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Chapter 6 – Mexico
Video
Section Notes
Impact of Emigration
Physical Geography
History and Culture
Mexico Today
Maps
Quick Facts
Chapter 6 Visual Summary
Mexico: Political
Mexico: Physical
Mexico: Climate
Mexico’s Culture Regions
Mexico
Images
Culture
Early Cultures of Mexico
Hidalgo Calls for Independence
Focus on Culture: Day of the
Dead
Physical Geography
The Big Idea
Mexico is a large country with different natural environments
in its northern, central, and southern regions.
Main Ideas
• Mexico’s physical features include plateaus, mountains,
and coastal lowlands.
• Mexico’s climate and vegetation include deserts, tropical
forests, and cool highlands.
• Key natural resources in Mexico include oil, silver, gold,
and scenic landscapes.
Main Idea 1:
Mexico’s physical features include plateaus,
mountains, and coastal lowlands.
• Mexico shares a long border with the southern United
States.
• The Río Bravo, called the Rio Grande in the U.S., runs
along part of this border.
• The Río Bravo is one of Mexico’s few major rivers.
Mexico’s Physical Features
Bodies
Of Water
Plateaus
And
Mountains
•
Bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the West and the Gulf
of Mexico in the east
•
Stretching south from northern Mexico is a peninsula,
or piece of land surrounded by water on three sides,
called Baja California.
•
The Yucatán Peninsula separates the Gulf of Mexico
from the Caribbean Sea.
•
Much of interior is a region called the Mexican Plateau.
•
Two mountain ranges, the Sierra Madre Oriental in the
east and the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west, are
part of the Sierra Madre, or “mother range.”
•
The Valley of Mexico, where Mexico City is located, lies
between these two ranges in the south.
•
The mountains south of Mexico City include volcanoes.
Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are a threat to that
region.
Coastal Lowlands
• The land slopes down to the coast from highlands in
central Mexico.
• The Gulf coastal plain is wide and flat.
– This region has good soils and climate for farming.
• The Yucatán Peninsula is mostly flat.
– Erosion of limestone created caves and sinkholes that are
often filled with water.
Main Idea 2:
Mexico’s climate and vegetation include
deserts, tropical forests, and cool highlands.
• The great variety of climates produces different vegetation.
• Changes in elevation cause climates to vary within short
distances.
• The Mexican Plateau can have cool temperatures.
• The southern coastal areas have warm temperatures and
summer rainy seasons that support tropical forests that
cover 25 percent of Mexico.
• The climate in the Yucatán Peninsula is hot and dry,
supporting scrub forest.
• Most of northern Mexico is dry and made up of deserts and
grasslands.
Main Idea 3:
Key natural resources in Mexico include oil,
silver, gold, and scenic landscapes.
• Mexico has rich natural resources.
• The southern and coastal plains and the Gulf of Mexico
have oil.
• Mexico’s mines yield gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc.
• Mexico produces more silver than any other country in the
world.
History and Culture
The Big Idea
Native American cultures and Spanish colonization shaped
Mexican history and culture.
Main Ideas
• Early cultures of Mexico included the Olmec, the Maya,
and the Aztec.
• Mexico’s period as a Spanish colony and its struggles since
independence have shaped its culture.
• Spanish and native cultures have influenced Mexico’s
customs and traditions today.
Main Idea 1:
Early cultures of Mexico included the Olmec,
the Maya, and the Aztec.
• People came to Mexico many thousands of years ago.
• As early as 5,000 years ago, they were growing beans,
peppers, squash, and domesticated corn.
• Farming allowed people to build the first settlements in
America.
Three Civilizations
Olmec
• Lived in small
villages by
about 1500 BC
• Settled in the
southern coast
of the Gulf of
Mexico
• Built temples
and giant
statues
Maya
• Built big cities
in Mexico and
Central America
between AD
250 and 900
• Built stone
temples
• Developed a
calendar
• Kept written
records that do
not reveal the
reason for their
collapse
Aztec
• Moved in from
the north
• Built a great
capital on an
island in 1325
• Established an
empire, a land
with different
territories and
peoples under
one ruler
• Obtained new
lands, taxes,
and captives to
sacrifice
through war
Main Idea 2:
Mexico’s period as a Spanish colony and its
struggles since independence have shaped its
culture.
• Despite great size and power, the Aztec empire did not last
long after Hernán Cortés arrived with 600 Spanish
soldiers.
• The Spanish had better weapons and horses.
• The Spanish brought new diseases, such as smallpox,
which killed many Aztecs.
• Cortés conquered the empire by 1521.
Colonial Times
Culture
Religion
• After the conquest, the
separate peoples and
cultures mixed.
• The Roman Catholic
Church had great
influence.
• Mestizos are people of
mixed European and
American Indian
ancestry.
• The church ruled over
large areas of northern
Mexico.
• Mulattoes are people of
mixed European and
African descent.
• Africans and American
Indians also
intermarried.
• The church established
missions, or church
outposts.
• Priests learned native
languages and
converted the American
Indians to Catholicism.
Colonial Times Economy
• The Spaniards searched for gold and silver.
• The American Indians and the enslaved Africans labored in
the mines.
• As a result, many died from overwork and disease.
• The Spanish monarch granted haciendas, or huge
expanses of farm or ranch land, to some Spanish people
who became wealthy.
• Peasants, usually Indians, lived and worked on haciendas.
Independence and Later Struggles
Independence
• Spain ruled Mexico for 300
years.
• Miguel Hidalgo, a Catholic
priest, led the revolt against
Spain.
• Hidalgo was killed in 1811, but
Mexico won independence in
1821.
Later Struggles
• Texas broke away from Mexico
fifteen years after
independence.
• During the resulting MexicanAmerican War, Mexico lost
nearly half of its territory.
• In the mid-1800s, Benito
Juárez helped Mexico survive
a French invasion and reduced
the privileges of the church
and army.
• In the early 1900s, hacienda
owners and foreign companies
had much influence.
• The Mexican Revolution, 19101920, resulted in land reform.
Main Idea 3:
Spanish and native cultures have influenced
Mexico’s customs and traditions today.
Spanish
• Most Mexicans speak Spanish.
• About 90 percent of Mexicans are Roman Catholic.
• Many people speak an American Indian language
American
that ties them to their ethnic group.
Indian
• These languages identify a person as Indian.
Spanish
and
American
Indian
• Mexicans have unique practices that result from
the mixing of cultures.
• For example, Mexicans celebrate the Day of the
Dead to remember dead ancestors.
• This holiday is held on All Souls’ Day, but reflects
native customs and beliefs.
Mexico Today
The Big Idea
Mexico has four culture regions that all play a part in the
country’s government and economy.
Main Ideas
• Government has traditionally played a large role in
Mexico’s economy.
• Mexico has four distinct culture regions.
Main Idea 1:
Government has traditionally played a large
role in Mexico’s economy.
• Mexico is a democracy, but the same party ruled for 71 years.
• A different political party came to power in 2000 when Vicente
Fox was elected president.
• Mexico’s government controlled most economic activity for many
years, but today that has changed.
• As a developing country, Mexico has challenges.
– Debt to foreign banks
– Unemployment
– Inflation, a rise in prices that occurs when currency loses buying
power
• Mexico’s economy has been growing since 1994 when the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) made trade with the
U.S. and Canada easier.
Mexico’s Economy
Agriculture
• Farms have long
been a part of
Mexican economy.
• Only 12 percent
of the land can be
farmed.
• Farmers practice
slash-and-burn
agriculture,
burning forests to
clear land for
planting.
• Farmers grow
cash crops,
crops that
farmers can sell
for a profit.
Industry
Tourism
• Major industries
include oil,
mining, and
manufacturing.
• Tourists visit old
colonial cities and
Maya and Aztec
monuments.
• Many foreign
companies have
built factories
along the U.S.
border because
labor is cheaper.
• Coastal cities are
popular with
tourists.
• Some Mexican
workers come to
the U.S. to look
for jobs.
Main Idea 2:
Mexico has four distinct culture regions.
• All Mexicans share cultural characteristics.
• Yet, four regions differ in culture, population, resources,
and climate:
– Greater Mexico City
– Central Mexico
– Northern Mexico
– Southern Mexico
Mexico’s Culture Regions
Greater Mexico City
• Includes the capital and 50
smaller cities
• Has a population of more
than 19 million
• Second largest city in
world
• Huge, dense population
causes problems.
– Smog, a mixture of
smoke, chemicals, and
fog, created by factories
and cars
– Poverty
Central Mexico
• North of Mexico City
• Many cities established for
ranching or mining during
the colonial period
• Colonial heritage: church
near main central square,
or plaza
• Small family farms that
grow vegetables, corn and
wheat
• Mining centers
• New industries leading to
rapid growth of cities
Mexico’s Culture Regions, continued
Northern Mexico
• One of the country’s
wealthiest and most
modern regions
• Trade with U.S. helping
growth of economy
• Has many maquiladoras,
U.S. and foreign-owned
factories
• Influenced by American
television, music, and
culture
• Residents crossing into the
U.S. to shop, work, or live
• United States tries to
prevent illegal crossing
Southern Mexico
• Least populated and
industrialized region
• Many Indian language
speakers
• Subsistence farming and
slash-and-burn agriculture
• Two major export crops:
sugarcane and coffee
• Increased oil production along
the Gulf coast
• Yucatán Peninsula: tourism to
Maya ruins and beaches
• Tiny fishing towns transformed
to booming tourist centers
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