9781422286814

MEX I CO Leading the Southern Hemisphere

Spirit of a Nation The People of Mexico

MEX I CO Leading the Southern Hemisphere

Spirit of a Nation The People of Mexico

Mason Crest Philadelphia

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D

Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

©2015 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Printed and bound in the United States of America. CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #M2014. For further information, contact Mason Crest at 1-866-MCP-Book. First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file at the Library of Congress

ISBN: 978-1-4222-3216-3 (hc) ISBN: 978-1-4222-8681-4 (ebook)

Mexico: Leading the Southern Hemisphere series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3213-2

Table of Contents

Timeline

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1. The Olmecs 2. The Maya 3. The Aztecs

11 19 29 39 49 58 59 60 62

4. Mestizos, Criollos, Mulattos, and Indigenous Mexicans

5. Life in Mexico Today

Series Glossary Further Reading Internet Resources

Index

MEX I CO Leading the Southern Hemisphere

Beautiful Diversity: The Geography of Mexico Famous People of Mexican History Spirit of a Nation: The People of Mexico Fiesta! The Festivals of Mexico Ancient Land with a Fascinating Past: The History of Mexico Vital and Creative: The Art and Architecture of Mexico Victoria! The Sports of Mexico Finding a Financial Balance: The Economy of Mexico Zesty and Colorful Cuisine: The Food of Mexico

Meeting Future Challenges: The Government of Mexico Mexico’s Gulf States Mexico’s Pacific North States Mexico’s Pacific South States Mexico’s Northern States Mexico’s Central States Mexican Facts and Figures

KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR:

Text-dependent questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there.

Words to understand: ;OLZL ^VYKZ ^P[O [OLPY LHZ` [V \UKLYZ[HUK KLÄUP[PVUZ ^PSS increase the reader's understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills.

Series glossary of key terms: This back-of-the book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader's HIPSP[` [V YLHK HUK JVTWYLOLUK OPNOLY SL]LS IVVRZ HUK HY[PJSLZ PU [OPZ ÄLSK Research projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives.

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Spirit of a Nation: The People of Mexico

Timeline 1000 B . C .

The Olmec civilization becomes a leader in development of writing, numbering, and astronomy.

400 B . C . 150 B . C . A . D . 750 300-900 900-1200

Olmec civilization disappears.

Teotihuacán is built.

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Teotihuacán is abandoned.

Peak cultural growth of the Maya. Toltecs control much of Mexico.

1200 1325 1500 1517 1521 1810 1821

Aztecs begin to conquer other tribes for control of Mexico.

Aztecs build Tenochtitlán.

Aztecs control all land in central Mexico.

Córdoba and Grijalva explore the coast of Mexico.

Spanish take control of Mexico.

Grito de Dolores calls for Mexico’s independence from Spain.

The Treaty of Córdoba grants Mexico its independence. 1810–1821 Mexican War of Independence is fought against Spain. 1862 France invades Mexico. 1867

Benito Juárez triumphs over the French, executes the Emperor Maximilian, and resumes his presidency.

1876 1910 1921

Porfirio Díaz begins his period of dictatorship.

The Mexican Revolution begins.

The end of the Revolution and the beginning of modern-day Mexico.

Timeline

1938

President Cárdenas nationalizes the petroleum industry and takes control of Mexico’s oil reserves. The Mexican government launches the Border Industrialization Program, which encourages the creation of small factories called maquiladoras. Mexico hosts the Summer Olympic Games, and violence breaks out during a student protest. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect in January. The United States begins to construct a controversial fence along the border to reduce drug smuggling and illegal immigration. In December, Mexican president Felipe Calderón orders federal soldiers and police to intervene in turf wars among powerful drug cartels, beginning a period of violence known as the narco war. The Mexican government reports that more than 6,500 people were killed in drug-related incidents during the year, making it the deadliest year of the narco war. Enrique Peña Nieto is elected president of Mexico, receiving 38 percent of the vote. His election returns the PRI to power after 12 years of PAN rule. He is sworn in as president on December 1. Mexico’s national soccer team takes part in the World Cup tournament in Brazil. Vicente Fox, a PAN candidate, is elected president.

1965

1968

9

1994

2000 2006

2009

2012

2014

Words to Understand

aqueduct —an artificial channel meant to carry running water. deity —a god. hieroglyphic —written in a system of pictures.

hypothesis —a theory. jade —a green stone. peasants —common people.

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The Olmecs created the earliest civilization in Mexico more than 3,000 years ago.

The Olmecs F rom approximately 1150 B . C . to 400 B . C ., the Olmecs were the ruling cultural group in what we now know as the United Mexican States. The Olmecs had a sophisticated culture. For instance, they were the first group of people in Mesoamerica known to have understood the concept of zero. They are believed to be the inventors of the first calendar used in Mesoamerica, and they are also thought to be responsible for the beginnings of the first Mesoamerican hieroglyphic writing system. The Olmecs are the oldest Mexican civilization archaeologists have studied. Even so, much of Olmec life is a mystery. Archeologists do know that the Olmecs lived along the central coast of the Gulf of Mexico, in an area due west of the Yucatán Peninsula. These people made their homes in the jungle river basins of modern-day Veracruz and Tabasco. As time passed, their numbers grew and their culture spread. Eventually, Olmec people lived throughout to the highlands of Mexico, the Valley of Mexico, Oaxaca, and parts of Guerrero. San Lorenzo is the site of the oldest known Olmec cultural center, a city that existed from about 1150 B . C . to about 900 B . C . Archeologists believe it was a city for the elite or ruling class. Some historians think the city was

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Spirit of a Nation: The People of Mexico

destroyed when the peasants revolted. Others wonder if outsiders may have invaded it. San Lorenzo is famous for its many ancient stone monuments. The most famous of these are the Olmec heads. The huge stone heads have large eyes and mouths, and their headgear appears to be that of warriors or perhaps rulers. Some people have even suggested that their hats look like the helmets of football players. If this hypothesis is true, then the stone heads may have been monuments to Olmec athletes. The Olmec stone heads stand as tall as eight and a half feet tall. One stone head can weigh as much as 44 tons. These heads were carved without the use of metal tools! The Olmecs made fine pottery and jade jewelry as well. They carved figurines to represent their half-human, half-jaguar deity . The human-jaguar was an extremely important symbol in the Olmec culture. The Olmecs may have

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believed they were themselves descended from jaguars, and their religious leaders clearly held the jaguar in high regard. The Olmecs may have worshiped the human- jaguar as a combination fertility and rain god. They carved images of human-jaguars into their altar-like thrones. They also made masks in the image of the human-jaguar’s face. In Olmec artwork, human-jaguars look very young, more like chubby babies than adults. They were often given toothless

The Olmecs have been called the “Rubber People” or the “People from the Land of Rubber.” This is because they lived in an area that is known to produce a great deal of rubber. Several rubber balls were discovered at the Olmec site of El Manatí, near San Lorenzo. Archeologists believe that ball courts and rubber ball games were an important part of Olmec culture.

The Olmecs

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sneers, and they sometimes had two large fangs. Their heads were misshapen and often had large splits in them. The human-jaguars seem to be neither male nor female. The human-jaguar was not the only Olmec god. Archeologists have also found images of feathered serpents, harpy eagles, and sharks. The Olmecs probably worshiped all these animals. They may also have worshiped a fire god and a corn god. In Mexican folklore, the jaguar is often associated with Tlaloc, the god of rain and fertility. These masks, re-creations of masks created by the Olmecs, portray a hybrid between a jaguar and a human infant. The Olmec masks often showed the animal crying or snarling with an open mouth.

Spirit of a Nation: The People of Mexico

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The stone remains of a tomb stand among other ruins at Villahermosa, the site of an ancient Olmec city.

Around 800 B . C ., the Olmecs built the Great Pyramid at La Venta. It is only 100 feet tall, and compared to other Mesoamerican pyramids, it is actually quite small. The Mayans built much larger pyramids. Olmec cultural centers seem to have been built in a very organized manner that was based on the people’s spiritual beliefs. For instance, all the mounds at La Venta were built facing exactly eight degrees west of north. This may have been so that the Olmecs were always facing a certain star.