thousands of people and vehicles cross the border. As an example, San Ysidro, near
San Diego, California, is the Western Hemisphere’s busiest port of entry, with 50,000
vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians crossing into the United States every day.^116 U.S.
and Mexican officials at federal, state, and local levels are continually engaged in
efforts to coordinate and manage economic cooperation, legal matters, environmental
problems, health issues, law enforcement, and many other interests. Some selected
statistics below demonstrate the importance of this relationship and the requirement
for mutual, effective intercultural communication:- Approximately1 million U.S. citizens reside in Mexico.
- Over 20 million U.S. tourists visited Mexico in 2013.
- Over 14 million Mexican tourists visited the United States in 2013.
- Mexico is the second-largest export market for U.S. products.
- Mexico is the third-largest trading partner of the United States.
- Trade and services between the United States and Mexico exceeded $550 billion
in 2013.^117
But perhaps the most compelling reason to learn about the history of Mexico is
because“a record 33.7 million Hispanics of Mexican origin resided in the United
States in 2012,”of which 22.3 million were born in the United States.^118 This
means that approximately one-tenth of the total U.S. population—one in every
ten people—has a connection with Mexico, suggesting that communication with
Mexican Americans is a common occurrence for many individuals. Thus, knowledge
of Mexico’s history can provide insight into the Mexican worldview, enhance mutual
understanding, and improve communicative interactions. For instance, “Mexicans
themselves believe that their history holds the key to their character.”^119 With this
in mind, let us examine the history of Mexico and how that history continues to
influence the Mexican people. The discussion is divided into six major periods:
(1) the pre-Columbian, (2) the Spanish Conquest, (3) independence from Spain,
(4) the Mexican-American War, (5) the Revolution of 1910, and (6) modern Mexico.
Archaeological evidence dates human existence in Mexico and Central America
back at least fifty thousand years, but most historians begin the story of the Mexican
peoples with thepre-Columbian era(300 BCE–1519 CE), during which the agricultur-
ally based Olmec, Maya, Toltec, and Aztec civilizations flourished in different parts of
what is now Mexico. With achievements that equaled or exceeded their counterparts
TABLE 5.6 Country Statistics: United Mexican States^120
LOCATION NORTH AMERICA
Size 1 ; 964 ;375 km^2 ; fourteenth-largest country
Population 120,286,655 (July 2014 est.); fourteenth-largest population
Ethnic groups Mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly
Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1%
Government Federal republic
Language Spanish only 92.7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7%,
indigenous only 0.8%, unspecified 0.8%
Religions Roman Catholic 82.7%, Pentecostal 1.6%, Jehovah’s Witnesses
1.4%, other Evangelical churches 5%, other 1.9%, none 4.7%,
unspecified 2.7% (2010 est.)Contemporary Social Issues 185Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).