Mexican Economy
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Mexican Economy
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 Fernández de Córdoba, who in
1517 discovered traces of the Maya in Yucatán. 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 Sp...
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