The Aztecs (Mexica)
The Templo Mayor (Great Aztec Temple) was dedicated to the sun god, Huitzilopochtli, and to Tlaloc, god of this weather condition
Rain
Tlaloc is a member of the pantheon of gods in Aztec religion. As supreme god of the rain, Tlaloc is also a god of earthly fertility and of water.[2] He was widely worshipped as a beneficent giver of life and sustenance. However, he was also feared for his ability to send hail, thunder, and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water.
Existing from about 1200-400 B.C., this civilization of Mesoamerica is closely identified with giant stone heads
Olmec
The first elaborate pre-Columbian civilization of Mesoamerica (c. 1200–400 BC) and one that is thought to have set many of the fundamental patterns of Mexico and Central America, notably the Maya and the Aztec. The Nahuatl (Aztec) name for these people, Olmecatl, or Olmec in the modern corruption, means “rubber people” or “people of the rubber country. They occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that the Olmecs derived in part from the neighboring Mokaya or Mixe–Zoque cultures.
Although the mighty Olmec city of La Venta was abandoned in 400 B.C., the cities it had influenced in the highlands and the Pacific slopes to the south still flourished. Those areas were the origins of Maya civilization.
Person of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent
mestizo
The term was used as an ethnic/racial category for mixed-race castas that evolved during the Spanish Empire. Although broadly speaking, mestizo means someone of mixed European/indigenous heritage, the term did not have a fixed meaning in the colonial period.
In the modern era, particularly in Hispanic America, mestizo has become more of a cultural term, with the term Indian being reserved exclusively for people who have maintained a separate indigenous ethnic identity, language, tribal affiliation, etc.
The Catholic Monarchs, as Ferdinand and Isabella came to be known, completed the Reconquista of Spain in 1492, the same year this European set foot in the New World
Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo or Cristóbal Colón)
His four transatlantic voyages (1492–93, 1493–96, 1498–1500, and 1502–04) opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas.
Between 1942 and 1967, over four million Mexicans and Puerto Ricans were contracted by the United States under this program to alleviate the labor shortage caused by WWII
Bracero Program
The first braceros were admitted on September 27, 1942, for the sugar-beet harvest season. From 1942 to 1947, only a relatively small number of braceros were admitted, accounting for less than 10 percent of U.S. hired workers; bribery was a common way to get a contract during this time. Several years of the short-term agreement led to an increase in undocumented immigration and a growing preference for operating outside of the parameters set by the program. Not only was the pay extremely low, but braceros often weren't paid on a timely basis. The lack of quality food angered braceros all over the U.S. Farmers controlled the pay (and kept it very low), hours of work and even transportation to and from work.
From 1948 to 1964, the U.S. allowed in on average 200,000 braceros per year.
The workers who participated in the bracero program have fought to identify and return 10 percent mandatory deductions taken from their pay, from 1942 to 1948, for savings accounts that they were legally guaranteed to receive upon their return to Mexico at the conclusion of their contracts. Many field working braceros never received their savings, but most railroad working braceros did.
Before conquering the Aztec Empire, he aided Diego Velasquez in the conquest of Cuba
Hernán Cortés
On Feb. 21, 1519, Cortés arrived in the Yucatan island of Cozumel, accompanied by about 500 European soldiers, 100+ Natives and Africans (some slaves, some not), some women, 11 ships (caravels), 13 horses, and a small number of cannons.
Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar was a Spanish conquistador. He conquered and governed Cuba on behalf of Spain.
Tulum & Chichen Itza are famous for their ruins of this Indian people
Maya
The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peoples, and noted for its logosyllabic script—the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in pre-Columbian Americas—as well as for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system.
The Spanish name for the post-conquest grant, nearly always to a Spaniard, of the right to receive tribute and originally labor from an altepetl
encomienda
It was based upon the practice of exacting tribute from Muslims and Jews during the Reconquista (“Reconquest”) of Muslim Spain.
Used to refer to the fifteenth-century alliance between the ruling families of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan
Triple Alliance
The use of the term "Aztec" is often confusing, as some people use it to describe not only the dominant group but also all who were ruled by them, which included villages extending across most of central Mexico and a few others scattered more widely, extending as far south as El Salvador. The Triple Alliance is used to refer to the ruling alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan, as well as all those living in the central basin who were closely allied with them. The dominant ethnic group that rose to power in and around Tenochtitlan were the Mexica (Me-SHEE-ka). When referring to the people spread across central Mexico who shared a language and a cultural outlook, many but not all of whom were conquered by the Mexica, it's best to call them what they called themselves, the Nahuas (NA-was).
If you find an original zoot suit in a secondhand store, it's probably from this decade
1940s
The suits were first associated in African-American communities such as Harlem, Chicago, and Detroit in the 1930s, but were made popular nationwide by jazz musicians in the 1940s.
The Aztecs founded 2 cities where Mexico City now stands: Tlatelolco & this one, their capital
Tenochtitlan
The city was built on an island in what was then Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico around 1325. The city was the capital of the expanding Aztec Empire in the 15th century until it was captured by the Spanish in 1521. Tenochtitlan was closely tied with its sister city, which was largely dependent on the market of Tlatelolco, the most important site of commerce in the area.
They remained the dominant force in Oaxaca until about 800 A.D
In the middle of Oaxaca, from about 500 B.C., the Zapotec oversaw a vast trade network and built massive pyramids. They remained the dominant force in Oaxaca until about 800 A.D.
The city of Monte Alban had a commanding view of the entire Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. From there, Zapotec rulers controlled a vast kingdom for more than 1,000 years. At Monte Alban’s peak, there was no other city for hundreds of miles that even came close to rivaling its sophistication or scale.
Before subjugation by the Spanish, there were Aztec garrisons in the Valley of Oaxaca, and the Zapotec paid tribute to the Triple Alliance.
Nahuatl term for any state, no matter how large or complex, but most frequently used to refer to a local ethnic state
altepetl
The altepetl was constituted of smaller units known as calpolli and was typically led by a single dynastic ruler known as a tlatoani, although examples of shared rule between up to five rulers are known. Each altepetl had its own jurisdiction, origin story, and served as the center of Indigenous identity.
The representative of the Spanish monarch in a region of the New World. At first, there were only two, that of New Spain and that of Peru.
Viceroy or Virrey
The U.S. president when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor
FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
FDR was an American politician who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A member of the Democratic Party, he won a record four presidential elections and became a central figure in world events during the first half of the 20th century. Roosevelt directed the federal government during most of the Great Depression, implementing his New Deal domestic agenda in response to the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. As a dominant leader of his party, he built the New Deal Coalition, which defined modern liberalism in the United States throughout the middle third of the 20th century. His third and fourth terms were dominated by World War II, which ended shortly after he died in office.
Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés relied on the translation and diplomatic skills of this native Nahua woman in the conquest of the Aztec Empire
Malinche (aka Marina, Malintzin, or Malinalli)
La Malinche was a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, who played a key role in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, acting as an interpreter, advisor, and intermediary for the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. She was one of 20 female slaves given to the Spaniards by the natives of Tabasco in 1519.
The pyramids named for these 2 heavenly bodies stand within Teotihuacan
Sun & Moon
The high court of New Spain, residing in Mexico City -- in the absence of a sitting viceroy, the governing council of New Spain
audiencia
One of the most important governmental institutions of Spanish colonial America. The first mainland audiencia was set up in Mexico City in 1527, just six years after the fall of Tenochtitlan, which had jurisdiction over most of what is now Mexico and Central America. Each audiencia had oidores (Spanish: judges, literally, "hearers").
The first audiencia of Mexico had four oidores, one president and a fiscal, or crown attorney, meeting as only one chamber overseeing both civil and criminal cases. By the 17th century it had grown to two chambers handling civil and criminal cases separately.
The subject of a divine apparition, she's been linked with the Aztec fertility goddess Tonantzin
Our Lady of Guadalupe (or the Virgin of Guadalupe)
The hill of Tepeyac was first a place of pilgrimage and sanctuary of Tonantzin-Cihuacoatl and later of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The goddess Cihuacoatl, "which means the wife of the Serpent," is also called Tonantzin, and is identified with Xilonen in a certain context, the feast of huey tecuilhuitl. She is also Centeotl, accordin
Bernardino de Sahagún, a Franciscan friar who participated in the evangelization of colonial New Spain, wrote, "Now that the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been built, the Indians also call her Tonantzin, on the pretext that the preachers call Our Lady, the Mother of God, 'Tonantzin'.... This is an abuse which should be stopped, for the true name of the Mother of God, Our Lady, is not Tonantzin but 'God' and 'nantzin' (Dios-nantziri). To me this looks very much like a satanic invention to palliate idolatry by playing on the ambiguity of this name Tonantzin. The Indians today, as in the old days, come from afar to visit this Tonantzin, and to me this cult seems very suspect, for there are everywhere numerous churches consecrated to Our Lady, but they do not go there, preferring to come from afar to this Tonantzin, as in the past."
Tonantzin is an honorific title comparable to "Our Lady" or "Our Great Mother" (to- "our" + nān "mother" + "-tzin")
When the Mexican Revolution began, Villa joined the rebels against this dictator with the first name Porfirio
Diáz
Porfirio Díaz was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 17 February 1877 to 1 December 1880 and from 1 December 1884 to 25 May 1911. The entire period 1876–1911 is often referred to as the Porfiriato.
This last Aztec emperor, nephew & son-in-law of Montezuma, was hanged near the town of Itzancanal on the orders of Cortés
Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler (tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, making him the last Aztec Emperor.
This bishop of Yucatan helped decipher hieroglyphics of the Maya, and also burned books, idols, and even people
Diego de Landa
Diego de Landa Calderón (1524-1579) was a Spanish bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán. Many historians criticize his campaign against idolatry. In particular, he burned almost all the Mayan manuscripts (codices) that would have been very useful in deciphering Mayan script, knowledge of Maya religion and civilization, and the history of the American continent. Nonetheless, his work in documenting and researching the Mayans was indispensable in achieving the current understanding of their culture.
Literally, “he who speaks.” A dynastic ruler of an altepetl, sometimes translated as “king”
tlatoani
Sometimes applied to a high Spanish authority, such as a viceroy or alcalde mayor.
A large altepetl (city-state) just outside the central valley that remained unconquered by the Mexica and their allies, among the very first to ally with the Spaniards
Tlaxcala
These people were Nahuas, too, having arrived about the same time as the Mexica—they even shared some of the same myths and stories—and they weren’t going to give the latter an inch if they could help it. Early on, the Mexica did launch several attacks against them, but it became clear that they were going to become mired in a stalemate. It was likely as a result of this that the Mexica initiated what they called the “Flower Wars,” a kind of Olympic games played every few years, in which the winners, rather than earning a crown of laurels, saved themselves from death. The system worked well to keep young warriors on their toes even in times when there was no current war. And it made it unnecessary to explain to anyone why Tlaxcala was allowed to continue to exist without paying tribute.
During the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Tlaxcala allied with the Spaniards against the Aztecs, being eager to see their longtime flower war enemies overthrown.
Regarded as the father of Chicano film, this playwright, screenwriter, film director, and actor is best known for his play Zoot Suit and his creation of El Teatro Campesino
Luís Valdéz