History Essay, Research Paper
Mexico was the site of some of the earliest and most advanced
civilizations in the western
hemisphere. The Mayan culture, according to archaeological research,
attained its greatest
development about the 6th century AD. Another group, the Toltec,
established an empire in
the Valley of Mexico and developed a great civilization still evidenced
by the ruins of
magnificent buildings and monuments. The leading tribe, the Aztec,
built great cities and
developed an intricate social, political, and religious organization.
Their civilization
was highly developed, both intellectually and artistically. The first
European explorer to
visit Mexican territory was Francisco Fern ndez de C rdoba, who in 1517
discovered traces of
the Maya in Yucat n. In 1535, some years after the fall of the Aztec
capital, the basic
form of colonial government in Mexico was instituted with the
appointment of the first
Spanish viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza. A distinguishing characteristic
of colonial Mexico was
the exploitation of the Native Americans. Although thousands of them
were killed during the
Spanish conquest, they continued to be the great majority of
inhabitants of what was
referred to as New Spain, speaking their own languages and retaining
much of their native
culture. Inevitably they became the laboring class. Their plight was
the result of the
‘encomienda’ system, by which Spanish nobles, priests, and soldiers
were granted not only
large tracts of land but also jurisdiction over all Native American
residents. A second
characteristic of colonial Mexico was the position and power of the
Roman Catholic church.
Franciscan, Augustinian, Dominican, and Jesuit missionaries entered the
country with the
conquistadores. The Mexican church became enormously wealthy through
gifts and bequests that
could be held in perpetuity. Before 1859, when church holdings were
nationalized, the
church owned one-third of all property and land. A third characteristic
was the existence of
rigid social classes: the Native Americans, the mestizos, mixed Spanish
and Native American
(an increasingly large group during the colonial era), black slaves
which were brought from
Africa and the Caribbean, freed blacks and white Mexicans. The white
Mexicans were
themselves divided. Highest of all classes was that of the
peninsulares, those born in
Spain, as opposed to the criollos, or Creoles people of pure European
descent who had been
born and raised in New Spain. The peninsulares were sent from Spain to
hold the highest
colonial offices in both the civil and church administrations. The
peninsulars held
themselves higher than the criollos, who were almost never given high
office. The
resentment of the criollos became an influential force in the later
movement for
independence. In 1808 the viceroy, under pressure from influential
criollos, permitted them
to participate in the administration. Other peninsular officials
objected and expelled the
viceroy. In the midst of these factional struggles a political
rebellion was begun by the
Mexican people. Mexico has been rocked by political rebellion during
most of its entire
history in one way or another. Under the various dictatorships that
Mexico found itself
under at times in history, it made tremendous advances in economic and
commercial
development. Many of the new undertakings were financed and managed by
foreigners (mostly
American and European). This was and continues to be a major factor in
the discontent of
most Mexicans. Moreover, the government favored the rich owners of
large estates,
increasing their properties by assigning them communal lands that
belonged to the Native
Americans. When the Native Americans revolted, they were sold into
peonage. Discontent,
anger and a spirit of revolt continued to grow throughout Mexico.
Madero was elected
president in 1911, but was not forceful enough to end the political
strife. Other rebel
leaders, particularly Emiliano Zapata and Francisco (Pancho) Villa,
completely refused to
submit to presidential authority. Victoriano Huerta, head of the
Madero army, conspired
with the rebel leaders and in 1913 seized control of Mexico City. New
armed revolts under
Zapata, Villa, and Venustiano Carranza began, and Huerta resigned in
1914. Carranza took
power in the same year, and Villa at once declared war on him. In
addition to the ambitions
of rival military leaders, intervention by foreign governments seeking
to protect the
interests of their nationals added to the confusion. In August 1915, a
commission
representing eight Latin American countries and the United States
recognized Carranza as the
lawful authority in Mexico. The rebel leaders, except for Villa, laid
down their arms. The
bandit leader incited his forces to commit crimes against Americans to
show his resentment
against the United States and in 1916 led a raid on Columbus, New
Mexico. As a result, an
American force under General John J. Pershing was sent to Mexico. A new
constitution,
enacted in 1917, provided for a labor code, prohibited a president from
serving consecutive
terms, expropriated all property of religious orders, and restored
communal lands to the
Native Americans. Many provisions dealing with labor and social welfare
were advanced. Some
of the most drastic were intended to curb foreign ownership of mineral
properties and land.
In 1936 an expropriation law was passed enabling the government to
seize private property
whenever necessary for public or social welfare. The national railways
of Mexico were
nationalized in 1937, as were the soil rights of the oil companies. A
government agency
called Petr leos Mexicanos, or Pemex, was created to administer the
nationalized industry.
The expropriations seriously affected the Mexican oil industry, for it
became difficult for
Mexico to sell oil in U.S., Dutch, and British territories. Mexico was
forced to arrange
barter deals with Italy, Germany, and Japan. The oil trade with these
nations was
interrupted by World War II. In 1940, the so-called Good Neighbor
Policy of the United
States became dominant in Mexican politics. This policy involved close
cooperation with the
United States in commercial and military matters. Mexico agreed to
allow the United States
Air Force to use Mexican airfields and also agreed to export critical
and strategic
materials (mostly minerals) only to countries in the western hemisphere.
Consistent with its
policy of cooperation with the United States, Mexico severed diplomatic
relations with
Japan, Italy and Germany in December 1941. In May 1942, after the
sinking of two Mexican
ships by submarines, the Mexican Congress declared war on Germany,
Italy, and Japan. Later
that same year a trade agreement, establishing mutual tariff
concessions, was negotiated by
Mexico and the United States. In 1944, Mexico agreed to pay U.S. oil
companies $24 million
plus interest, for oil properties expropriated in 1938. In June 1945,
Mexico became an
original member of the United Nations. The government stabilized the
peso in with the aid
of loans from the Treasury of the United States and the International
Monetary Fund. In
1950, the problem of Mexican laborers who entered the United States to
seek seasonal farm
employment became a matter of grave concern to the two governments.
Official agreements
between Mexico and the United States provided for the legal entry of a
specified number of
such workers annually. Approximately 1 million, however, crossed the
border illegally every
year. The problem was further complicated by the demand of the Mexican
government for
guarantees against the exploitation of its citizens by U.S. employers
and by the hostility
of U.S. farm labor organizations toward the competition of Mexican
migratory laborers
willing to work for substandard wages. In March 1952, the Congress of
the United States
passed a bill providing for the punishment by fines and imprisonment of
those recruiting and
employing aliens who entered the country illegally. The Mexican economy
grew at a healthy
annual pace during the period from 1970 to 1974, but beginning in 1975
growth decreased
markedly and inflation rose substantially. In an attempt to reduce the
nation’s
foreign-trade deficit, the government in 1976 devalued the peso by more
than 50 percent by
changing from a fixed to a freely floating exchange rate. A
potentially beneficial economic
development was the discovery in 1974 and 1975 of huge crude-petroleum
deposits in Campeche,
Chiapas, Tabasco, and Veracruz states. Oil production more than
doubled during the latter
half of the 1970s. By the mid-1980s a rapid increase in foreign debt,
coupled with falling
oil prices, had plunged the country into severe financial straits. In
1989, the Salinas
government sped up the privatization of state-controlled corporations
and modified
restrictive trade and investment regulations to encourage foreign
investment by permitting
full control of corporations by foreign investors. The current
president, Ernesto Zedillo,
is a strong advocate of reform. He has taken the lead in performing
budget cuts, price and
tax adjustments, tight monetary policy and further deregulation and
privatization.
Population
The Mexican population is composed of three main groups: the people of
Spanish descent, the
Native Americans, and the people of mixed Spanish and Native American
ancestry, or mestizos.
Of these groups, the mestizos are by far the largest, constituting
about 55 percent of the
population. The Native Americans total about 30 percent. The
population of Mexico is
90,419,606. The population density in 1990 was 119 people per square
mile with about 73
percent of Mexicans living in urban areas. (Encarta, “Mexico”)
Political Divisions
Mexico consists of 32 administrative divisions 31 states and the
Distrito Federal (federal
district), which is the seat of the federal administration. The
national executive power is
vested in a president, who must be Mexican-born and the child of a
native Mexican. The
president is popularly elected for a six-year term and may never be
reelected. The president
appoints the cabinet, which is confirmed by the congress. The
legislative power in Mexico
consists of the senate and the chamber of deputies. The upper house is
a senate, with 64
members popularly elected for six years. Two senators are elected from
each state and from
the federal district. The lower house is a chamber of deputies, made
up of 500 members
elected to 3-year terms. Three hundred are elected from single-member
districts based on
population, and the remainder are elected according to a system of
proportional
representation. Senators and deputies may not serve two consecutive
terms. The highest
tribunal in Mexico is the supreme court of justice, made up of 21 full-
time members
appointed by the country’s president with the consent of the senate.
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