Mexican History and Politics

Pre-Hispanic Mexico to Independence

25 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

Practise Pre-Hispanic Mexico to Independence now

Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 25 questions

  1. Which city was the capital of the Aztec (Mexica) empire?
  2. Which Spanish conquistador led the expedition that overthrew the Aztec empire?
  3. Which Aztec ruler was on the throne when the Spaniards entered Tenochtitlan in 1519?
  4. Who was the last Aztec emperor, captured when the city fell in 1521?
  5. In which year did Tenochtitlan fall to Cortes and his allies?
  6. Which ancient people built the pyramids and ball courts at Chichen Itza?
  7. Which early Mexican civilization is best known for carving colossal stone heads?
  8. Which ancient city, north-east of Mexico City, has a Pyramid of the Sun and was already in ruins when the Aztecs found it?
  9. When was the Viceroyalty of New Spain established, with Antonio de Mendoza as its first viceroy?
  10. What event is remembered as the Grito de Dolores?
  11. What was Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla by profession when he started the independence movement?
  12. Which insurgent leader called the Congress of Chilpancingo in 1813 and wrote Sentiments of the Nation?
  13. What were the three guarantees of the Plan of Iguala of 1821?
  14. The Treaty of Cordoba of 1821 was signed by Iturbide and which Spanish official?
  15. Who became emperor of independent Mexico in 1822?
  16. Who was the first president of the Mexican republic after the Constitution of 1824?
  17. Which battle of 1836 secured Texas independence from Mexico?
  18. Who served as interpreter and adviser to Cortes, speaking Nahuatl and Maya?
  19. What was the encomienda system in colonial New Spain?
  20. Which people of the Tlaxcala region became the main allies of Cortes in the war against Tenochtitlan?
  21. After how many years do the 260-day and 365-day Mesoamerican calendars begin together again?
  22. Which insurgent general joined Iturbide in the Embrace of Acatempan in 1821?
  23. Who warned the conspirators in 1810 that their plot in Queretaro had been discovered?
  24. Whose tomb was found inside the Temple of the Inscriptions at the Maya city of Palenque?
  25. Which religious order sent its first twelve friars to New Spain in 1524 to convert the Indigenous peoples?

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