Mexico to-day and to-morrow, by E. D. Trowbridge

Front matter

Book > i 8 G

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Preface

to present tlie Mexican viewpoint, as well as that of the outsider, on questions of domestic affairs and foreign relations.

I wish to express my thanks to Senores Luis Cabrera, Ignacio Bonillas, Carlos Basave, Eduardo del Easo, Eafael IsTieto, V. M. Gutierrez, J. M. Cardenas and other Mexican friends for facilities given me for obtaining data; to Mr. George F. Weeks of Washington for chronological data ; and to Mr. C. W. Van Law of Boston for valuable suggestions.

Edwaed D. Tkowbeidge.

Detroit, December 9, 1918.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I Ancient Mexico and the Aztecs .... 1

n Aztec Civilization 10

Chapter I Ancient Mexico And The Aztecs

Mexico is a land of vivid, startling contrasts. The great Mexican Plateau is a region bathed in perpetual, brilliant sunshine; the Mexican tropical forests are vast, somber jungles into which the sunshine barely filters. It is a land of mystery, and a land of commonplace dirt and existence. Areas of fabulously rich soil contrast with arid desert regions. In Mexican history there are, on the one hand, romance, adventure, chivalry, sacrifice, lofty ideals; on the other, oppression, cruelty, sordid ambition, pestilence. Great wealth confronts the direst poverty. The lights are always strong, the shadows always dark.

Much has been written of Mexican history, of the early architecture, of the Spanish conquest, of wars and revolutions, of industrial growth and possibilities. The purpose of these works has been to make scientific examination of the life of early American peoples, to give purely chronological relation of the course of events in the country, or to treat the question from the viewpoint of world developments in commerce and industry. Little has been written from the viewpoint of the social life of the Mexican people. It is intended in the following pages, to attempt to give some idea of the conditions of the life of the people, of the factors which

2 MEXICO TO-DAY Al!^D TO-MOEEOW

led up to the turbulent years through which Mexico has passed, and of the problems which confront the country. It is necessary, however, in order to reach an understanding of present conditions, to review early history, and that of the Spanish rule in Mexico, in so far as these have influenced the development of the social conditions of the people.

Who the original inhabitants of Mexico were, and where they came from, are questions veiled in impenetrable mystery. We are apt to think of the Aztecs as the early people of Mexico. They, however, were relatively late comers. In 18Y0 there was found at Tequizquiac, in a geological formation of the JSTezoic period (the period of fauna gigantica), a skull of a cow, carved in stone, and human bones have been found in old geological formation, indicating that the country was inhabited at a very remote period. The first historic period in Mexico was that in which the great stone monuments and temples were erected by the Itzaes, a race whose civilization spread over Central America and thence along the West Coast of South America. The monuments, constructed of huge blocks of stone, were covered with rich carvings having many of the characteristics of the Assyrian and early Egyptian monuments. The carvings are historical records, with figures and gTOups of figures used much as hieroglyphics were used by the Egyptians, and while some, by analogy or by traditions picked up by early Spanish priests, have been deciphered, the key to this lost ideographic language has never been found. In general, the early monuments may be grouped into three divisions : Those of the Itzaes, in Yucatan and Central America ; those of the Mixtecos and Zapotecos, branches of the Maya race, in Mitla, (in the State of Oaxaca), at Xochicalco, (in the State of Morelos) and at various

ANCIEITT MEXICO ANT) THE AZTECS 3

points in tlie States of Puebla and Guerrero ; and those of the Toltecs, including the great pyramids erected at Teotihuacan, pyramids at Cholula and other points, and the rnins of great temples and buildings at ToUan (Tula), all points within a hundred miles of Mexico City. Some of the carvings in Yucatan seem to indicate that the Itzaes came from the East, which, if true, would give them ISTorth African or Asiatic origin. These people were star worshipers, and had a theocratic form of government. They built, as a capital, the city of Palenque, in Yucatan, whose ruins constitute the most elaborate found in the new world. Palenque probably antedates the Christian era by one thousand to two thousand years.

The Itzaes were succeeded, perhaps overthrown, by the Mayas, whose origin is also lost in obscurity. The Mayas were of the Nahoa family. All legendary and monumental records indicate that this race came from the North, and probably settled in Yucatan in the early centuries of the Christian era. Definite Mexican history begins with the Toltecs. Luis Perez Verdia, whose work, " Historia de Mexico," qualifies him to speak with authority, says that the Toltecs were settled in California, north of the Gila Eiver, at a very early date, and that their earliest legends and traditions indicated that they were of Asiatic origin. Perhaps they came from the far ISTorth, after following the chain of islands along the Bering Sea. In any event, they had a capital called Chalchicatzincan, probably in California. After some civil strife, seven chiefs, with a large following, started South at a date computed to be 544 a. d. They moved from time to time, finally establishing the town of Tollanzinco in 645, later, in 661, establishing their capital at Tollan (Tula), fifty miles from the present Mexican capital. Here they built a great city,

4 MEXICO TO-DAY Al^B TO-MOEROW

grew in numbers and power, and finally dominated the whole of the Mexican Valley region. Their government, which had been a tribal one headed by two chiefs, and five sub-chiefs, was changed into an absolute monarchy.

In any attempts to study the very early history of Mexico one of the difiiculties of determining anything as to the age of monuments is due to the tropical and semi-tropical plant life. Buildings, once abandoned, soon disappear under the profusion of foliage, and only chance excavation brings to light what may have been an important city centuries ago. At ISTecaxa, in the State of Puebla, some American engineers engaged on a large construction job, undertook to open up a large mound, evidently some sort of a ruin. On digging down six feet they found the walls of a Toltec temple, which they uncovered. The building was of massive hewn stone, paved with heavy flagstones. One of the latter was out of place, and, on digging into the hole where it had been the investigators found a small earthen jar containing two sixpence pieces of George III! The building had evidently been used, probably as a residence, as late as the latter part of the eighteenth century, but was so deeply buried in loam that the tops of its walls were six feet below the surface. On the great Mexican plateau, with its altitude of 8,000 feet, plant life is not so luxuriant, and monuments of ancient days do not disappear in this way. However, much of the carved or written record of ancient days has been blotted out by the fanaticism of the Conquerors.

During the Toltec domination another race, the Chichimeca, had probably settled in the Mexico Valley. Their origin is obscure, and little is kno^vn of them save that they came from the IsTorth. Whether

AN"CIENT MEXICO Al^D THE AZTECS 5

they succeeded to the power of the Toltecs through prosperity due to tribal growth and energy, or whether they were invaders who overthrew the Toltecs, is not clear. The Toltec rule ended in 1116, perhaps somewhat earlier, and there is a lapse of some years to 1170, when, according to the best evidence, the history of Chichimec rule began. In any event, the Chichimecs apparently came in great numbers, divided into several distinct tribes which settled around the borders of the Valley Lakes. Of these tribes the Acolhuans, later known as the Tezcucans, were the most powerful, and their chief exercised a sort of feudal control over the other tribes. The Acolhuans settled at Texcoco, where, before long, their crude huts, built of reeds, gave way to buildings of brick and stone, and the foundations were laid for a permanent and powerful government. The Xochimilcos settled south of Lake Chalco, the Tepanecs at Atzcapozalco, the Chalcos east of Lake Chalco, and the Tlaxcaltecs on the shore of Lake Texcoco. The Tlaxcaltecs, due to tribal warfare, withdrew early, settling at Tlaxcallan. Of the remaining, the Acolhuans outstripped the others, and their capital, Texcoco, soon became the -most important place in the whole of Mexico Valley. This city is credited with having had 200,000 inhabitants, living in 30,000 houses. As the Tezcucans developed picture writing to a high degree a good deal of their history has been preserved. Ixtlilxochitl, a descendant of the royal family, early in the days of Spanish rule wrote an exhaustive history of the Kingdom. Ixtlilxochitl, fortunately, lived at a period so close to the days of Tezcucan domination that he was able to get much accurate information as to the conditions of the life of the people, social customs, and so forth. We have, therefore, a graphic picture of a civilization, quite highly developed in many respects, existing at a period when the greater portion of the continent was occupied only by savages. The royal palace, which included all public buildings, covered a tract of land three quarters of a mile long by half a mile wide. The royal quarters were luxuriously embellished with alabaster walls and beautiful tapestries of feather work. In the courts were many varieties of trees, and there existed quite elaborate buildings devoted to specimens of animal and bird life. There was also an aquarium containing specimens of fish of the kingdom, and many fish brought from distant points. An elaborate system of courts was established, and something of education was attempted under the care of the priesthood. The greatest development of the kingdom was under I^ezahualcoyotl, who died in 1470.

The Aztecs, another race from the ISTorth, probably from California, started wandering southward some time in the twelfth century. Traces of their migration are found in Arizona, then in ISTew Mexico and finally in Northern Mexico. At Casas Grandes, in the State of Chihuahua, they built a great city, and the combination palace and citadel, a building or group of buildings of brick, eight hundred feet long by two hundred and fifty feet wide, was, in part, six or seven stories high — probably the first sky-scraper on the continent. The movements of this tribe from Casas Grandes southward are easily traced. The tribe eventually arrived in the lake region of the Mexico Valley, but, as all fertile tracts were already occupied, had to content itself on an island marsh in Lake Texcoco. It is improbable that this spot would have been selected but for the fact that according to tradition an Aztec wise man had said that the people would not settle permanently until they found an eagle and a serpent to-

ANCIEN^T MEXICO ANT> THE AZTECS 7

gether. Consequently, wlien in their wanderings they found an eagle devouring a serpent they decided to stay and make the best of a bad location. They had a hard time of it, as marshes had to be reclaimed to give them any soil to cultivate. Moreover, the neighboring tribes did not want any more people in the valley, and were hostile to a point of persecution. The new people, however, were hardy and tenacious, and, having come more recently from a country where they were in battle with climatic conditions, they were stronger, man for man, than those around them. They stuck to it, managed to hold what they had, and soon had a settlement of a permanent character. Arriving at the lake in 1325, by the end of the century they were influential, and their capital, Tenochtitlan, was of almost equal importance with Texcoco. In a war between the Tezcucans and Tepanecs they came in, at a critical moment, as allies of the former, and helped in the annihilation, in 1428, of Tepanec power. As a reward they were given a large part of the conquered territory.

Shortly after this there was formed an alliance, offensive and defensive, between the Aztecs, Tezcucans. and Tlacopans. By the terms of the Alliance the three contracting parties were to act together for defensive purposes, and were to divide, in proportions of two-fifths, two-fifths and one-fifth, all the spoils of war. 'No offensive could be undertaken without the consent of at least two of the allies. Each kingdom contitiued a separate and independent rule, and was at liberty to go on with its own development, and the three were allied only for military purposes. At first the Tezcucans probably dominated the alliance, but later the Aztecs took the lead. It is a somewhat remarkable fact, considering the possibilities of trouble over division of spoils, that the alliance thus formed continued for more than a century, and was, in fact, only overcome by the Spanish conquest. The alliance was of the greatest importance in the subsequent history of the country, not only because of its strength but because, in the use of that strength, it created many enemies and paved the way for foreign interference.

The Aztecs, early in their history in the valley, were called Mexicans, from their patron deity, Mexitli. As they became the dominating military factor and the leading political power the subsequent operations of the alliance may be considered as of Aztec or Mexican character, and will be treated as such.

The Mexican rule, or, more correctly, the Mexican domination, was now extended rapidly in all directions. It extended east to the Gulf of Mexico, and up and down the Gulf for perhaps two hundred and fifty miles. Toward the south it extended two hundred miles or more, on the west it touched the Pacific Ocean, and on the north it took in practically the whole of the Mexican plateau. Altogether, considering the primitive nature of its people and the humble origin of the dominating nation, it was an extensive country. The great point of weakness in the scheme was, however, that power was not centralized. Each conquered tribe was left to itself and subjected only to paying tribute. Consequently, nothing in the way of a national spirit or power was developed. In fact, the tendency under this scheme was to increase tribal jealousy and hatred, and to throw the subject peoples into any strong combination which might give promise of relief from immediate troubles. There was nothing in this so-called empire to suggest the rule of the Romans, who, on vanquishing a foe, immediately set about to build up, not a tributarynation, but rather a distinctly Roman province. The

AI^CIEI^T MEXICO AND THE AZTECS 9

situation might be compared to that of the world-wide empire set up by Alexander^ who conquered, exacted tribute and moved on, leaving a hundred petty kingdoms in his wake.

Chapter II Aztec Civilization

From early days the Toltecs had. developed a relatively high civilization. They made much progress in agriculture, knew something of astronomy, formulated a calendar, had an ideographic system of writing, and understood something of government. It would be tedious to attempt any classification, in chronological order, of the social and economic development made by the succeeding nations. It is, however, important to understand, in a general way, the social conditions existing at the time of the Spanish Conquest. In describing these conditions no attempt will be made to differentiate between Toltec, Tezcucan or Mexican civilizations, the three being treated as common to all. The Toltecs and Tezcucans had hereditary monarchs, while the Aztec monarchy was elective. Due to this and to other conditions there were minor differences in laws and in social customs, but the civilization may, for the purpose of this work, be considered as Mexican, especially as the Mexicans largely dominated at the time of the conquest.

The Spaniards, on coming to Mexico, found little to learn from the Mexicans as to agriculture, and, in fact, had much to teach them. It must be remembered, however, that agriculture in Spain had been developed to a very high point by the Moors, and that, agTiculturally, they were at that time easily the first nation in the world. It seems probable, from all the data avail-

AZTEC CIVILIZATIOIT 11

able, that Mexican progress in agriculture was up to the average of most European countries. They not only tilled the soil, but they understood and developed irrigation. In hilly country the ground was terraced, not only to utilize all available land but to prevent such land, once cultivated, from being washed away in heavy rains. Corn was raised everywhere, and there was a great variety of vegetables. Various spices were raised, and, as a substitute for sugar there were the products of different plants. Cacao (chocolate) was grown in the tierra caliente (hot country) and was in general use. Great quantities of cotton were grown, and cotton cloths, from the coarsest to the finest, were to be had in all parts of the country. The products of other plants were used for making other textiles, and skins and furs were made useful by tanning and treatment. A good grade of paper similar to papyrus was made from the fiber of the maguey plant.

Gold and silver were used for ornaments, and were wrought and carved with considerable skill. Pearls were brought from the Gulf of California, and were much prized. Emeralds, turquoises, opals and other precious and semi-precious stones were also used for ornaments, but were usually in the rough, due to the absence of hard enough materials with which to cut them. For purposes of ornamentation, both in the way of personal decoration and for household use, feather work desigTis were much used, and in this dainty art the Mexicans excelled. The gorgeously colored feathers of tropical birds were used in immense quantities for this purpose, and the artisans were so skillful that the most intricate and delicate designs were put into tapestries or on cloths for wearing apparel.

There was no phonetic alphabet, but an ideographic system of writing had existed from very early days, and

12 MEXICO TO-DAY AI^D TO-MORKOW

had been developed to a point where, with the use of conventional hieroglyphics, much could be expressed in writing. In the earlier days this mode of expression appears to have been confined to stone carving, but later a vast amount of picture writing was done. The Mexicans developed this to its highest point by superimposing a color scheme on the original method of written expression. This gave " them greater flexibility, as a figure in black would mean one thing, while the same figure in blue would mean something else, or perhaps indicate a difl^erent state of the first object. Thus, a disc could mean the sun, a white disc the rising sun, a black disc the setting sun, a disc half-painted white midday, and so on through an endless number of combinations. A footprint meant traveling, a tongue meant speaking, and a man seated indicated an earthquake. Many of the signs were seemingly arbitrary, but doubtless due to some association of ideas. Thus, the serpent was used to represent time. This, while apparently arbitrary, was doubtless due to the idea of the noiseless speed with which time glides by.

The zeal of the Spaniards for religion was as great as their avarice for gold, and their first acts in Mexico were to destroy the old temples. As temple walls were covered with picture writing, all documents and parchments were considered as part of an idolatrous worship and were promptly destroyed. One early prelate made a huge collection of picture writings solely for the pleasure of burning them all at once in a huge bonfire ! Possibly in this very fire perished the key to the whole language. At all events, in the first few years the Spanish destroyed every piece of writing found, and only after their first fanatic fury was exhausted did they realize what they had done. Then the priests began to decipher such manuscripts as turned up, either by use of

AZTEC CIVILIZATI0:N^ 13

such, other documents as they had or by combining them with traditional history. Thanks, then, to the same church which destroyed the greater part of the written records, some of the old manuscripts remain and are useful in forming an idea of the history and life of the people. That there was a clearly defined if intricate means of expressing thoughts in writing is certain, and that this had been developed, not merely to represent single ideas but to record past events with careful reference to their chronological order, is also certain. The people, then, had long passed the stage of living the day for itself, and had developed in thought to a point where they wished to record what had gone before. In other words, they had made a great step in civilization, not only in agriculture and in the development of comforts, but also in thought. How rapidly they reached this stage is uncertain, but from their knowledge of astronomy it seems probable that the process took many centuries.

The movements of the sun, moon and planets must have been observed and recorded for many years, for they had a remarkable knowledge of the revolutions of the different bodies. Their calendar was amazingly accurate, although worked out on a totally different basis than ours. The year was divided into eighteen months of twenty days each, and each year five extra days were added. This gave them a year of 365 days. To make up the actual loss in time extra days were added during each cycle, 13 in most and 12 in the others, on a basis of making a total addition, in 20 cycles of 1040 years, of 252 days. This gave them, in 1040 years, a total of 379,852 days, as against actual time of 379,851 days, 1 hour, 5 minutes and 2 seconds. The calendar would, in other words, serve 23,000 years before an error of a full day would occur. In the Julian calendar, in use at the time of the Spanish Conquest, there was an error of over 8 days in 1040 years, and the Gregorian calendar, now in general use, is a day in error every 3323 years. While it may be of small interest to know that we cannot run nearly as long without losing a day, it is of the highest interest to know that this people had, at such an early date, made such close and accurate observations. The Aztec calendar stone, unearthed in the main plaza of Mexico City in 1790, gives a marvelously ingenious combination of the days, months, years and cycles, and, erected in a vertical position, it acted as a sun dial. With indications of the equinoxes and solstices, it gave a complete and accurate statement of time, hour, day, month, year and cycle, — probably the most complete affair of its kind ever erected.

The Mexican had an elective monarchy. During the reign of a monarch the nobility named four electors, who, on the death of the monarch, named his successor, and the latter was usually of the same family. Unless a son of the deceased monarch was of mature age, a brother or nephew was chosen. The monarch was supreme in all matters, with one important exception. In each kingdom there was a supreme judge, named for life and independent of the king. Thus provision was made for dispensation of justice without any influence or pressure from the court. In each province there was a lower court, and below this were minor magistrates in every village or district. On the presentation of cases before the two upper courts, and perhaps before magistrates, a record of the facts or claims was made in picture vn"iting, this work being done by an officer of the court corresponding with our court stenographer. The care with which these records were made is attested by the fact that old records were accepted by the Spanish for several years after the conquest.

AZTEC CIVILIZATION^ 15

The laws, as with all primitive peoples, were severe. Murder was punished with death, and adulterers were stoned to death. Thieving was punishable with death or slavery, according to the gravity of the offense. Changing boundary lines or falsifying weights were capital offenses, as was breach of trust by a guardian. Intemperance was punished with death for young men, and with loss of property for old men.

Public debtors were sold as slaves. Prisoners taken in war could be sold into slavery, and the very poor often sold themselves or their children. Slaves were well treated, and had certain rights. They could work for others when not needed by their owners, and thus could acquire property. They were even allowed to own slaves. Children of slaves were free.

There was no currency, and trading was mostly by barter, supplemented by the use of quills filled with gold dust. As a medium of exchange bags of cacao beans, containing a fixed weight of beans, were used. Small pieces of tin, cut T shape, were also used in trading, the value, as with the cacao beans, being intrinsic.

While some of these features were of a primitive nature, others, especially those of the provisions for courts of justice, showed a high order of development. In general, the political organization was well laid out to fit the needs of the people, and there appears to have been a disposition to do justice to all classes of people.

The religious beliefs of the Mexicans present curious contradictions. They believed in a " god omnipotent," " by whom we live," " giver of all gifts," " of perfection," " under whose wings we find repose and sure defense " — in other words, in a supreme deity, creator and ruler. This conception was so great as to stagger the average primitive mind. Clearly, there must be one Supreme Being, omnipotent, without beginning and without end. But how could He, alone, rule the destinies of a world full of many peoples ? The creation, in the dim past, was not so staggering, but the multiplex duties of a god in guiding the universe were manifestly too great to be carried out without assistance. To meet this, the Mexicans developed the idea of a number of inferior gods who were charged with specific duties. Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, had to do with all war matters. Quetzalcoatl, god of the air, was a benevolent deity who, in the dim past, had quarreled with the other gods and had been driven out, leaving the country in a boat and going East, promising to return. There were gods of the air, of the household, of the harvest, and so forth, with a total of thirteen major gods inferior to the Supreme Being. Again, there was a confused doubt if these gods could properly take care of a thousand and one things without outside help, so two hundred minor gods were conceived, and to them were given all the details in the management of every day life. While, ethically, the addition of many minor gods detracts from the perfection of the scheme, it is, nevertheless, of greatest interest to know that the Mexicans had, in the idea of a Supreme Being, the greatest of religious conceptions. Their belief in immortality was a natural consequence of a belief in a supreme being. They believed in various grades of future life. Soldiers who died in battle were most highly honored, as their spirits were supposed to immediately go to the Sun, and after a space of time spent in songs and dances in the Sun's travels in space, the souls animated song birds living in paradise. Evil spirits went into a place of eternal darkness. There was not, in their conception of paradise, anything of the material sensualism so characteristic with primitive peoples, and their idea of a place of punishment is unaccompanied by any sugges-

AZTEC CIVILIZATI0:N" 17

tion of torture. The whole tendency of their religious belief, especially in its early stages, was along poetic lines. The gods were propitiated with offerings of fruit and flowers. The sun, bringing warmth and light, was considered as the direct agent of an omnipotent power. It was the generating impulse of the world, and was therefore frequently represented as double to indicate two sexes. The rite of baptism was practiced, the lips and bosom being sprinkled with water. At death the body was covered with scraps of paper to protect the spirit on the dark road — a practice followed, in one form or another, by the Egyptians, Phoenicians and other early peoples, and having its counterpart in a part of the burial service in the Koman Catholic Church. Eemains were cremated and the ashes kept in vases in each household. Confession to priests was obligatory, and penances were imposed. Confession, however, was only made once in a lifetime, doubtless on the theory that atonement and subsequent sinning would be incompatible. Consequently, confession was usually made late in life. Then a lifetime of sins could be confessed and atoned for. The priests, on confession, gave absolution. This absolution was of material as well as of spiritual value, as it carried with it immunity from arrest for various offenses. After the Conquest the natives, when arrested, frequently presented evidence of confession in expectation of immunity. As the act of confession was the most important one in life, the simple folk doubtless had a confused notion of the very futility of existence when it represented nothing in the new order of things.

The priesthood was numerous and powerful. Five thousand priests, it is said, were attached to the main temple, and doubtless a goodly percentage of the entire population were in the priestly orders. Education, chiefly relative to churcli ritual, picture writing, astrology and astronomy, was in the hands of the priests. There was no attempt at any popular education, but any one desiring to enter the priesthood became a novitiate and was put through a long course of instruction before being given orders. The priestly orders included nuns, who, in addition to taking part in some of the ceremonies, did feather work and embroidery for coverings for the church altars.