Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/452

* MEXICO. 414 MEXICO. Guatemala. Their tomiuerors, the Chichimccas, first appeared in the vicinity of the two great vokaiioes, Fopocatc])etl and Ixtaccihuatl, here the ruins of Aniecameca show the centre of their power. The Chichimecaii legends carry their his- tory back for 17UU years Ix'fore the C'liristian Kra. After they succeeded the Toltecs as the dominant power, the Chichimccas settled at Texcoco, on the east side of ihe lake of that name, wheie they were livinf; in a tloiirisliing condition when, early in the twelfth century A.u., seven allied Xaliua- tlaca families or tribes entered the valley from the north, having started on their wanderings, quite possibly, in the clitl'-dweller region of the modern New .Mexico and Arizona. One of these tribes, unable to win a home elsewhere from the powerful C'hiohimecas, settled upon some marshy islets in the lake of Texcoco. The year 1325 is given, with some signs of probability, as that in «liicli these Xaliuatl Aztecs fixed upon this loca- tion, which is said to liave been pointed out to them by a sign from their gods, an eagle perched xipon a prickly-pear cactus, the nopal, strangling a serpent. This sign is now the national seal of Jlexico. Gradually the settlement in the marshes at Tenochtitlan grew stronger. The isl- ands were enlarged, eausewiiys built to connect them with the mainland and the allied settle- ments at Tlaltelolco and Chapultepee. and by 1375 the -Aiztec war chiefs had won for their peo- ple a position of influence in the valley. Huitzili- huitl, who was chosen chieftain — or "king' or 'emiieror' as the Spanish writers styled these rulers — in 1404, and his brother Chiraalpopoca, who succeeded after his death in 1414 and di- rected the tribe until 1427, greatly increased their power by intermarrying with the rival tribes and estal)lishing trade relations, as well as by their successful battles. Izcohuatl or Izeoatzin was the next tlaea-tecuhlli or war chief, and during his time the dominant position of the tribe was rendered more secure by the for- mation of a sort of military confederation, with the other tribes subordinate to the Aztecs, by which the peoples about Lake Texcoco were united for the purptise of overpowering their out- lying neighbors and forcing them to jiay tribute. Izcohuatl was followed in 14.'iii fir 1437 l>y the first Sloteeuhzoma or ^lontezuma ("Wrathy Chief), who was perhaps the first chief to com- bine the war and priestly functions, aiul who pre- pare<l for the downfall of the tribal power by al- lowing the latter to interfere with the former. His successors, Axayacafl, Tizoc, and .huizotl, considerably extended the inlluence of the tribe by conquering the tribes beyond the mountains, to the two seas on the east and west, and far to- ward the south, and forcing them to render tribute of slaves for the sacrifices which were becoming the established and popular religious practice of the Aztecs. In 1502 the second Montezuma was elected to the chief position in the tribe. (For an account of .Montezuma's career and the invasion of Mex- ico by Cort<'-s, see MoxTKZiM,: <'K['I^:s.) In NovemlMT, 1510, CortC-s entered Tenochtitlan — Mexico — and before the end of the month he had secured the person of Ihe Mexican 'Kmperor.' whose subjects soon fully realiz/'d that the while men would have to be expelled by force, and quickly eonunenced hostilities under the lender- ship of Montezuma's younger brother. Ciiitla- huntzin (q.v.), and the Emperor's nephew. Ouate- niotzin (q.v,), or CualUciiiuc, On the Soche Tristc, or -dreadful night,' .June 3U. 1,520, Cortes withdrew from the City of Mexico, and for a time his position was desperate, but the indomitable valor of the Spaniards enabled them to return to the attack, Cuitlahuatziu, Montezuma's suc- cessor, died in Xovember, 1520, and was suc- ceeded by Guatemotzin, whose heroic defen.se of the City of Mexico during the following year remains one of the noblest episodes in .-Vnierican history, Cortes began his siege of Jlexico in May, 1521, and after the capture of (iuatemotzin in August, he set promptly to work at rebuild- ing the city. The dead bodies were burneil and the city roughly cleansed, the canals filled up, streets, market places, and the sites for a church, fort, official residence, and other necessary build- ings located. As an administrator Corlos was less successful than as a military leader, and the repeated complaints and threats against his rule leil him to go to Spain to present his case at Court. There were rapid changes in the form and ))erson- nel of the Ciovernment of Mexico, or of New Spain, as it was ofiicially called, military Govern- ors succeeding one another every few months until 152S, when the first Audiencia. under Nuno de Guzman, arrived, to be replaced by the second a year later. This managed aft'airs successfully until 1535, when the first Viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza, came from Spain, To him was prin- cipally due the growth of the country along lines which assured its permanent strength ami welfare. In 1550 'the Good Viceroy' Mendoza was transferred to Peru, and was succeeded by Luis de Velasco, luider whom the University of Mexico was founded in 1553, and the mineral and other sources of wealth developed. Few acts or episodes of general interest mark the reigns of the succeeding vice-regal rulers of Mexico. The capital grew, was [icrioilically Hooded, and plans as regularly were made' ior its draining, by the Viceroy Velasco and others, whose vast de- signs were only consunmutted in the last years of the nineteenth century by President Diaz. The Inquisition was introduced in 1571. and the Autos (hi Fe claimed their heretical victims from time to time. In 17S0 the second Count of Kevillagigedo began the rebuilding of the capi- tal. One result of these works was the finding of the ancient ^Mexican Calendar stone and the sacrificial block, which had been buried at the time of the Conquest. The gradual in- crease of education among all classes, the spread of revolutionary and independent ideas all over the world, a succession of X'ieeroys who vcsjionded to the pressure from Spain by ilraining the American colonies of every possible ingot and coin, and finally the addition of Spain to the appanages of Xapolcon, were all factors in caus- ing the growth of ideas of independence for Mex- ico, Various groups had been formed for the dis- cussion of revoUitionary plans, and some of the advocates of imlependenee had been imprisoned and killed, before the fateful ICth of Sc]iteml>er, 1810, when the parish jiriest at Dolores, near CJuanajuato, Hidalgo y Costilla ((pv. ), upon sud- denly learning that some of his fellow conspir- ators had been arrcsted.'rang his church bell and called upon his people to follow him and free Mexico from foreiiin tyranity. His (Irito dc Poloic/). the cry of "Long live religion! Long live our Holy Mother of ( lu.idalupe! Long live