Veracruz, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in eastern Mexico, it is bordered by seven states: Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo, Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Tabasco. Veracruz is divided into 212 municipalities, and its capital city is Xalapa-Enríquez, commonly called just Xalapa.
Eastern Veracruz has a significant share of the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. The state is noted for its mixed ethnic and Indigenous populations, and its cuisine reflects the many cultural influences that have come through the state because of the importance of the port of the city of Veracruz. In addition to Xalapa-Enríquez, the state's largest cities include Boca Del Río, Coatzacoalcos, Córdoba, Minatitlán, Orizaba, Poza Rica, and Veracruz.
Etymology The official name of the state is Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, named after its largest city and main port, Veracruz, which was originally founded as Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (Rich Town of the True Cross) by Spanish conquistadores (conquerors) in 1519. The name Vera Cruz combines Latin and Spanish elements meaning "True Cross." The suffix is in honor of Ignacio de la Llave y Segura Zevallos (1818–1863), governor of Veracruz from 1855 to 1857 and once again from 1861 to 1863.
The state's official seal, adopted in 1954 by the state legislature through Law No. 92, is based on the colonial coat of arms granted by King Charles I of Spain to Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz in 1523, recognizing Veracruz as the first Spanish settlement in New Spain.
History Pre-Columbian
During the pre-Columbian era, Veracruz was populated mainly by four Indigenous groups: the Huastecs and Otomis in the north, the Totonacs in the center north, and the Olmecs in the south. Archaeological remains of these civilizations are preserved at sites including Cempoala, Castillo de Teayo, El Tajín, El Zapotal, Las Higueras, Quiahuiztlan, Pánuco, San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, and Tres Zapotes.
The first major civilization in the territory of the current state was that of the Olmecs, centered in the Coatzacoalcos River region. Its principal ceremonial site was San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, with other important centers including Tres Zapotes in the city of Veracruz and La Venta in Tabasco. Olmec civilization reached its peak about 2,600 years ago, producing colossal stone heads that remain its most recognizable artistic achievement. These ceremonial sites were among the most complex of their era, leading many anthropologists to regard the Olmecs as the "mother culture" of Mesoamerican civilizations. Nevertheless, historian John Schmal notes that by 300 BCE, the Olmecs had been "eclipsed by other emerging civilizations in Mesoamerica."
The Totonacs, who continue to exist as a distinct group today, traditionally inhabited a region known as Totonacapan, located between the Cazones and Papaloapan Rivers in northern Veracruz. Pre-Columbian Totonacs subsisted on hunting, fishing, and agriculture, cultivating maize, beans, chili peppers, and squash.Vanilla beans are also native to the region. Characteristic artifacts include clay sculptures depicting smiling faces. El Tajín, located near Papantla, is a major Totonac archaeological site; however, the culture reached its peak at Cempoala, situated about inland from the modern port of Veracruz, before falling under Aztec control. At the time of the Spanish arrival in 1519, the Totonac population numbered approximately 250,000, distributed across 50 settlements and speaking four dialects, with about 25,000 inhabitants in Cempoala alone.
The Huastecs traditionally inhabited the far north of Veracruz, and still do, extending into Tamaulipas, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Puebla. Their language and agricultural practices are similar to those of the Maya, but only limited architectural and ceramic remains survive from the early Huastec culture. The civilization reached its height between 1200 and 1519 CE, prior to Spanish conquest.
During the 15th and early 16th centuries, the Aztecs established control over much of Veracruz, dividing the territory into the tributary provinces of Cempoallan, Cuetlaxtlan, Misantla, Quauhtochco, Tochtepec, Tlatlauhquitepec, and Xalapan. They valued the region for its vegetation and crops such as cedar, fruit, cotton, cacao, maize, beans, and vanilla. The Huastecs were incorporated into the provinces of Atlan and Tochpan. Due to frequent Totonac resistance to Aztec rule, however, rulers from Axayacatl in 1480 to Moctezuma II in the early 1500s were forced to dispatch troops to suppress uprisings.
Colonial period, 1519–1821
Veracruz played an important part in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire by Hernán Cortés and his expedition members. They founded Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz on May 18, 1519, as the first Spanish town in what is now Mexico. By doing so, Cortés overthrew the authority of the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez, claiming authority directly from the Spanish Crown. A small contingent of the expedition remained at Veracruz, but the main body of conquerors moved inland.Ida Altman, Sarah Cline, and Javier Pescador, The Early History of Greater Mexico. Prentice Hall 2003, p. 57.
Among the first groups encountered by the Spanish in the Americas were the Totonacs. Juan de Grijalva was the first Spaniard to make contact with them near present-day Veracruz. Seeking to free his people from Aztec rule, Totonac ruler Tlacochcalcatl offered conquistador Cortés 50,000 warriors to take Tenochtitlan. With Spanish assistance, the Totonacs expelled Aztec tax collectors and took over some Aztec outposts. The city of Veracruz was established as the first Spanish-controlled municipality on the coast. Cortés then advanced towards Tenochtitlan, initiating the Spanish conquest. As Cortés's campaign progressed, certain Totonac factions sided with the Spanish, but the Huastecs, also under Aztec rule, resisted Cortés's forces. After the Aztecs were defeated at Tenochtitlan, Cortés sent a unit to conquer the Huastecs as well.
During the early conquest era, Cortés established encomiendas (literally "parcels" but in actual meaning, "forced labor grants"), which rewarded the conquerors with the labor of conquered Indigenous people. The Indigenous ruler of a settlement was charged with mobilization of labor and tribute owed to the holder of the encomienda. Multiple encomiendas were established in Veracruz, which changed ownership over time but early on came under the direct control of the Spanish Crown rather than individual encomenderos.Peter Gerhard, A Guide to the Historical Geography of New Spain, Revised Edition. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1993.
During the Colonial Era, Veracruz was the main port of entry for immigrants from Spain, enslaved Africans, and luxury goods for import and export. The first group of Franciscans arrived in Veracruz in 1524, walking barefoot to the capital of the Spanish colony of New Spain.Altman, et al. The Early History of Greater Mexico, p. 119. The route between Veracruz and the Spanish capital of Mexico City, built on the site of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, was the key trade route during the colonial era.
Much of the state's history is involved with the port city of the same name founded by Cortés in 1519. Veracruz became the principal, and often only, port to export and import goods between the colony of New Spain and Spain itself. To ensure the port's monopoly, Veracruz established control over almost all of New Spain's Gulf coastline. New Spain's silver and cochineal red dye were the two most important exports from the port, along with chocolate, vanilla, and chili peppers. Imports included livestock (sheep, cows, goats, horses), wheat and other cultivars. Slaves, pineapple, and sugar cane were introduced from the Caribbean. Such valuable trade made the port a highly prized target for pirates during the Colonial Period, resulting in frequent attacks and sackings. This led to the building of the fort of San Juan de Ulúa, a site Juan de Grijalva visited in 1518,Thomas, Hugh. Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes, and the Fall of Old Mexico. p. 173 and the fortification of the city overall.
Much of Totonac and Huastec culture has survived the colonial period into the present day, largely due to northern Veracruz's rugged terrain and thick vegetation and lack of resources that the Spanish sought. Veracruz is considered to be where the mestizo or mixed European/Indigenous ethnicity began, which is a large part of Mexican cultural identity.
Arriving with the Spanish conquerors, new diseases made their first appearance in the continent. European diseases decimated the native population of the state, prompting the importation of enslaved Africans during the Colonial Period, starting in the 16th century. The Spanish imported between 500,000 and 1,000,000 West African slaves into Mexico between 1535 and 1767. As New Spain had no laws prohibiting interracial marriage, miscegenation between Indigenous and African populations began almost immediately. People of this mixed heritage are called Afro-Mestizo, which includes all three ethnicities: Indigenous, African, and Spanish.
Runaway slaves (cimarrones) became problematic to public order because they frequently formed robber bands that attacked travelers on highways. The Spanish Crown took action against these groups beginning in the late 16th century, but a major rebellion broke out in 1606 in the Villa Rica, Nueva Veracruz, Antón Lizardo, and Rio Blanco (White River) areas. The most consequential rebellion occurred in the Orizaba area, involving about 500 fugitive slaves. In 1609, Gaspar Yanga, a fugitive slave, led an insurrection against the Spanish. Unrest continued until 1618, when the Spanish government eventually signed an amnesty pact that gave the Africans the right to form their own community in exchange for suppressing bandit activity. The town of San Lorenzo de Zerral was established, later renamed the municipality of Yanga. Yanga's rebellion marked the first time slavery was abolished in the Americas.
In the first half of the 17th century, cities such as Córdoba, Orizaba, and Xalapa were established or expanded to safeguard the trade route between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz. During this time, the Spanish and mixed-ethnicities population increased as the purely Indigenous population continued to fall to a fraction of pre-Conquest levels—this time due to ethnic mixing rather than disease. Trade through Veracruz was restricted mainly to Spain, and only limited commerce permitted with England and other Spanish colonies until the Decreto de Libre Comercio (Decree of Free Commerce) authorized free trade within Spanish-held realms in 1778, opening up more of Europe. The reform increased the importance of the port and the prosperity of its inhabitants.
Beyond the port in other areas of the state, the economy was based on agriculture, livestock, and commerce. In 1720, Xalapa hosted its first trade fair, establishing the city as a key point of exchange between inland Mexican goods and foreign imports. This role contributed to iXalapa's later designation as the state capital.
In 1746, the state was divided into 14 civil jurisdictions: Córdoba, Cosamaloapan, Cotaxtla, Huayacocotla, Huauchinango, Jalacingo, Misantla, Pánuco, Papantla, Orizaba, Tampico, Tuxtla, Veracruz, and Xalapa.
In 1824, soldiers loyal to the Spanish Crown made their last stand against the independence movement at the port city of Veracruz and the fort of San Juan de Ulúa, where Cortés had landed 300 years earlier.
Independence