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Since the colonial era and up to the 21st century, the indigenous roots of Mexican history and culture have been important to Mexican identity. The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City is a showcase of the country's pre-Hispanic greatness. Although the Spanish Empire established colonies in the Caribbean starting in 1493, it was not until the second decade of the sixteenth century that they began exploring the eastern coast of Mexico. Spaniards first learned about Mexico during the expedition of Juan de Grijalva in 1518. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire began in February 1519, when Hernan Cortez landed on the Gulf coast and founded the Spanish city of Veracruz. About 500 conquistadors, along with horses, cannons, swords and long guns, gave the Spaniards some technological advantages over local warriors, but the key to Spain's victory was the conclusion of strategic alliances with disaffected local city-states (Altepetl), who fought with them against the Triple Alliance of the Aztecs. Also an important role in the victory of Spain was played by the cultural translator Cortez Malinche, a Nahua woman enslaved in the Maya area, which the Spaniards purchased as a gift. She quickly learned Spanish and gave strategic advice on how to deal with both allies and enemies from the indigenous population.
The capture of Tenochtitlan in 1521 and the immediate foundation of the Spanish capital Mexico City on its ruins marked the beginning of a 300-year colonial era during which Mexico was known as New Spain. Two factors made Mexico the jewel of the Spanish Empire: the existence of a large, hierarchically organized Mesoamerican population that paid tribute and performed compulsory labor, and the discovery of extensive silver deposits in northern Mexico. The Kingdom of New Spain was created from the remnants of the Aztec Empire. The two pillars of Spanish rule were the state and the Roman Catholic Church, both under the rule of the Spanish crown. In 1493, the Pope granted the Spanish monarchy broad powers for its overseas empire on the condition that the crown would spread Christianity in its new kingdoms. In 1524, King Charles I created the Council of the Indies, based in Spain, to oversee state power in its overseas territories; in New Spain, the Crown established a high court in Mexico City, a real Audiencia, and then in 1535 established the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Viceroy was the highest official of the State. In the religious sphere, the Diocese of Mexico was established in 1530 and elevated to the Archdiocese of Mexico in 1546, with the archbishop as the head of the church hierarchy overseeing the Roman Catholic clergy. Castilian Spanish was the language of the rulers. The Catholic faith was the only one allowed, non-Catholics (Jews and Protestants) and Catholics (with the exception of Indians) who held unorthodox views were subject to the Mexican Inquisition, founded in 1571.
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The rich deposits of silver, especially in Zacatecas and Guanajuato, led to the fact that silver mining became dominant in the economy of New Spain. The Mexican silver peso became the first currency used worldwide. Taxes on the production of silver became the main source of income for the Spanish monarchy. Other important industries were agriculture and cattle haciendas, as well as trading activities in the main cities and ports. Thanks to trade links with Asia, the rest of America, Africa and Europe, as well as the profound influence of New World silver, Central Mexico became one of the first regions to be included in the globalized economy. Being at the crossroads of trade, people and cultures, Mexico City is called "the first city in the world". The Nao de China (Manila galleons) were operated for two and a half centuries and connected New Spain with Asia. Silver and cochineal red dye were shipped from Veracruz to the Atlantic ports of North and South America and Spain. Veracruz was also the main port of entry into the mainland of New Spain of European goods, immigrants from Spain and African slaves. The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro connected Mexico City with the interior of New Spain.
The population of Mexico was overwhelmingly indigenous and rural throughout the colonial period and beyond, despite a significant reduction in their numbers due to epidemic diseases. Diseases such as smallpox, measles and others were introduced by Europeans and African slaves, especially in the sixteenth century. The indigenous population stabilized at one to one and a half million people in the 17th century, compared with the most common figure of five to thirty million people before contact was established. During the three hundred years of the colonial era, Mexico received from 400 to 500 thousand Europeans, from 200 to 250 thousand African slaves and from 40 to 120 thousand Asians.
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