Mexico
Mexico was the site of some of the earliest and most advanced civilizations in
the western hemisphere. The Mayan culture, according to archaeological research,
attained its greatest development about the 6th century AD. Another group, the
Toltec, established an empire in the Valley of Mexico and developed a great
civilization still evidenced by the ruins of magnificent buildings and monuments.
The leading tribe, the Aztec, built great cities and developed an intricate
social, political, and religious organization. Their civilization was highly
developed, both intellectually and artistically. The first European explorer to
visit Mexican territory was Francisco Fernández de Córdoba, who in 1517
discovered traces of the Maya in Yucatán. In 1535, some years after the fall of
the Aztec capital, the basic form of colonial government in Mexico was
instituted with the appointment of the first Spanish viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza.
A distinguishing characteristic of colonial......
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