History of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain, annexing the southwest of the present United States, including Arizona. As missions began to wither, Mexico began auctioning off more land, causing the Pimería Alta and the Apachería to shrink as territory expanded. In the meantime, American mountain men began to enter the region, looking to trap beavers for their pelts. In 1836, Texas declared independence from Mexico and claimed much of the territory in the northern lands of Mexico. When the United States annexed Texas in 1846 over the strong objections of the Mexican government, U.S. troops moved into disputed territory. The hostilities erupted in the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). The U.S. occupied Mexico City and forced the newly founded Mexican Republic to give up its northern half, including the later Arizona.
Name of Mexico
In September 1821, the independence of Mexico was finally recognized by Spain, achieved through an alliance of royalist and revolutionary forces. The former tried to preserve the "status quo" of the vice-royalty, menaced by the liberal reforms taking place in Spain, through the establishment of an autonomous constitutional monarchy under an independence hero. Agustín was crowned and given the titles of: Agustin de Iturbide por la divina providencia y por el Congreso de la Nación, primer Emperador Constitucional de Mexico (Agustín de Iurbide First Constitutional Emperor of Mexico by Divine Providence and by the Congress of the Nation). The name chosen for the country was "Imperio Mexicano", "Mexican Empire". The empire collapsed in 1823, and the republican forces drafted a constitution the following year whereby a federal form of government was instituted. In the 1824 constitution, which gave rise to the Mexican federation, "Estados Unidos Mexicanos" (also "Estados-unidos mexicanos")—literally the "Mexican United States" or "Mexican United-States" (official English translation: "United Mexican States")—was adopted as the country's official name. The constitution of 1857 used the term "República Mexicana" ("Mexican Republic") interchangeably with "Estados Unidos Mexicanos"; the current constitution, promulgated in 1917, only uses the latter and "United Mexican States" is the normative English translation. The name "Mexican Empire" was briefly revived from 1863 to 1867 by the conservative government that instituted a constitutional monarchy for a second time under Maximilian of Habsburg.