Partnership vs Domination after the Fall of Tenochtitlan (1521–1820s)
By Sasha Alex Lessin, Ph.D. (Anthropology, UCLA)
The fall of Tenochtitlan did not end the domination of the many by the few in Mexico. Murderous Spanish bosses and priests replaced the even more murderous Aztec mass sacrifices. The Spanish imposed two other burdens on the poor; it forced them to slave in the gold and silver mines that made Spain a world power, and it subjected them to the vicious Catholic version of Christianity.
SPAIN BUILT ITS MEXICAN COLONY ON GOLD, SILVER, LAND, CATHOLICISM & TERROR
After 1521, Spain ran Mexico as its gold and silver source and subjected the colony’s natives to virtual slavery in its mines and on its now Colonist aristocrats’ huge estates. The natives’ serfdom and mining were reinforced by Spanish priests who burned heretics at the stake. Where Aztec imperial power had concentrated tribute and ritual control within a Mesoamerican framework, Spanish rule redirected labor, land, and belief outward—toward European markets, imperial treasuries, and a universalizing Church.
Gold and silver mines fed the empire. Mine owners and Landowners forced Aztec laborers into dangerous extraction systems whose profits flowed across the Atlantic. Vast estates (haciendas) concentrated land in the hands of a colonial elite, reducing Indigenous communities to dependent labor pools on their own soil.
The Catholic Church sanctified hierarchy, obedience, and suffering, framing submission as a spiritual duty and burning dissenters. Conversion and coercion moved together: religious authority normalized economic domination, while economic domination enforced religious authority.
Domination became absolute, externalized, and more difficult to escape, as it was now anchored in global markets, imperial law, and racial hierarchy rather than in local imperial tribute to an Aztec King.
NEW SPAIN: DOMINATION REBUILT ON GOLD, SILVER, LAND, AND THE CHURCH
After 1521, Spain built a colonial system that fused economic extraction with religious authority. Silver mines fed the empire.
Vast estates (haciendas) concentrated land. The Catholic Church sanctified hierarchy, terror, and control over the Aztecs and forced them to mine gold and silver to ship to Spain.
SOCIAL FAULT LINES OF COLONIAL MEXICO
Harman describes Mexican society under Spain’s rule as divided sharply: vast landowners dominated Indigenous communities, urban merchants depended on imperial trade, the new Mexican middle class’s aspirations were blocked by the government in Spain, and artisans, workers, and enslaved people were at its base.
An artisan whispered, We make everything. We own nothing.
A landlord wrote, Stability requires firmness.
These social layers pressed against one another, awaiting a spark.
1808: NAPOLEON SHATTERED SPANISH LEGITIMACY
In 1808, Napoleon installed his brother Joseph as King of Spain, provoking revolt in Madrid and leaving Spain without a coherent government for years. That rupture traveled across the Atlantic. If the King himself was deposed, then obedience lost its moral anchor.
A Mexico City shopkeeper listened to rumors and thought, If the crown is stolen, what is my duty worth?
A colonial official wrote home, We must project calm. Weakness invites motion.
1810: HIDALGO LED REVOLT DEMANDING PARTNERSHIP VALUES
Revolutionary priest Miguel Hidalgo ignited rebellion by speaking plainly about land—about dividing it and partnership. His uprising won early victories before authorities executed him.
A peasant gripped a farming tool and thought, If land feeds us, why do we beg to touch it? A soldier muttered, They call hunger rebellion.
Hidalgo’s student, José María Morelos, carried his mentor’s rebellion for Indigenous rights forward, but he, too, was captured and shot. The pattern hardened: each push toward shared land and dignity was answered with exemplary violence.
A mother stared at a candle and thought, They can kill a man. Can they kill a need?
A loyalist priest wrote, Mercy teaches equality.
1821: INDEPENDENCE ACHIEVED—STRUCTURE UNCHANGED
Mexico achieved independence in 1821. The new nation was immense, stretching deep into Central America and far north into what is now the United States. But the institutions beneath independence remained weak.
A citizen watching the proclamation thought, We won, yet tomorrow feel owned? But a regional Mexican strongman of aristocratic Spanish ancestry wrote, The capital is far, but my own fighting men are near.
THE FRAGILE MEXICAN REPUBLIC: OLIGARCHIES, COUPS, STAGNATION
Harman concludes that power stayed with regional oligarchies, colonial cities surrounded by vast estates worked by near-serfs. Cliques plotted, staged coups, and preserved privilege amid deep poverty.
A veteran muttered, We fought Spain. Now we fight each other.
A clerk whispered, The law changes. The landlord doesn’t.
THE NORTH: REGIONALISM, DEBT, AND OPENING TO PREDATION
Independence brought instability, debt, and regionalism, especially in the north. As the video emphasizes, weak leadership, coupled with external greed, would soon further fracture Mexico.
A northern rancher thought, Mexico City feels like another country.
A trader wrote, Foreign money smiles—and takes land.
COLONIALISM DISGUISED AS CHARITY: THE ENSLAVEMENT OF NATIONS
(From “ANUNNAKI: Evolution of the Gods” by Sasha Lessin, Ph.D., and Janet Kira Lessin)
Throughout history, colonialists have cloaked their theft of freedom and resources from the nations they dominated as charity. Their supposed benevolence masks their systematic exploitation, subjugation, and enslavement of entire countries and their people. Though colonialists present their exploitation as efforts to civilize, educate, and uplift the victim peoples, colonialism instead fractures societies, destroys cultures, and creates cycles of poverty and dependence that persist.
In ANUNNAKI: Evolution of the Gods, we examine tactics of the extraterrestrial humans, the Anunnaki, from the Lyran-controlled and Draconian constellations. The leaders who terraformed Earth and introduced advanced human-reptilian proto-Earthlings to the planet ruled the people who ruled early human civilizations. These parallels illuminate how power is wielded to control and exploit, both in the past and the present.
Settler Colonialism: Erasure of the Native Populations
Settler colonialism operates on a simple premise: to replace indigenous populations with settlers who take permanent control of the land. The process begins with violence—mass killings, the spread of disease, and the destruction of native cultures—followed by a systematic erasure of the indigenous way of life.
In the Americas, European settlers inflicted devastation on indigenous populations. In the United States, millions of Native Americans were killed or displaced, their lands seized, and their traditions outlawed. Similar tragedies unfolded in Cuba and Espanola, where the Spanish virtually exterminated the Arawak people. Tasmania saw the complete annihilation of its Aboriginal population at the hands of British settlers.
This model of colonialism left a lasting legacy: settlers who continue to dominate stolen lands. At the same time, the descendants of the original inhabitants struggle with marginalization, poverty, and the loss of their cultural heritage. These acts of conquest, labeled as the spread of civilization, were, in reality, acts of genocide.
Exploitative Colonialism: Wealth Built on Oppression
Where settler colonialism sought to take land, exploitative colonialism sought to take resources and labor. Colonizing powers dismantled local economies, turning self-sufficient nations into resource-dependent ones. Farming systems were wrecked, industries were destroyed, and entire populations were impoverished.
India, under British rule, is a clear example. The British Empire dismantled India’s thriving textile industry, forcing the population to buy British-made goods. Famines that killed millions were exacerbated by policies that exported food while locals starved. In Belgium’s Congo, millions died under King Leopold II’s brutal regime, as forced labor extracted rubber and ivory for European markets. Ireland’s Great Famine similarly highlighted how colonial policies could devastate local populations while enriching the colonizers.
The wealth of modern nations—Britain, the United States, Belgium, and others—was built on this exploitation. Yet, the narrative often frames these powers as benevolent rulers who brought progress and modernity, obscuring the human cost of their greed.
Military Base Domination: The New Face of Colonialism
Even as traditional empires faded, military base domination emerged as a modern form of colonial control. Under the guise of defense and partnership, powerful nations maintain military bases abroad, thereby exerting political and economic influence.
The United States presence in the Philippines exemplifies this dynamic. After granting the Philippines nominal independence, America maintained military bases that served its strategic interests. Local elites were supported, and any opposition was brutally suppressed, often through paramilitary groups funded and armed by the U.S. Similar patterns played out in Latin America during the Cold War, where U.S.-backed regimes used violence to silence dissent.
The legacy of military base domination is one of inequality, environmental destruction, and suppressed sovereignty. Nations hosting these bases often face internal strife as resistance movements are crushed and resources are diverted to serve the interests of foreign powers.
Divide-and-Rule Tactics: Preventing Resistance
One of the most insidious strategies of colonial powers was the deliberate fragmentation of societies to prevent unified resistance. By pitting ethnic, religious, or tribal groups against one another, colonizers ensured that the colonized fought among themselves rather than uniting against their oppressors.
The Rwandan genocide is a tragic example of this tactic. Under Belgian rule, the Tutsi minority was favored over the Hutu majority, creating deep-seated animosities that erupted into violence decades later. The artificial borders drawn by European powers in the Middle East and Africa similarly created conflicts that persist to this day.
Colonial powers maintained control by fostering division while presenting themselves as necessary mediators. This strategy had long-lasting effects, with many post-colonial nations struggling to overcome the divisions imposed by their colonizers.The Anunnaki Connection: Ancient Roots of Exploitation
Our exploration of the Anunnaki suggests that colonialism’s roots extend far beyond human history. The Anunnaki—extraterrestrial beings who visited Earth from Nibiru—enslaved humanity to mine gold and other resources. The Hybrids through whom the Anunnaki ruled employed the Anunnaki practices to control human nations. The Hybrids, like their masters before them, divided early humans into classes, creating hierarchies that ensured Anunnaki control. When the Anunnaki and their Hybrids portrayed themselves as gods, they demanded worship and tribute, keeping humanity spiritually and technologically dependent. These systems of power—monarchies, priesthoods, and rigid social structures persist to this day.
The Illusion of Charity
Colonial powers often disguised their actions as charity. Missionaries claimed to bring salvation, while colonial governments touted the benefits of education and modernization. In reality, these efforts furthered the colonizers’ goals.
Missionary schools stripped Indigenous children of their languages and traditions, forcing assimilation into colonial cultures. Modern development aid, often tied to exploitative trade agreements, perpetuates dependence rather than fostering development. Corporations today continue this pattern, presenting themselves as philanthropic while exploiting resources and labor in developing nations.
Break the Cycle
Colonialism, in all its forms, leaves a legacy of inequality, dependence, and trauma. Humanity must confront this history and dismantle the systems perpetuating it. We must acknowledge the ongoing impacts of colonialism, demand reparations for exploited nations and return stolen artifacts and wealth, and support grassroots movements that empower formerly colonized peoples.
Colonialism continues to shape our world as Trump takes Venezuela and menaces Cuba and Canada. I say we must unmask colonialism and address its enduring consequences to build a more just and equitable future.
KEYWORDS
Mexico, New Spain, Spanish Empire, colonial extraction, silver mining, hacienda system, Catholic Church, 1808 legitimacy crisis, Hidalgo, Morelos, Mexican Independence, fragile republic, regional oligarchies, debt, northern Mexico, partnership vs domination
#MexicoHistory, #NewSpain, #Colonialism, #Hidalgo, #Morelos, #MexicanIndependence, #FragileRepublic, #Oligarchies, #LandAndLabor, #DominationSystems, #PartnershipCulture, #EnkiSpeaks, #SashaAlexLessinPhD
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