Setting up a Colony

Have you ever heard of business tycoon who made a million dollars for his company but never receiving a penny of it?

How would you react to this?

Once the Aztecs had surrendered, the Spanish men who followed Cortés to conquer the new world were looking to rebel against him. Cortés had made promises to the men by saying they would become "rich beyond their wildest dreams". These men saw the treasures taken in Tenochtitlan. However, the treasures were sent back to Spain with none of it coming to the soldiers who helped to take over the land.

The life of a soldier is difficult. Years away from family, having to seek their own form of payment through that which was taken during battle. This led to unrest. Cortés agreed to write the king and seek payment for the soldiers who had done all the work. He knew that the men needed to stay in order to help him expand the Spanish Empire, but was not sure of how he would keep them from leaving or worse, killing Cortés.

Cortés's Solution

With two policies being established, Cortés though he had solved the problem:

1. encomienda
2. Marriage Law - every Spaniard either had to bring his family to New Spain or he must marry an Indigenous woman. If the man was not married in 6 months, he would lose his encomienda.

A Changing Worldview

By giving the soldiers their land and forcing them to marry, Cortés took the focus off the gold and treasures, helping him to colonize New Spain. By having their men marry indigenous women, the tie between the newcomers and the people from the colony would be strengthened as they would be building their own families of mixed race.

What worldview might the Mestizo children have had? Would it have been mainly Spanish, Aztec or something new??

Mexico Demographics Today

The Independence Movement

While Cortés was turning his soldiers into settlers, King Carlos (Charles) promoted his trusty councillor, Don Antonio de Mendoza to be the viceroy of New Spain. The king of Spain chose to demote Cortés because of fear that he would try to become the King of New Spain and separate from Spain.

What characteristics in Cortés may have lead the king to think this?

Discontent in New Spain

Knowing the indigenous people were not easily persuaded to support their new rulers, King Carlos wanted to make sure the governance of New Spain was directly controlled by Spain. He wanted to make sure that gold, silver and farm products were sent back to Spain in order to help the king fight in the European wars that were taking place at this time.

Unfortunately, both the Spanish settlers and the Aztecs were not happy with how Spain was becoming extremely wealthy at the expense of New Spain. There was an extreme shortage of good roads, schools, and housing. The discontent continued to embroil the culturally diverse nation and eventually 1821, Mexico became independent from Spain.

Independence

The Mestizo were in great poverty and with the exploiting of Mexico for the benefit of Spain, a new leader arose amongst the people in New Spain; José Maria Morelos. Morelos became the leader of the Mexican independence movement in the early 19th century. Although his army continued to defeat the better-equipped Spanish, he was captured and executed. Today, Morelos is heralded as being a national hero of Mexico.

The Creoles

Being the most wealthy class in Mexico at the time of independence movement, they were expected to pay higher taxes. With the revolutions in France and the United States, the creoles began to support the idea of independence.

Mexican Culture Today

With a unique culture that has brought together the Indigenous, Mestizo and Spanish traditions, much of the tradition can be traced through the Roman Catholic Church of Mexico. Much of today's festivals and traditions include both Christian and many of the traditional Aztec festivals that were developed long before the Spanish arrived in Mexico.

The Day of the Dead