Mexico: History

Mexico's history stretches back to sophisticated pre-Columbian civilizations, including the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec, whose achievements in architecture, astronomy, and governance left a lasting legacy visible today at sites like Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza. Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521, and Mexico became the center of the Viceroyalty of New Spain for nearly three centuries, during which Indigenous and Spanish cultures blended to form the foundation of modern Mexican identity.

Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821 after a prolonged struggle, followed by decades of political instability, foreign intervention, and territorial loss, including the Mexican-American War of the 1840s. The early 20th century brought the Mexican Revolution of 1910, a transformative and violent conflict that reshaped the nation's political and social structures and led to the modern Mexican state, governed under a constitution adopted in 1917 that remains in effect today.