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America. The northern portion, encompassing the American Southwest, Mexico, and Central America, became the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Wealth from New Spain came from silver and agriculture. A system of trade developed across the Atlantic and was referred to as the Colum- bian Exchange because it generally followed the routes of Columbus’s voyages of discovery. New crops, animals, and precious gems and metals made their way back to Europe from New Spain, whereas the Spaniards introduced European crops, livestock, and deadly diseases like smallpox. These diseases decimated the Amerindian populations of the Americas, including Mexico, leaving only a small percentage of indigenous peoples behind. Faced with a shortage of forced labor, it would not be long before the Spanish exploited a third leg of the Columbian Exchange that had developed: bringing capturedAfrican slaves to the NewWorld to work the silver mines and growing plantations of cash crops. A rigid social hierarchy developed in New Spain. At the top were Spanish-born officials, who held all government power and most of the land and wealth. Below them were a group referred to as Creoles— Mexican-born members of society with direct Spanish ancestry. Creoles were often wealthy but generally could not hold government office; many served as military officers.Mestizos, a social group comprising mixed-race individuals with both Spanish andAmerindian ancestry,acted as something of a working middle class.They held roles as shopkeepers, artisans, parish priests, or foot soldiers but generally did not own land and had no voice in government. Full-blooded Amerindians existed below mestizos and were forced to labor in mines or on large estates. The only group below them were African slaves. Dissatisfaction with this social hierarchy fostered an uprising of mestizos, led by the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, known as Father Hidalgo. In 1810, he called upon his parishioners to revolt against oppressive Spanish rule. Unfortunately, he was killed early in the fight for independence. One of his students, José María Morelos y Paván, assumed leadership and, in 1813, established a Congress that formally declared independence fromSpain and draftedMexico’s first Constitution.Morelos was captured and executed in 1815, and from there Vincente Guerrero took over. However, only after the Creole population, motivated by the possibility of governmental power, joined in the movement for independence did the tide begin to turn. A royalist officer named Augustín Iturbide switched sides after Guerrero’s defeat and achieved victory over Spain. The 1821 Treaty of Córdoba forced Spain to acknowledge Mexico’s independence. The Mexican Republic With no government to speak of, Iturbide declared himself emperor in 1822. Guerrero and an army officer named Antonio López de Santa Anna joined forces in opposition,overthrowing Iturbide in 1824.The firstMexican

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