Mexican History
Overview History
- Pre-Hispanic Mexico
- Pre-Classical Period
- Classical Period
- Post-Classical Period
- Spanish Conquest and Colonial Period
- Towards Independence
- War with the U.S. and Recolonization Attempts
- The Mexican Revolution
- The Zapatista Movement
- Mexico Today
Post-Classical Period
The third period lasts until around the 16th century when the Spaniards arrived. After the demise of the Mayans, there were several groups of people inhabiting the region which at the time was referred to as the Valley of Anahuac. The leading tribe, the nomadic Mexicas, or as they are more commonly known, the Aztecs, arrived at the Valley in around 1325 and chose to settle there. The settlement they founded on an island in Lake Texcoco, land surrounded by marshlands, was called Tenochtitlán and stood in the same place that Mexico City stands in today.
The Aztec settlement grew with time, and particularly in military aspects, increasing in strength through constructions that fortified their city. They soon came to be the most powerful civilization in the whole Valley at the time, accumulating great wealth and building many cities throughout the region. The Aztecs where also highly developed artistically and intellectually and all these traits made them the last powerful pre-Hispanic civilization to reign in Mexico.