Editing Veracruz (section)

===Colonial period, 1519–1821===
[[File:Playa Villa Rica desde Quiahuiztlan01.jpeg|thumb|Playa Villa Rica, where the Spanish built the first city of Veracruz]]
[[File:EstatuaYanga.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of rebel leader Yanga]]

Veracruz played an important part in the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire]] by [[Hernán Cortés]] and his expedition members. They founded Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz on May 18, 1519, as the first Spanish town in what is now Mexico. By doing so, Cortés threw off the authority of the Governor of Cuba, [[Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar|Diego Velázquez]], claiming authority directly from the Spanish crown. A small contingent of the expedition remained at Veracruz, while the main body of conquerors moved inland.<ref>Ida Altman, Sarah Cline, and Javier Pescador, ''The Early History of Greater Mexico''. Prentice Hall 2003, p. 57.</ref>

Among the first groups encountered by the Spanish in the Americas were the [[Totonac people|Totonacs]].<ref name="schmal"/> [[Juan de Grijalva]] was the first Spaniard to make contact with the Totonacs near present-day Veracruz.<ref name="enchistoria"/> Seeking to free his people from Aztec rule, Totonac ruler [[Tlacochcalcatl]] offered conquistador Hernán Cortés 50,000 warriors to take Tenochtitlan. With Spanish assistance, the Totonacs expelled Aztec tax collectors and took over some Aztec outposts.<ref name="schmal"/> The city of Veracruz was established as the first Spanish-controlled municipality on the coast. Cortés then advanced towards Tenochtitlan, initiating the Spanish conquest.<ref name="enchistoria"/> As Cortés's campaign progressed, certain Totonac factions sided with the Spanish, while the Huastecs, also under Aztec rule, resisted Cortés's forces. After the Aztecs were defeated at Tenochtitlan, Cortés sent a unit to conquer the Huastecs as well.<ref name="schmal"/>

During the early conquest era, Cortés distributed the labor of indigenous settlements to particular conquerors in an institution known as ''[[encomienda]]''. The indigenous ruler of the settlement was charged with mobilization labor and tribute that was due to the holder of the ''encomienda''. Veracruz had a number of encomiendas that changed hands a number of times, but early on came under the direct control of the Spanish crown rather than individual ''encomenderos''.<ref>Peter Gerhard, ''A Guide to the Historical Geography of New Spain, Revised Edition''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1993.</ref>

During the colonial era, Veracruz was the main port of entry for immigrants from Spain, [[Atlantic slave trade|African slaves]], and all types of luxury goods for import and export. The first group of Franciscans arrived in Veracruz in 1524, walking barefoot to the capital of the Spanish colony of [[New Spain]].<ref>Altman, et al. ''The Early History of Greater Mexico'', p. 119.</ref> The route between Veracruz and the Spanish capital of Mexico City, built on the site of the Aztec capital [[Tenochtitlan]], was the key trade route during the colonial era. Much of the history of the state is involved with the port city that Cortés founded in 1519. Veracruz became the principal and often only port to export and import goods between the colony of [[New Spain]] and Spain itself.<ref name="schmal"/> To ensure the port's monopoly, it came to have control over almost all of New Spain's Gulf coastline.<ref name="enchistoria"/> New Spain's silver and [[cochineal]] red dye, were the two most important exports from the port, along with chocolate, vanilla, chili peppers, and much more were exported. Imported were livestock (sheep, cows, goats, horses), wheat and other cultivars. From the Caribbean, slaves, pineapple, and sugar cane were introduced. This made the port a highly prized target for pirates during the colonial period, with attacks and sackings frequent.<ref name="khursh"/><ref name="schmal"/> This led to the building of the fort of [[San Juan de Ulúa]], a site Juan de Grijalva visited in 1518,<ref>Thomas, Hugh. Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes, and the Fall of Old Mexico. p. 173</ref> and the fortification of the city overall.<ref name="enchistoria"/>

Much of Totonac and Huastec culture have survived the colonial period into the present day. Much of the reason for this is that the north of Veracruz is rugged with thick vegetation and relatively little of the resources the Spanish were looking for.<ref name="schmal"/> Veracruz is considered to be where the "[[mestizo]]" or mixed European/indigenous ethnicities began, which is a large part of Mexican cultural identity.<ref name="enchistoria"/>

Arriving with the Spanish conquerors, new diseases made their first appearance in the continent. [[Influenza|European diseases]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Magner |first1=Lois N. |title=The Impact of European Disease on Native Americans |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/impact-european-diseases-native-americans |website=Encyclopedia.com |publisher=Cengage |access-date=January 21, 2021 |archive-date=December 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216171230/https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/impact-european-diseases-native-americans |url-status=live }}</ref> decimated the native population of the province, prompting the importation of African slaves during the colonial period, starting in the 16th century. The Spanish imported between 500,000 and 1,000,000 West African slaves into Mexico between 1535 and 1767 ([[miscegenation]] between indigenous and African populations began almost immediately). New Spain did not have any laws prohibiting interracial marriage, hence the correct term is Afro-Mestizo, which includes all 3 ethnicities: Indigenous, African, and Spanish.

Runaway slaves (''cimarrones'') became problematic to public order since they frequently formed robber bands that attacked travelers on highways. Crown efforts against these groups began in earnest in the late sixteenth century, but a major rebellion broke out in 1606 in the areas of Villa Rica, Nueva Veracruz, Antón Lizardo, and the Rio Blanco area. However, the gravest of these occurred in the Orizaba area, where there were about 500 fugitive slaves. In 1609, a leader named [[Gaspar Yanga]] led an insurrection against the Spanish but was defeated in battle. Unrest continued, eventually forcing the government to sign an amnesty pact and giving the Africans the right to form their own community, exacting as a condition that bandits be suppressed. This was called San Lorenzo de Zerral but today it is known as the [[Yanga, Veracruz|municipality of Yanga]]. This was the first time slavery was abolished in the Americas.<ref name="enchistoria" />

In the first half of the seventeenth century, cities such as [[Córdoba, Veracruz|Córdoba]], [[Orizaba]], and [[Xalapa]] were formed or expanded to protect the trade route between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz. During this time, the Spanish and mixed-ethnicities population increased as the purely indigenous population continued to fall to a fraction of pre-Conquest levels (due now to mixing, rather than disease). Almost all trade in and out of New Spain had to be with Spain except for some limited trade authorized with England and other Spanish colonies. This would stay in place until 1778, when ''the Decreto de Libre Comercio'', allowing a limited free trade within Spanish-held realms, lifted many of these restrictions on trade with Europe. This would make the port more important than it had been, and led to increased prosperity for the inhabitants.

Outside of the port, in other areas of the province, the economy was based on agriculture, livestock, and commerce. In 1720, Xalapa organized the first trade fair, making it the center for trade between inland Mexican goods and those from abroad. This would lead to its eventual status as the capital of the state.<ref name="enchistoria" />

In 1746, the state was divided into the civil jurisdictions of Pánuco, Tampico, Huayacocotla, Huauchinango, Papantla, Misantla, Xalapa, Jalacingo, Veracruz, Córdoba, Orizaba, Cosamaloapan, Tuxtla, and Cotaxtla.<ref name="enchistoria" />

The port city of Veracruz, and the fort of San Juan de Ulúa, where Cortés landed three hundred years earlier, was where the loyalist soldiers of the Spanish Crown made their last stand against the independence movement in 1824.<ref name="schmal" />