From 1521 to 1821, Mexico was a colony of Spain. During this period, hundreds of thousands of Spaniards crossed the Atlantic to begin new lives in the Americas. But the newly independent nation of Mexico – bitter from three centuries of sometimes oppressive colonial rule – enacted legislation to ban and expel many Spanish immigrants. However, relations between Spain and Mexico improved after Spain recognized Mexico’s independence (1836). Recognizing the similarities of their linguistic and cultural heritage, millions of Spaniards would make their way (or flee) to Mexico during the next century-and- a-half.

The Cristero Rebellion – also known as La Cristiada – was a popular uprising in 1926-29 of Catholic peasants in the central-western Mexican states against the secularist, anti-Catholic and anti-clerical policies of the Mexican government under President Plutarco Elías Calles. The rebellion took place in response to the imposition of the Calles Law which strictly enforced the secularist and anticlerical articles of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico.

Porfirio Díaz (1830-1913) ̶a native of Oaxaca came to power in 1876 and essentially ruled the country until 1911. He was responsible for economic growth, industrialization and enhanced foreign investment, but had little regard for human rights. Diaz’s rule was both harsh and arbitrary. Much of Mexico’s economic system during his rule revolved around the hacienda system.

The Cristero Rebellion affected the lives of many Mexicans. Many Mexican-American families still talk of it today. This work discusses the ideologies of the two combatants: The Mexican Government and the Catholic Church. The battles are not discussed here, but the beginning and end of the conflict are discussed as viewed by the American press.

For nearly a decade, Texas existed as an independent republic, but in 1845, the young republic joined the United States as the 28th state. When James K. Polk became the President of the U.S. in 1845, he had his eyes on California, New Mexico and the rest of what is today the U.S. Southwest. When his offer to purchase those lands was rejected by Mexico, he instigated a fight by moving troops into a disputed zone between the Rio Grande and Nueces River that both countries had previously recognized as part of the Mexican state of Coahuila.

With independence, the former Spanish colonies of Nueva España, Nueva Galicia and Nueva Vizcaya became the “United Mexican States.” The name Mexico was taken from the capital city of Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlán, named for the dominant Aztec tribe, the Mexica. Iturbide was named President of the Provisional Governing Junta, which set about the task of finding a member of a European royal family to take the throne of Mexico. He served as president from Sept. 1821 to May 1822. Eventually, thanks to his overwhelming support from the elites and his role in Mexico’s independence, Iturbide was appointed First Constitutional Emperor of Mexico on May 19, 1822.

At the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, Mexico was a colony of Spain, a European nation located approximately 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers) from its Gulf Coast shoreline. In 1810, the Spanish Empire consisted of 13.7 million square kilometers (5.3 million square miles) and occupied 9.2% of the world’s land area, most of which was in the Americas. Spain had the fifth largest empire in world history.

The Spanish Empire got off to a bad start at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. In addition to her Caribbean, Central American, and Mexican possessions, Spain had gained possession of France’s extensive Louisiana territory in 1769. However, in 1800, Emperor Napoleon of France forced Spain to return Louisiana to France by the Treaty of San Ildefonso. Three years later, France sold Louisiana to the United States.