trolled most of the central part of Mexico through a state payment system that got taxes and stopped them from being able to act independently from conquered tribal groups. The Aztecs moved into the central part of Mexico from the north and accomplished a tribal story by establishing a city where an eagle with a snake in its beak rested on a cactus. This became the national symbol for Mexico and was put on the country's flag and seal. The Aztecs started the city of Tenochtitlan in about the early 1300s, and then it became the capital of their empire. The Tlaxcalans in the east, the Tarascans on the west, and the Chichimecs in the north were outside the Aztec Empire and they would sometimes have wars with them. The nation's name comes from the Aztecs' war god, Mexitli. Spanish Conquest From when Hernando Cortez took over until 1821, Mexico was a colony of Spain. Cortez first came into the Valley of Mexico on the Mesa Central in 1519 after marching over land from Veracruz, the town he had started on the coastal plains. With less than 200 soldiers and a few horses, the first take-over of the Aztecs was possible only with the help that came from the big Indian armies that Cortez put together from some of the Aztecs' enemies. After a short first success at Tenochtitlan, the Spanish were driven from the city on the Noche Triste or, Sad Night but came back in 1521 and destroyed the city and strongly defeated the Aztecs. Within a short time the rest of central and southern...
