In 1522, Cortés' success in conquering Tenochtitlán earns him the governorship of Nueva España (New Spain), as the country of Mexico is now known. He then sets about levelling the city of Tenochtitlán in order to rebuild it from its ruined temples as the city of México. His men also begin "pacifying" the population in the rest of the country and fortifying their positions on the coast. However, in terms of independent power, Cortés is more or less an agent of Spain, which rules Nueva España through its viceroys for the next three hundred years .

During the first twenty years of Spanish rule, the indigenous population drops from 22 million to 1.5 million due to battles, disease and back-breaking exploitation. The first parties of Franciscan monks arrive in Mexico in 1524 and set about converting those remaining to the Catholic church. An example of their effectiveness is the appearance in only 1531 of La Virgen de Guadalupe, Mexico's first indigenous saint, on a site previously dedicated to the Aztec goddess Tonantzín. Other combinations of native and Spanish religions include Día de la Candelaria and Día de los Muertos. Although the church originally shows interest in the culture and history of native Mexicans, it soon grows greedy for profit and merely exploits them still further.

Gradually, the mixture of people in Mexico stabilizes into four groups: gachupines (Spanish born in Spain), criollos (Spanish born in Mexico), mestizos (Mexicans of mixed blood) and indígenas (indigenous Mexicans). The middle-class criollos feel resentment towards Spanish rule as they are not granted the same privileges of high office as the gachupines, despite their parentage. It is this body of disgruntled Mexicans who originally support the moves for independence initiated by Father Miguel Hidalgo when he cries "Mexicanos, ¡Viva México!" in 1810...