As we learn about historical figures, including our own family members, it’s important to recognize that their choices and opportunities were shaped by the times they lived in—colonization, wars, social upheaval, and modernization. Families adapted and endured within these larger forces. Looking at individual lives against the backdrop of Mexico’s history allows us to see not only what happened to the nation but how ordinary people experienced those changes in their daily lives.
We will go into greater detail with specific time periods and events, but to start with, below is a brief timeline of major time periods in Mexico’s history.
In 1519 Hernán Cortés led a Spanish expedition into central Mexico. With support from Indigenous allies, he defeated the Mexica Empire and captured Tenochtitlan in 1521. The conquest brought devastating epidemics, new systems of tribute, and the imposition of Spanish rule. Spain established the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which at its height spanned 5.3 million square miles, stretching far beyond the borders of present-day Mexico.
For three centuries, Mexico was a colony governed by Spanish officials and the Catholic Church. Silver mining, Indigenous labor, and trade with Asia through the Manila galleons shaped the economy. A rigid social hierarchy emerged, with Spaniards born in Spain at the top, and Indigenous, African, and mixed-race peoples lower down. Education, religion, and politics were tightly controlled by Spain. Although Mexico declared independence in 1810, Spain did not officially acknowledge it until 1836.
In the mid-1800s, liberal leaders tried to curb the Catholic Church’s power and modernize the economy. The Reform Laws confiscated church lands and introduced civil registration for births, marriages, and deaths, sparking civil war between liberals and conservatives. Amid the turmoil, France invaded in 1862. Mexican troops won an early victory at Puebla on May 5, but the French soon occupied Mexico City and installed Archduke Maximilian as emperor. His rule was short-lived: by 1867 republican forces under Benito Juárez defeated the French and restored the republic.
General Porfirio Díaz seized power in 1876 and ruled for more than three decades. His government relied on foreign investment, deliberately courting capital to build railroads, expand mining, and modernize industry. Rail networks grew from only a few hundred miles in the 1870s to more than 15,000 miles by 1910, linking remote regions and tying Mexico more closely to global markets. Mexico City modernized rapidly, but inequality deepened, and many Indigenous and rural communities lost land as large estates expanded along the new rail lines.
Widespread discontent with Díaz’s long rule erupted into revolution in 1910. His reliance on foreign capital and the expansion of large estates had enriched elites while displacing many Indigenous and rural communities. Leaders like Francisco Madero, Emiliano Zapata, and Pancho Villa mobilized support for political change and land reform. Díaz resigned in 1911, but years of shifting alliances and violence followed before a new government stabilized in the 1920s.
Post-revolutionary governments consolidated power under a single party, expanded public education, and promoted land reform. Oil was nationalized in 1938, and for decades the state directed much of the economy. Industrial growth was followed by recurring crises, while rapid urbanization reshaped cities and migration to the United States increased. In the 1990s, democratic reforms ended one-party dominance, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) linked Mexico more closely to North American markets. Today the country continues to be shaped by the legacies of colonization, revolution, and modernization.
