Guadalajara
was founded in 1532, one of the fruits of a vicious campaign
of Conquest by Nuño de Guzmán - whose cruelty
and corruption were such that he appalled even the Spanish
authorities, and died in jail in Madrid. The city, named
for his birthplace, thrived, being officially recognized
by Charles V in 1542 and rapidly becoming one of the colony's
most Spanish cities - in part at least because so much of
the indigenous population had been killed or had fled during
the period of Conquest and suppression.
Set apart from the great
mining centers of the Bajío, Guadalajara managed
to remain relatively isolated, developing as a regional
center for trade and agriculture.
The tight reins of colonial
rule restrained the city's development and it wasn't until
the end of the 18th century that things really took off,
as the colonial monopolies began to crumble. Between 1760
and 1803 the city's population tripled to reach some 35,000
and a new university was established, as the city became
famous for the export of wheat, hides, cotton and wool.
When the empire
finally fell apart, Guadalajara supported Hidalgo's Independence
movement and became briefly his capital, to be rewarded
when the break with Spain finally came by being named capital
of Jalisco. By the beginning of this century it was already
the second largest city in the republic, and in the 1920s
the completion of the rail link with California provided
the final spur for development. More recently the exodus
from México and attempts at de-Ecologicization have
swollen numbers here still further.
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