Article
A&E Television

History.com: Struggle for Mexican Independence

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the progressive priest named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla who became the father of Mexican independence with a historic proclamation urging his fellow Mexicans to take up arms against the Spanish government.
Website
Other

Sjc:the Spanish Re Conquest of New Mexico and the Pueblo Revolt of 1696

For Students 9th - 10th
Read the description of the Spanish re-conquest of its holdings in New Mexico following the Revolt of 1680 in which the Pueblo Indians force the Spanish out of their territory.
Website
Other

New Mexico Genealogical Society: Early Spanish Exploration of the Southwest

For Students 9th - 10th
This site describes the early Spanish exploration and beginning of colonization in what we know today as New Mexico.
Unit Plan
The Newberry Library

The Aztecs and the Making of Colonial Mexico: Europeans Invade the Aztec Empire

For Students 9th - 10th
Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes invaded the Aztec empire in the 16th century. This conquest led to the colonization of Mexico. The Newberry Library provides an in depth look into this period of Mexican history through photos,...
Lesson Plan
University of California

The History Project: Aztec Life as Revealed in the Codex Telleriano Remensis

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The Aztec pictorial manuscript later known as the Codex Telleriano-Remensis was created in sixteenth-century Mexico, about a generation after contact. It is considered one of the most beautiful and informative remaining works by the...
Primary
Curated OER

History Matters: Pedro Naranjo Relates the Pueblo Revolt, 1680

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the resistance in 1680 by the New Mexico Pueblo Indians who resisted the Spanish attempts to subjugate them. Find out about the leader, El Pope, who was able to lead the resistance for ten years.
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Age of Exploration: The Spanish Conquest of Mexico

For Students 9th - 10th
Lengthy description of the life of Hernan Cortes, the Spanish conquistador who brought down the Aztec Empire in Mexico. How this came to be is explained, with many details of the sophistication of Aztec civilization.
Article
A&E Television

History.com: Hispanic History Milestones: Timeline

For Students 9th - 10th
The American Hispanic/Latinx history is a rich, diverse and long one, with immigrants, refugees and Spanish-speaking or Indigenous people living in the United States since long before the nation was established. America's Hispanic...
Handout
History of American Wars

History of American Wars: Mexican American Religion

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the events from the first arrival of the Spanish that led to the adoption of Catholicism as the dominant religion of Mexico.
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Aztec Empire for Kids: Spanish Conquest

For Students 9th - 10th
Kids learn about the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire including Hernan Cortes and Montezuma II on this site.
Website
Other

New Mexico Tourism Department: Hispanic History and Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
A history of Spanish influence in New Mexico is found here. Read about the cultural heritage that the Hispanics instilled in the inhabitants of New Mexico.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Spanish Colonization

For Students 9th - 10th
Spanish culture had a great impact on the economy, politics, and even geography of the Southwest, California, and Mexico. Read about the Spanish settlements and the structure of the social classes that left an impact the continues even...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The Literature of Exploration

For Students 9th - 10th
Had history taken a different turn, the United States easily could have been a part of the great Spanish or French overseas empires. Its present inhabitants might speak Spanish and form one nation with Mexico, or speak French and be...
Handout
Other

San Diego History Center: Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (? 1543)

For Students 9th - 10th
After a description of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo's activities in Mexico and Guatemala, there is a day by day description of his sailing expedition up the coast of California.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Texas Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th
Why would American citizens emigrate to Spanish-held, and later Mexican-held Texas? Read about the reasons, their grievances against their Mexican rulers, and the eventual revolution that brought independence to Texas.
Article
Other

Univision: Por Que Se Celebra El Cinco De Mayo en Estados Unidos? (Spanish)

For Students 9th - 10th
This article offers a brief overview of the history of Cinco de Mayo and explains how the holiday came to be celebrated in the United States.
Website
Other

Timeline Index: Cortez, Conqueror of Mexico 1519

For Students 6th - 8th
A chronology of the life of Hernando Cortez up to the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs.
Handout
Other

History of the World the Aztecs

For Students 9th - 10th
A history of the Aztec civilization, beginning with their travel to the valley of Mexico and ending with the conquest of the Spanish over them. Includes information about agriculture, travel, communication, war, religion, and human...
Website
CZBrats

Cz Brats: Panama Before Bastides, Columbus, and Balboa

For Students 9th - 10th
This page is an article about the Pre-Colombian period of Panamanian History. "Prior to the Conquest of Central America, Mexico, and Peru, Great Civilizations in the Americas had developed high cultural values."
Primary
Internet History Sourcebooks Project

Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook: An Aztec Account of the Spanish Conquest

For Students 9th - 10th
Fordham University provides an excerpt of an Aztec account of the initial encounter of Montezuma and the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes, as published by noted anthropologist Miguel Leon-Portilla. The meeting-turned-massacre,...
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: New Mexico State History for Kids

For Students 1st - 9th
Investigate the history and timeline of the state of New Mexico including early explorers, Native Americans, Spanish settlers, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Wild West on this website.
Unit Plan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Harcourt: Biographies: Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca

For Students 3rd - 8th
Gain insight into the life and adventures of Spanish explorer, Cabeza de Vaca, whose expeditions led him to Texas and Mexico.
Handout
Texas State Historical Association

Texas State Historical Association: Alvarez De Pineda, Alonso

For Students 9th - 10th
An account of the Spanish expedition led by Alonso Alvarez de Pineda in 1519 that explored the Gulf of Mexico between Florida and Cabo Rojo, Mexico. The explorers tried to establish the Panuco colony but were unsuccessful.
Handout
Nebraska Studies

Nebraska Studies: Pedro De Villasur Sent to Nebraska

For Students 9th - 10th
Concern over the French trading with the Native Indians, the Spanish commissioned Lieutenant-General Villasur to stop them in 1720.