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Aztecs found Tenochtitlán
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When Christopher Columbus reached the Caribbean islands in 1492, he thought he had reached the East Indies in Asia. Therefore, he called the natives “Indians.”
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Montezuma becomes Aztec emperor.
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In 1519, Hernando Cortés landed on the coast of Mexico
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By 1521, Cortés and his soldiers had conquered the Aztecs.
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Cortés conquers Aztec empire.
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Viceroy is recalled to Spain after rioting in Mexico City by Indians and others.
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In the 1790s, Toussaint L’Ouverture led a slave rebellion in Haiti and took over the government of the island.
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By 1804, Haiti had achieved independence from France.
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In 1807, Napoleon’s armies invaded Portugal.
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Brazil remained a Portuguese colony from 1500 to 1822. After Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, many people in Brazil demanded independence from Portugal. However, the Portuguese government wanted Brazil to remain a colony.
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In 1821, Mexico achieved independence from Spain under Agustín de Iturbide, who proclaimed himself emperor in 1822.
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Agustín de Iturbide, proclaimed himself emperor in 1822.
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The Spanish conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico opened the door to Spanish control of Central America. Spain ruled Central America until the 19th century. Mexico declared its
independence from Spain in 1821. Up to that point, Central America had been governed from Mexico. In 1823, however, the whole region declared its independence from Mexico and took the name of the United Provinces of Central America. -
By the late 1830s, the United Provinces had split into separate nations. These became El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras. Later, Panama broke off from Colombia and became an independent country in Central America. Belize, a former British colony, broke away from British Honduras.
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United States wins Mexican-American War.
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Cuba achieved independence from Spain in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War. After an occupation by United States forces, the island became self-governing in 1902.
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In 1903, Panama was still a province of Colombia, which did not like the idea. The United States encouraged a revolution in Panama, and when it won its independence, Panama granted the United States a ten-mile-wide zone in which to build a canal.
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Juárez was eventually succeeded by Porfirio Díaz. His harsh and corrupt rule brought about a revolution and civil war, led by Francisco Madero, Pancho Villa, and Emiliano Zapata. A new constitutionwas adopted in 1917. It redistributed nearly half
of Mexico’s farmland to peasants. -
In 1929, a new political party arose
in Mexico. This was the Institutional Revolutionary
Party . It helped to introduce democracy and
maintain political stability for much of the 20th century.
It continued the policy of redistributing land to
the peasants. However, because it did not tolerate
opposition, fraud and corruption undermined the
democratic process. -
In 1997, two parties opposed to the PRI won a large number of seats in the congress.
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In 2000, Vicente Fox, the National Action Party candidate, was elected president of Mexico.
