. The Spaniards took Mexico's riches, but they also introduced many changes in farming, government, industry and religion. The descendants of the Spaniards became Mexico's ruling class. The Indians remained poor and uneducated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the Spanish colonial period, a third group of people developed in Mexico. These people, who had both Indian and white ancestors, became known as Mestizos. Today, the great majority of Mexicans are Mestizos, and they generally take great pride in their Indian ancestry. A number of government programs stress the Indian role in Mexican culture. In 1949, the government made an Indian the symbol of Mexican nationality. The war for independence is sometimes considered a revolutionary war. It is not, however. The war for independence was fought to end colonial rule. The war was based on politics and a separation of powers. In this essay I will start from the rising discontentment amongst the indigenous population and how the higher ranking classes exploited their failures for their own societal class gain in a system where they have always been favored more by societal leaders. Once New Spain settled in its new territory, inner cores were created as part of the system. New Spain, from now on, would be under direction of the mother country Spain. Its colonial system would be entrenched in the new colony and therefore, its economy would strive to gain profit and make Spain richer and stronger. The economy was based on agriculture, ranching, mining, industry, and commerce. The majority of labor that would go into doing these jobs would be from the indigenous people, or â€Å"Indians†. Although some â€Å"Indians† were paid decent wages, most were treated unfairly or poorly. They worked long, hard hours.