Indigenous rebellions in Mexico and Central America were conflicts of resistance initiated by indigenous peoples against European

colonial empires A colonial empire is a collective of territories (often called colonies), either contiguous with the imperial center or located overseas, settled by the population of a certain state and governed by that state. Before the expansion of early moder ...

and settler states that occurred in the territory of the continental

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...

and

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

, as well as their respective successor states. The latter include

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, Guatemala, Honduras,

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

, El Salvador,

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

, Costa Rica, and parts of the Southern and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Anti-colonial rebellions by the indigenous peoples of Central America had precedence in resistance to the Aztec Empire prior to the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

. During the period of Spanish rule,

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

, the expansion of colonial territory, and the forceful reduction of disparate communities into villages or missions where Christianity was enforced were common causes of revolt. After independence, continued encroachment on indigenous land rights was the primary cause of conflict.Yaqui history: A Short History
/ref> Resistance has persisted into the 21st century, such as with the ongoing

Zapatista uprising On January 1, 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) coordinated a 12-day Zapatista uprising in the state of Chiapas, Mexico in protest of NAFTA's enactment. The revolt gathered international attention. Background Disease, ensl ...

List of conflicts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mexican Wars involving Spain Wars involving Mexico Wars involving Guatemala Wars involving Honduras Wars involving El Salvador Wars involving Nicaragua Wars involving Costa Rica Wars involving Belize Wars involving the United States Wars involving the indigenous peoples of North America Violence against indigenous peoples