76 THE GREEN RISING 



was closely interwoven," says he, "with the civil and 

 religious institutions of the nation. There were 

 peculiar deities to preside over it; the names of the 

 months and of the religious festivals had more or 

 less reference to it." 1 Cortez explains that the 

 Mexicans employed some methods of soil manage- 

 ment, practiced a crude system of irrigation and 

 provided granaries to store their crops. The 

 significant fact is that their political organization 

 centered in the system of ejidos, or agricultural com- 

 munes. The individual was responsible to a patri- 

 archal cacique who directed the agricultural 

 activities of the village communities. This simple 

 and primitive agrarian organization lies back of 

 much of the political upheaval through which 

 Mexico has passed during her national history. 



The Conquistadores undertook to graft the Span- 

 ish social organization upon the native traditions 

 and practices. The Spanish colonial policy was one 

 of exploitation. This policy explains two significant 

 facts: (1) By interfering as little as possible with 

 native traditions and customs, it was comparatively 

 easy for a relatively few cavaliers and priests to 

 unify divergent ethnic groups by the use of the 

 Spanish language and institutions. (2) This policy 

 also explains the fact that the Indian race has been 

 able to survive and exert an influence on national 

 life and policy. This race survival is almost without 

 parallel in the history of any country. 



1 See Conquest of Mexico, Vol. I, Chap. V. 



