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History Of Mexico : A Long And Rich One

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The History of Mexico is a long and rich one, but it is also a really fascinating one. Before the spanish arrived in Mexico, it was already largely inhabited by native Mexicans. These native Mexicans were known as the Chichimecs and they were mostly hunter and gatherer societies. In the rest of Mexico however existed much more advanced populations. Populations like Mayans, Totonacs, Huastecs, Otomis, Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Tlaxcalans, Tarascans, and the Aztecs. These civilizations developed elaborate urban systems of religious, political, and commercial purposes. Cities like Tenochtitlan and Chichen Itza are examples of such cities. When the Spanish arrived into central Mexico, the Aztecs had controlled most of the mesa central through a tribute system. The reason the Aztecs were in the central mesa region was because of their prophecy to found a city on the basis of an eagle with a snake on its beak that was resting on a cactus, this later became Mexicos national symbol. Tenochtitlan was founded in the 1300s and became the capital of the Aztec empire, which they then began warring with local Tribes. Mexicos name actually derives from the Aztec god of war Mexitli. From the time the Spanish landed in Mexico until the end of Hernando Cortez’s conquest 1521, Mexico was a colony of Spain. Cortez first entered the valley of Mexico on the mesa central in 1519 after marching from Veracruz, the town that he had founded on the gulf coastal plain. With only 200 men, the conquest of the

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