Explain What Were The Positives And Negatives Of The Colonial Period In Mexico

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Question 1) What were the positives of the colonial period in this country? What were the negatives? Which was greater?
Numerous civilizations rose and fell over a period of nearly 3,000 years in Mexico, until the early 16th century when a group of explorers from Spain arrived at the southern shores of the Gulf of Mexico. After the fall of the Aztec Empire, Spanish gained rule over the land via Viceroyalties sent over from the mainland. In this, began a big part of Mexico’s history known as the Colonial Period. With this came many positives and negative aspects which both helped the country grow and, in some ways, led its citizens to perish. The Colonial Period in Mexico brought many new concepts and ideas, both positive and negative, however …show more content…

By 1810, there were an estimated 6 million people living in Mexico, consisting of 60,000 that born in Spain, 940,000 were Spanish born in the new land, 3.5 million were indigenous Mexicans and 1.5 million were mixed Spanish and Indian blood. The introduction of new people led to a diversity of culture throughout the land which educated many of the Eastern world. Missionaries from Spain were sent to this new colony to introduce the natives to Christianity, but they did much more. In many ways, the Christian Missionaries laid the groundwork for the fusion of Spanish and Mexican culture (Religion and Society). This mixing became essential to the future of the country as it led the people to see each others different religions/cultures and intertwined the two ways of life. The new missionary also brought information about Mexico back to Spain which helped it’s citizens become more educated on the Western world. As stated in Religions and Society, friars and monks collected information about the language, religion, and culture of the indigenous people in illustrated books called Codices. The Codices were brought back to Spain and used to teach it’s citizens about Mexico. These positive impacts both enriched the lives of the Mexicans, Spanish travelers and citizens of Spain by introducing a new culture neither countries had experienced

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