Questions tagged [mexico]

For questions about the nation of Mexico, including its people, history, and politics. Also use this tag for questions about the indigenous cultures and settlers that occupied the same area but predate the modern nation.

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What were the duties and qualifications of the office of "fiscal" in a Pueblo in New Spain?

Looking through marriage records for a certain place now in State of Mexico, Mexico, in the 18th and early 19th centuries, I notice that often the witnesses at pre-marriage registrations and at ...
david's user avatar
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Why was the Spanish kingdom in America called New Spain if Spain didn't exist as a country back then?

When the conquistadores arrived in America, the territory of current Spain was divided into multiple crowns/kingdoms but it wasn't what we know today as Spain. I understand at that moment the ...
Julio Bastida's user avatar
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1 answer
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Did the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo intend for Mexicans to live in the USA but under Mexican law? [closed]

The text of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo seem to have allowed Mexicans living in California and New Mexico to make some choices: (1) leave or stay and (2) become a US citizen or remain a Mexican ...
Village's user avatar
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1 answer
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Did the empresario system exist only within Mexican Texas?

I have many sources describing the empresario system, a way to encourage settlement of Texas. Every source I could find mentioned "Texas". I cannot find any sources using this terminology ...
Village's user avatar
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What is the correct English terminology to refer to New Mexico and Texas under Spain, then Mexico?

I am finding a strange inconsistency in sources between those about New Mexico's history and those about Texas. As I know, New Mexico and Texas both started as parts of New Spain, under Spanish rule, ...
Village's user avatar
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3 votes
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Why was 'France' excluded from Henry Lane Wilson's clique during the Mexican Revolution?

The book by Friedrich Katz, The secret war in Mexico, mentions that the USA minister Henry Lane Wilson organized in part the overthrow of president Madero during the first phase of the Mexican ...
user2820579's user avatar
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Where can tactical maps for battles of the Mexican Revolution be accessed?

There are a bunch of resources on the Mexican revolution, but I've never seen an academical text that narrates the major battles in the struggle along with tactical maps. Thus, I'm looking for a ...
user2820579's user avatar
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Did the Mexican province of Nuevo Mexico have its own provincial flag?

After the Mexican Revolution, there was a province called Nuevo Mexico, that somewhat is in the location of current-day New Mexico. Did that province have its own provincial flag? If so, what did it ...
Village's user avatar
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2 votes
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When did the defeated General José de la Cruz sail back to Spain?

José de la Cruz was a Spanish military commander in Mexico's wars of independence. He was finally defeated by his ex-subordinate, Pedro Celestino Negrete in Durango, just after the Treaty of Córdoba, ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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4 votes
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Where was the Ixcanha Maya community located during the Caste War of the Yucatán?

There is mention of a Mayan community of about a thousand people during the Caste War of the Yucatán who refused to break with the Catholic Church. I am trying to figure out where their community was ...
Ryan Williamson's user avatar
3 votes
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For whom would this priest write a long geographical report on his parish?

In 1777, the assistant pastor of Tamazula, Nueva Vizcaya composed a detailed report on the local geography, climate, natural history, and mineralogy, listing the many plants and animals and few ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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What kind of canoes were used in 19th century Yucatán?

I’m specifically curious about seagoing canoes along the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the mid-1800’s. Were they still typically of the dugout variety, or had they evolved to canvas on a wood ...
Ryan Williamson's user avatar
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109 views

Did the Jesuit missions in New Spain coerce native labor?

Several Catholic orders operated missions in colonial Mexico; Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits (before their expulsion) all had their own strategies. Alejandro Murguía in The Medicine of Memory ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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Why did the First Mexican Empire replace 60% of its Regency?

From September of 1821 until Agustín I ascended the throne, a five-man Imperial Regency governed independent Mexico. Initially it included Agustín Iturbide (the same), José Isidro Yáñez, Manuel ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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When in 1775 was Anza in Culiacán?

Juan Bautista de Anza made an exploratory expedition to Alta California in 1774, then was sent again to take colonist families with him. As the expedition moved north, he recruited them in Culiacán, ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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By when was the Manila galleon well known?

Spain managed to start up the Manila galleon system in the 1560s, linking the Philippines with Mexico. The Spanish crown used its control of non-free labor in New Spain to extract precious metals. On ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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5 votes
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Were priests in politics in New Spain?

In the the Spanish Empire generally, the royal state and the state church were tightly coupled. One hierarchy supposedly answered to the Viceroy and then the King; the other to the Archbishop and the ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
184 views

Why was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed there?

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican-American War was signed "at the main altar of the old Basilica of Guadalupe", or possibly in an adjacent building. This is a major Catholic ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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6 votes
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Who erected Luis Argüello's tombstone?

Luis Argüello was California's first Mexican governor. He died in 1830 and was buried next to San Francisco's Mission Dolores. His grave marker doesn't appear contemporary with his death, though. I ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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Did Boris Tarasov return from Mexico to Russia?

Boris Tarasov, employee of the Russian-American Company, was arrested in San Pedro, California in 1815. As a prisoner of some political value, in 1816 he was sent from Monterey to San Blas and then ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
475 views

When did Mesoamericans stop using their native weapons?

Indigenous warriors of today's Mexico used atlatl spear-throwers and obsidian-bladed hand weapons such as tepoztopilli and macuahuitl. According to Bernal Díaz del Castillo, these arms were formidable ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
212 views

Was California's request for a Mexico border fence from the Pacific Ocean to the Colorado River acted upon?

In the 1965 California legislative session, a joint resolution (chapter 132, No. 44) was passed imploring the president and congress to build an: animal-proof fence from the Pacific Ocean to the ...
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1 answer
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What mesoamerican culture used long, "pike-like" spears?

A while back, I read about some Mesoamerican tribe or culture that armed many of its warriors with extremely long spears, that either the Spanish invaders or the article I read itself compared to the ...
Cowrie's user avatar
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1 answer
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Do we know who graduated from the University of Mexico in the 1700s?

The Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico was the country's first and foremost university in the colonial period. According to George I. Sánchez, by 1776 it had awarded 29,882 bachelor's and 1,162 ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
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Were adobes often built on shellmounds?

Adobe was the principal construction material used in the arid north of Mexico. In wetter parts the adobe was subject to water damage: rain ate away its exposed surfaces and softened the ground on ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
306 views

Did New Mexicans under Spain regard themselves as Mexican?

Mexico, in its original sense, is the homeland of the Mexica (Aztec) people and its principal city. The sense of the name broadened, presumably as people in the metropole spoke broadly about it, and ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
109 views

Are there extant rancho budgets (original or contrived) for Mexican California?

This question is a source request for real or estimated annual account ledgers for ranchos in Mexican California. Not much cash was used, so records are sparse. Most goods on the rancho were produced ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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When was the potato introduced to Mexico?

There are wild potatoes in Mexico, but eating potatoes are generally cultivars imported from the Andes. They became popular elsewhere after Europeans with sailing ships took them around the world. ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
418 views

Why were Catholic priests so instrumental in the Mexican independence movement?

Catholic priests were leading figures in the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence. In 1810, Hidalgo gave the Grito de Dolores; in 1811, Morelos occupied Acapulco and Mercado took San Blas. ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
127 views

Immigrants to Mexican New Mexico

In its Mexican era California attracted immigrants, principally Anglo-Americans, who often worked as merchants and capitalists. English speakers like William Hartnell and Thomas Larkin dominated ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
46 views

Where were Guadalupe Victoria's headquarters in Veracruz?

Mexico had a Provisional Government in 1823-1824, after the end of the First Mexican Empire. Guadalupe Victoria, a member of the governing triumvirate and the subsequent president, received an ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
117 views

Responsibilities of a naval chaplain in the Spanish empire

In the beginning of the 19th century Agustín Fernández was chaplain of the naval base at San Blas. Records in the colonial section of the Mexican national archive, summarized in all caps, refer to his ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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14 votes
3 answers
981 views

Who decided on the name "Mexico"?

New Spain's independence struggle led to adopting the national identity of "México", the name of its major city and the Mexica society there. In referring to a specific indigenous group, Mexico seems ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
229 views

Guadalupe Victoria's imprisonment

In 1821 Agustín Iturbide formed a ruling junta for newly independent Mexico that excluded his prominent fellow revolutionary officers. Near the end of 1821, Iturbide imprisoned several that may have ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
215 views

Why did Iturbide choose Fernández for the mission to California?

After Mexican independence, Emperor Agustín I took power. During his short reign he understandably sent a representative to the Californias to procure and check on their loyalty. The representative, a ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
94 views

Spanish colonial cattle ranching cultures

Many Iberian colonists in the viceroyalties of New Spain (Mexico) and La Plata (Argentina) practiced cattle ranching. Both sides practiced branding and rode horses to control their herds. Many of the ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
133 views

When was the property tax introduced in early Mexico? Who paid?

Owners of property in Mexico today pay a property tax called impuesto predial. According to Agustín Cue Cánovas's Historia Social y Económica de México, in the colonial era property taxes were not a ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
220 views

Was Canónigo Fernández a traitor to Mexico?

Agustín Fernández de San Vicente was the canon priest of the Cathedral of Durango and the Vicar-General of New Mexico. In between these church posts, at the time of Mexican Independence, he traveled ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
60 views

Was Governor Solá expelled from Mexico?

Pablo Vicente de Solá was a Spanish military officer who served resisting the Hidalgo Revolt and then as the last Spanish governor of Alta California. [Nuttall: The Gobernantes of Spanish Upper ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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8 votes
0 answers
423 views

How did Tenochtitlan's Templo Mayor disappear for centuries?

According to Wikipedia (amongst other sources), after the Siege of Tenochtitlan, the Templo Mayor was dismantled and a church was built over its ruins. This church would eventually become Mexico City ...
Devin's user avatar
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1 vote
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99 views

When did independent Mexico start trading with Asia?

Throughout the 17th and 18th century Spanish galleons shipped Chinese goods from Manila to Acapulco. After Mexican independence, Spain retained the Philippines and the galleons no longer crossed the ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
245 views

Did the Designers of Teotihucan have an advanced understanding of Acoustics?

Teotihucan was one of the most impressively built and planned cities in ancient and world history. It is approximately 30 miles South of Mexico City and was founded around 200 BC/BCE-(though its ...
user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
695 views

Did the US try to buy California before the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

With regard to Mexican California in the 1840s, Hague and Langum's Thomas O. Larkin says, on page 10: The United States had long been interested in California and had more than once attempted to ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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12 votes
1 answer
2k views

When was the concept of the "border wall" between the United States and Mexico first proposed?

The current American president Donald Trump has become notorious for (among other things) championing the idea to build a 18+ foot concrete wall across the entire US/Mexican border. Where did this ...
user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
412 views

How did Spain justify building a major port at San Blas, Nayarit?

The Spanish empire and its agent José de Gálvez founded the port of San Blas, Nayarit in order to communicate with the Californias. However, the site is not particularly favorable and it did not ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
385 views

Did anyone in Alta California pay in cash?

In the Spanish and Mexican eras, California was an economy very cut off from its mother countries. Most trade was by bartering goods [Josiah Belden by Doyce Nunis, Jr., 1962]. Is there evidence of ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
1k views

Why didn't Russia seize California when it could? [closed]

Spanish colonies in the Californias, created in part to forestall Russian expansion, were militarily weak. The military had only a few hundred men in the whole territory, and no ships at all. It was ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
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Are there any examples of localized micro-conflicts in Mexican history?

Are there any examples of localized micro-conflicts in Mexican history that led to small-scale wars and intervention from federal forces to stop it? To get a better idea of what I am talking about, I ...
Brian Ghilliotti's user avatar
50 votes
6 answers
9k views

Why did Germany officially acknowledge the contents of the Zimmerman telegram?

The Zimmerman telegram was a diplomatic message from officials in Germany to the Mexican president, sent in 1917. After being intercepted and decoded by Britain's intelligence community, its contents ...
Jules's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
141 views

How many cattle were slaughtered in Alta California?

Spanish and Mexican Alta California was a primarily cattle-based economy. The wealth of ranchers was measured in the size of their herd. Beef, manteca, and leather were used liberally, and hide and ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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