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Map from 1732 showing both Guatemala and Mexico as part of what's used to be known as New Spain. Guatemala and Mexico are two neighboring countries who share a common cultural history from the Maya civilization and both nations were colonized by the Spanish empire.
This later came to include upper and lower California, the area that is now the central and southwestern portion of the United States, and territory eastward along the Gulf of Mexico to Florida. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was also charged with governing Spain’s Caribbean possessions.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The territory of modern Guatemala hosted the core of the Maya civilization, which extended across Mesoamerica; in the 16th century, most of this was conquered by the Spanish and claimed as part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Guatemala attained independence from Spain and Mexico in 1821.
At its greatest extent, the Spanish crown claimed on the mainland of the Americas much of North America south of Canada, that is: all of present-day Mexico and Central America except Panama; most of present-day United States west of the Mississippi River, plus the Floridas.
In the early 16th century, Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernán Cortés, had arrived on the shores of modern-day Mexico and conquered the mighty Aztec Empire in just a few years. The land then fell under Spanish control and New Spain emerged as a crucial new part of the Spanish Empire.
Jun 8, 2019 · The region of Guatemala was a large and important state under the control of the Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico) until the time of independence.
Recognizing the forceful leadership of Iturbide, the colonists of Guatemala offer to merge their region in 1821 with Mexico - uniting as one nation the previous viceroyalty of New Spain. The link holds when Iturbide makes himself emperor, in 1822.
