Some Events in the History of Mexico and the Border

1519—Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico. In 1521 Cortés and Indian allies conquer Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital.

1531—Juan Diego, one of the first Christianized Aztecs, reports the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

1551—National university is founded in Mexico City.

1808—Napoleon dethrones the Spanish king, stimulating policial unrest throughout Spain's empire.

1810-c. 1821—During wars of independence that pit Mexicans against one another as well as the forces of Spain, over 12 percent of Mexican population dies. Mexican independence is achieved under the 1821 Plan of Iguala, which promises equality for citizens and preserves the privileges of the Catholic Church.

1821—Moses Austin receives land grant to settle Anglo-Americans in Texas.

1824—Constitution of 1824 establishes Mexico as a republic with a federal system.

1825—Joel R. Poinsett is named the first United States minister to Mexico. At the first Pan-American congress in 1826, Mexico's representative defeats Poinsett's plans for a hemisphere-wide trade pact, interpreting it as a cover for United States dominance.

1835—Rebels seeking independence for Texas fight the Mexican army at the Alamo. In 1836 the Texas Republic becomes independent.

1837-1841—Revolts favoring federalism over the centralizing constitution imposed by Antonio López de Santa Anna in 1836 occur in much of Mexico.

1845—The United States annexes Texas.

1846-1848—Mexico and the United States are at war. In the resulting treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Mexico cedes Texas, New Mexico, and California to the United States.

1854—United States Senate approves Gadsden Purchase from Mexico, adding nearly 30,000 square miles to southern Arizona and New Mexico.

1854-1861—Benito Juárez and other liberals overthrow Santa Anna (Revolution of Ayutla). The liberal reforms they inaugurate encourage division of Indian and church lands into private holdings, subject clergy and military to regular courts, and establish religious freedom.

1857—Constitution establishes a federal republic and, moving beyond the Constitution of 1824, guarantees the individual rights of free speech, assembly, and press. In 1858-1861 supporters and opponents of the reforms fight the War of the Reform, which ends in liberal victory.

1862-1867—The French emperor Napoleon III, in alliance with conservative and proclerical Mexicans, installs Maximilian of Habsburg as emperor of Mexico. On May 5, 1862, Mexican troops defeat Napoleon III's troops at Puebla. (The holiday Cinco de Mayo honors this victory.) In 1867 Juárez's forces defeat and execute Maximilian.

1876-1911—The Porfiriato, the authoritarian regime of the longtime president Porfirio Díaz, maintains the liberal economic policies and secularization achieved under Juárez and encourages foreign investment.

1884—United States-Mexican railroad connection links El Paso and Mexico City.

1891—United States Immigration Act authorizes inspection stations at ports of entry on the Mexican and Canadian borders.

1904—To curtail undocumented entry of Asian and European immigrants into the United States through Mexico, immigration inspectors on horseback begin to patrol the United States-Mexican border.

1910-1917—Spurred by discontent with the dictatorial Díaz regime, regional animosities, and increasing economic inequality in the countryside, guerrilla armies fight the Mexican Revolution, temporarily breaking the country into warring regions.

1914—United States forces occupy the port city of Veracruz for seven months.

1916—United States President Woodrow Wilson orders Gen. John Pershing to capture guerrilla leader Pancho Villa after Villa's attack on Columbus, New Mexico. For nine months 4,000 American troops search in vain for Villa.

1917—The Constitution of 1917 maintains republican and liberal features of the 1824 and 1857 constitutions but also guarantees social rights such as a living wage. It nationalizes mineral resources and prohibits foreign businessmen from appealing to their home governments to protect their property. Altered many times, this constitution remains in force. . . .