A Concise History of Mexico (Cambridge Concise Histories)

✍ Scribed by Brian R. Hamnett

• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 354
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Modern Mexico, founded after Independence from Spain in 1821, was created out of a long and disparate historical inheritance that has constantly influenced its evolution. Tackling the complex and colorful history of Mexico is a formidable task. Brian Hamnett undertakes this challenge in his Concise History, beginning with a brief examination of contemporary issues, while the book as a whole--ranging from the Olmecs to the present day--combines a chronological and thematic approach while highlighting long-term issues and controversies. Author Hamnett takes account of that past and pays attention to the pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial influence. Mexico's economic problems are given special treatment together with political analysis and attention to social and cultural factors. His prime objective is to make the book accessible to general readers, including those interested in gaining a broad knowledge of the country and those across the professions anxious to secure a rapid but secure understanding of a subject where there are few starting points.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 4
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
CONTENTS......Page 9
PLATES......Page 11
MAPS......Page 13
PREFACE......Page 14
1 Mexico in perspective......Page 19
NATIONALISM AND TERRITORY......Page 21
LIVING WITH THE USA......Page 25
THE BORDER......Page 28
DRUG TRAFFICKING......Page 32
INDIGENOUS MEXICO......Page 36
THE OLMECS......Page 42
MONTE ALBAN AND THE ZAPOTEC CULTURES OF OAXACA......Page 46
THE MAYAS......Page 50
TEOTIHUACAN......Page 54
THE TIME OF TROUBLES, 750–950......Page 58
THE TOLTECS......Page 59
THE POST-CLASSIC MAYA......Page 61
THE ZAPOTECS AND MIXTECS OF THE POST-CLASSIC ERA......Page 63
CENTRAL MEXICO......Page 65
THE AZTECS......Page 66
The Aztecs of the present day......Page 73
3 The European incursion, 1519–1620......Page 76
THE IMPACT OF THE FALL OF TENOCHTITLAN......Page 77
THE IMPOSITION OF CHRISTIANITY......Page 82
Indian institutions and Spanish encomenderos......Page 87
Hispanic presence and Indian survival......Page 90
HISPANIC LAND ACQUISITION......Page 94
Territorial advance and repulse......Page 96
4 New Spain, 1620–1770: Spanish colonialism and American society......Page 98
SPAIN AND THE EMPIRE: MERCHANTS, FINANCIERS, AND MARKETS......Page 99
The mining sector......Page 101
Provincial economies and commercial networks......Page 104
The consolidation of the hispanic private estate......Page 106
INDIAN COMMUNITIES......Page 108
NEW SPAIN'S BAROQUE CULTURE......Page 110
THE CULT OF THE VIRGIN......Page 120
THE EXPOSED NORTH AND FAR NORTH......Page 123
THE POLITICAL PROCESSES......Page 126
5 Destabilisation and fragmentation, 1770–1867......Page 130
An expanding economy or distorted development?......Page 133
Social and economic contrasts in late colonial New Spain......Page 134
Metropolitan Spain and imperial reorganisation......Page 137
Merchants, Markets, and Industries......Page 141
The continuing problems of the north and far north......Page 142
Religious crisis and popular perceptions......Page 145
Deepening crises at many levels......Page 150
The revolutionary attempt and the insurgency of the 1810s......Page 151
The Spanish constitutional experiment......Page 155
The final overthrow of the colonial state (1820–21)......Page 159
Autonomy, empire, and separatism......Page 161
Mexico’s struggle for a viable constitutional solution......Page 162
Finance and the economy......Page 166
The war with the United States (1846–48) and the loss of the Mexican far north......Page 169
The persistence of social unrest......Page 175
The reform era (1855–1876) and the rise of Benito Juárez......Page 178
The Intervention (1862–67)......Page 184
6 Reconstruction, 1867–1940......Page 195
PART ONE: THE LIBERAL PEPUBLIC: CONSTITUTIONALISM OR PERSONAL RULE, 1867–1911?......Page 198
The expansion of the economy......Page 199
Territorial power and the rural world......Page 207
Issues and interpretations......Page 210
Political practices under Porfirio Dıaz......Page 214
The construction of personal rule, 1884–1911......Page 218
The impact of revolution......Page 227
The struggle for power within the Revolution......Page 232
The Constitution of 1917......Page 239
Mexico as a major oil producer, 1910–25......Page 241
The rule of the chieftains 1920–34......Page 244
The religious conflict......Page 249
The construction of the Revolutionary Party......Page 252
Nationalism, Lázaro Cárdenas, and the Revolution during the 1930s......Page 255
The reorganisation of the official party and the presidential elections of 1940......Page 262
7 The monopoly party, 1940–2000......Page 267
The apogee of the monopoly-party state (1940–68)......Page 269
The strengths and weaknesses of expansion......Page 273
The uneasy balance–economic nationalism and private enterprise......Page 274
‘Stabilised Development’, (1954–71)......Page 276
The agricultural sector: growth and problems......Page 280
Elections, opposition, and rising discontent......Page 283
The road to disillusionment......Page 285
PART TWO: ECONOMIC CRISES AND POLITICAL DIVISIONS, 1970–2000......Page 290
The road to disaster: the economy, 1970–82......Page 291
The political descent......Page 292
The oil boom of 1977–81......Page 294
The task of recovery......Page 297
‘Neo-Liberalism’ and post-crisis responses......Page 302
The return of the Catholic Church as a political counter......Page 305
Political challenge and the issue of regime durability......Page 307
The Chiapas question and the indigenous problem......Page 313
The Zedillo administration’s last years......Page 317
Final comments......Page 324
PRE-COLUMBIAN ERA......Page 328
SPANISH COLONIAL ERA......Page 329
NINETEENTH-CENTURY ISSUES......Page 330
EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY......Page 331
US-MEXICAN RELATIONS, IMMIGRATION, AND THE BORDER......Page 332
THE NORTH, FAR NORTH, AND THE 'AMERICAN SOUTH-WEST'......Page 333
INDEX......Page 334