There are many different explanations why the United States is the world superpower it is today and Mexico, while sharing a border, is still merely a developing country. The main reasons, which effected the economic development of both countries, include the cohesion of the country, the natural wealth of the land and the nation's history. All of these factors were in some way influenced by religion. This is obvious after taking a look at the early history and culture of the countries.
The biggest contributing issue as to why Mexico is poor is that from the very beginning the country has operated as many different independent factions. The country was never cohesive which prevented it from forming a strong economic base. It started with the Aztecs, ruling tribes who practiced several different rituals and languages, and the problem was only compounded with the Spanish invasion. The Catholic Church kept the natives in small villages not providing them with knowledge of the outside world and later with the development of haciendas the isolation was continued. Once the country became independent, with so many different languages being spoken and a huge class gap, it was very difficult for the people to relate to each other as a unified nation. .
The indigenous people of Mexico, the Aztecs, were a mighty race. They had conquered all their neighbouring tribes forcing them to pay tribute, annually, of goods and human sacrifice but allowing them to keep their local government, language and religion (Miller 1985, p. 49). By the time the Spanish came to conquer them, in 1519, the population in the Aztec's capital was one of the biggest in the world however the nation as a whole was very weak (Miller 1985, pp. 44, 82). Many of the tribes the Aztecs had conquered were unhappy at having to pay a levy to the empire and were willing to fight on the side of the Spanish (Miller 1985, p. 82). When the Aztecs were conquered, by Catholic Spain, in 1521 (Miller 1985, p.