WEBVTT

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Mexico is the 11th most populous country
in the world with 121 million people.

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Mexico is among the world's 15 largest 
economies and is the second

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largest economy in Latin America.

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Welcome to our animated show of history.

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This episode presents a brief history 
of Mexico.

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The earliest human artifacts in Mexico
are chips of stone tools found near

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campfire remains in the valley of Mexico
10,000 years ago.

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Mexico is the site of the domestication
of maize, tomato, and beans.

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Which produced an agricultural surplus.
This enabled the transition from

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Paleo-Indian hunter gatherers to
sedentary agricultural villages

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beginning around 5,000 B.C.

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In the formative era villages became more
dense in terms of population and

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developing into chiefdoms.

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The earliest complex civilization in
Mexico was the Olmec culture which

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flourished on the Gulf Coast from around
1500 BC. Olmec cultural traits diffused

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through Mexico into their formative era
cultures in Chiapas, Oaxaca, and the

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valley of Mexico in the subsequent
preclassical period the Maya and Zapotec

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civilizations developed complex centers
at Calakmul and Monte Albán. Respectively

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during this period the first true
Mesoamerican writing systems were

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developed in the EPI Olmec and the
Zapotec cultures.

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In Central Mexico the height of the
classic period saw the ascendancy of

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Teotihuacán which formed a military and
commercial empire whose political

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influence stretched south into the Mayan
area as well as North.

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After the collapse of Teotihuacan in
600 AD, competition ensued between several

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important political centers in central
Mexico such as Xochicalco and Cholula

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During the early post classic period
central Mexico was dominated by the

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Toltec culture.
Oaxaca by the Mixtec and the lowland

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Maya area had important centres and 
Chichen Itza and Mayapan.

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The Aztecs, the last of pre-Colombian 
Mexico's great native civilizations

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rose to prominence in the central valley
of Mexico around 1427 by partnering with

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the Toltecs and Mayans.

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This triple alliance conquered smaller
cultures to the east and west until the

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Aztec empire spanned Mexico from the
Pacific Ocean to the Gulf Coast.

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The Spanish first learned of Mexico during
the Juan de Grijalva expedition of 1518.

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The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
began in February 1519 when Hernan Cortes

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arrived at the port of Veracruz.

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After taking control of that city he moved
on to the Aztec capital.

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In his search for gold and other riches,
Cortes decided to invade and conquer the

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Aztec empire.

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The territory became part of the Spanish
empire under the name of New Spain in 1535

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Much of the identity, traditions and 
architecture of Mexico developed during

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the 286-year colonial period.

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Cortes then colonized the area and named
it Nueva Espana, New Spain.

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By 1574, Spain controlled a large portion
of the Aztec empire and had enslaved most

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of the indigenous population.

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Worse, the diseases brought into the
society by the Spaniards devastated the

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indigenous population of Nueva Espana,
killing an estimated 24 million people

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between 1521 and 1605.

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As a result of its trade links with Asia,
the rest of the Americas, Africa and

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Europe and the profound effect of 
new world silver, Central Mexico was one

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of the first regions to be incorporated
into a globalized economy

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being at the crossroads of trade, people
and cultures, Mexico City has been called

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the First World City.

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The Catholic church's influence was felt
in the region when missionaries began

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arriving in 1523.

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The missionaries built many monasteries 
and converted millions of people to

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Catholicism.

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Concerned about the Catholic church's
ever-growing power, King Carlos III of

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Spain expelled the Jesuits from
Nueva Espana in the late 1700s.

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Inspired by the American and French 
revolutions, Mexican insurgence saw an

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opportunity in 1808 as the King abdicated
in Madrid in Spain and was overwhelmed by

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war and occupation.

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The rebellion began as an idealistic
peasants and miners' movement led by a

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local priest, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
who issued the Cry of Dolores on the 16th

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of September 1810.

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The day is celebrated as Independence Day.

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Mexico's short recovery after the war of
independence was soon cut short again by

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the civil wars and institutional 
instability of the 1850s which lasted

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until the government of Porfirio Diaz 
reestablished conditions that paved the

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way for economic growth.

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Agustin de Iturbide became constitutional
emperor of the first Mexican Empire in

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1822.

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A revolt against him established the 
United Mexican States.

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Later a Republican Constitution is drafted
and Guadalupe Victoria became the first

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president of the newly born country.

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During this time, people had difficulty 
meeting tax payments and resented the

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central government's actions in collecting
customs due to limited trade.

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The United States' annexation of the 
Republic of Texas and subsequent American

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military incursion into territory that was
part of Coahuila instigated the

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Mexican American war.

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The war was settled in 1848 via the 
treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

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Mexico was forced to give up more than one
third of its land to the US including

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Alta California, New Mexico and the 
territory claimed by Texas.

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In the 1860s, Mexico was occupied by 
France which established the second

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Mexican Empire under the rule of Habsburg
Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria

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with the support of the Roman Catholic
clergy and the Conservatives.

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France never made a profit in Mexico and 
its Mexican expedition grew increasingly

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unpopular.

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Finally, in the spring of 1865, after the
US Civil War was over, the US demanded the

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withdrawal of French troops from Mexico.

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Porfirio Diaz was elected the 29th
president in the late 19th century

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the period known as the Porfiriato was
characterised by economic stability and

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growth, significant foreign investment and
influence.

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The Mexican revolution began when Madero
issued the Plan of San Luis Potosi and

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declared war on the Diaz regime.

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By 1911 Diaz is forced to step aside and 
Madero was elected president

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but conflict and violence continue for the
better part of the next decade.

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World War II further stimulated the 
nation's development through the

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development of roads, the building of 
factories and the establishment of

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irrigation systems.

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Until the 80s, Mexico remained a poor
country but experienced substantial

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economic growth that some historians 
call The Mexican Miracle.

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In recent years, the Mexican economy has 
had an unprecedented macroeconomic

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stability.

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Its economy has integrated with that of
US and also Canada after the

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North American Free Trade Agreement.

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