User:Michael E Nolan/sandbox

User:Michael E Nolan/sandbox History of Morelos

The history of Morelos, a state in south-central Mexico, goes back some 10,000-15,000 years, making it one of the earliest sites of human settlement in North America. Morelos is south of Mexico City and the State of Mexico, west of the State of Puebla, north of Guerrero and Puebla, and east of the State of Mexico. Its capital is Cuernavaca, and it has a 2017 population of 1,973,876 inhabitants (1.6% of the national total). It has a surface area of 3,918 km2 (1,512.7 sq. miles), making it the second-smallest state in the country.

A general understanding of the physical characteristics of the state can help understand its history. The history itself can be divided into the prehispanic period (up to 1519), the Spanish conquest and colonial period (1519—1810), early independence (beginning in 1810, including statehood in 1869 until 1910), the Mexican Revolution and the 20th century, and the 21st century.

Geological formation
The area that encompasses Morelos was covered by an inland sea during the Triassic and Jurassic Periods, between 252 and 145 million years ago. The waters receded during the Cretaceous Era (145-56 million years ago) when sedimentary rocks were formed. Researchers have found fossilized snails in Tlaquiltenango and mollusks, corals, and other underwater creatures in La Huizachera and Cañón de Lobos in Jiutepec. The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (Eje Volcánico Transversal) was formed during the Neogene (23 to 2.6 million years ago), resulting in the 74 visible volcanoes in the north and east of the state.

The central and south areas of the state are in the Depressions of the Balsas, hills, valleys, and gullies. The largest valley is that of Cuernavaca, followed by Yautepec and Cuautla. The presence of a doline led to the formation of Lake Tequesquitengo.

Prehispanic history
Fossils of large herbivores, including 10,000 year-old mammoths have been found near Yautepec and Chimalacatlan, Tlaquiltenango.

Prehistory
Prehistoric cave paintings have been discovered in Amatlán de Quetzalcóatl, Tepoztlan; Buena Vista del Monte, Cuernavaca; Tlayca, Jonacatepec; Meztitla, Tepoztlan; el Cerro Tlatoani, Tlayacapan; and Achichipico, Yecapixtla. The first groups of humans in Morelos had up to forty individuals who hunted iguanas, rabbits, armadillos, oposums, ocelots, white-tail deer, coyotes, and wildcats and insects jiumiles, ant eggs, grasshoppers, bedbugs, etc.) They fished in rivers and lakes, and they gathered wild plums, avocados, beans, corn, amaranth, zucchini, tomatoes, chile peppers, roots, and mushrooms.

Prehispanic civilization
The earliest-identified civilization in Morelos is that of Chalcatzingo in the municipality of Jantetelco. It is estimated that this Olmec-like civilization started as early as 1500 BCE. Petroglyphs (stone carvings) of rain, plus the earliest ball court of the region, ceramics, and a sunken patio suggest this community was an agricultural, trade, and ceremonial center of 500 to 1,000 people. Olmec influence is seen in Tres Marias, Huitzilac; Olintiepec, Ayala; and Yautepec, among others. Ceramic production began about 1500 BCE in Tlaquiltenango and Tetelpa, Zacatepec. Pottery and clay figurines have been found in Gualupita, Cuernavaca, that date from 1100-1200 BCE. Findings in Buena Vista del Monte include remains of pottery and remains of tiny ears of primordial corn, which are irrefutable proof that corn was first cultivated in the Cuernavaca Valley thousands of years ago.

Francisco Plancarte y Navarrete, Cuernavaca's second bishop (1898–1911), wrote Tamoanchan-The State of Morelos and The Beginning of Civilization in Mexico in 1911. In it, he proposes that the first agriculturally based settlements in Mexico appeared around 1500 BCE in a place called Tamoanchan which he associates with Morelos. He writes, "1st - That being in the region of Tamoanchan... they fixed the ritual calendar ... 2nd - That Tamoanchan was not very far from Teotihuacan; 3rd - That to go from Tamoanchan to Teotihuacan they passed through Xumiltepec; 4th - That Tepuztecal (sic) and his companions discovered pulque in the Tamoanchan region. But as all these facts happened in... the State of Morelos ... and accordingly that Tamoanchan is not a mythological and fantastic country... but true..." Lucia Martínez Moctezuma and Carlos Capistrán, researchers at the UAEM, point out that Plancarte y Navarrette's ideas hold a firm hold on the beliefs of the people of Morelos, despite more recent archaeological and geographic studies.

Another site that shows Olmec influence is Zazacatla, located in the municipality of Xochitepec. This was the dominant community in western Morelos between 1000 and 800 BCE. Unlike Chalcatzingo and other Olmec-like sites centered on mountains with caves forming the entrance to the underworld, Zazacatla was founded on a small outcropping of limestone, in the middle of a valley of great agricultural wealth, but relatively far from the nearest mountains. However, there is a natural depression, approximately 100 meters (330 feet) in diameter, which formed a water mirror in the rainy season. This pool was the threshold of an aquatic world full of plant riches, where the ancestors lived; the buildings of the ceremonial civic center circled it.

Coatetelco flourished from 500 to 150 BCE. Located next to the lake of the same name, it had a ball court, a small pyramid, and other structures.

The Classical Period covers the period from 200 BCE to 900 CE and is characterized by the development of Teotihuacan. The most important settlements in Morelos during this time were Atlatlahucan and Pantitlan, Tlayacapan. The latter was the center of cotton production in the region. Tepoztlan was important as a source of paper, made from the bark of the amate (ficus tree). Las Pilas, Jonacatepec was an important ceremonial center. In the western valley, just north of Cuernavaca, relations between the peoples of the hot land and the Teotihuacan state were manifested at the site of Zoquipa-Tlachichila. The Teotihuacan settlement was detected on a hill in Cuernavaca, defined by the architectural arrangement of its foundations and temples around a courtyard or plaza, as well as the presence of the Orange Delgado ceramic, characteristic of the Classic period.

In the Epiclassic Period from 700 to 900 BCE, the changing Mesoamerican societies chose peripheral regions, distant from the large urban centers, to create the headquarters of their cities. In the western valley of Morelos, the city of Xochicalco, in the municipalities of Temixco and Miacatlan, was founded and developed over a period of 200 years. Xochicalco was built as a fortified city, on a hill that rises 130 meters (425 feet) above the surrounding plain. The hill was artificially modified to form terraces that gave the site the appearance of a pyramidal basement of geological dimensions. In the upper part, large level spaces were created in which the squares and the main public and religious buildings were settled, as well as sumptuous residential complexes for the governing, religious and military classes. There are three ballfields, 20 altars, a temascal (ritual steam bath), and a system of caves that lead to an observatory used for regulating the calendar. The reliefs of the feathered serpents (Quetzalcoatl or Kukulkan) in the temple of the same name suggest Teotihuacan and Mayan influences. Many of the 15,000-20,000 residents were involved in crafts or trade.

Ce Acatl Topiltzin was born in Amatlan, Tepoztlan, in 895 CE. It is thought that he ruled in Tula, where he promoted the arts and science, earning the title Topiltzin (our prince) and after his death, Quetzalcóatl. It was in Tula he broke the rule of abstinence from alcohol and while committing other faults related to sexuality, which brought about the decline of that civilization in about 1150. It is believed that a group of Toltecs settled Mazatepec in 603 CE, then in Xochicalco, and later at Tetela, Hueyapan, Tepoztlán, and Xumiltepec (Jumiltepec) Ocuituco. Little is actually known about the period from 900 to 1100 in Morelos. There were no large cities, and the population was small. The ceramic found was probably imported from Tula, which empire did not extend to Morelos.

After the Olmec period, the area was invaded by several waves of Nahuatl-speaking groups migrating from the Valley of Mexico in the north. The Tlahuicas arrived and settled in and around Cuauhnáhuac (Cuernavaca) about 1300. There is evidence that indicates the Tlauhuicas probably would have been expelled from Morelos by the Xochimilcas if they had not been protected by King Xolotl, lord of Acolhua, who granted territory to Tochintecutli, the first lord of Cuauhnáhuac. The Tlahuica eventually became the dominant ethnic group in Morelos. They were organized into about fifty small city-states, each with a hereditary ruler (tlatoani). Each Tlahuica city-state consisted of a central town, with its temple, plaza, palace, and the surrounding countryside and villages. The largest of these were Cuauhnáhuac, Izteyocan (Santa María Ahuacatitlán), Tecpanzolco (Teopanzolco), Acalicapac (Acatlipa), Altpuyaca (Alpuyeca), Atlicholoayan (Altacholoaya), and Xoxoutla (Jojutla). These people had advanced knowledge of astronomy and a highly developed agricultural system. They were especially known for growing cotton, which was planted wherever the land could be irrigated. Tlahuica women spun and wove cloth, which became an important item for exchange and for paying tribute. Recent archaeological finds indicate that the double pyramid of Teopanzolco in Vista Hermosa, Cuernavaca, dates from 1150 to 1200, some 150 years than previously thought. Dedicated to Tlaloc (god of rain) and Huitzilopochtli (god of war), it is now known that this is a Tlauhica design copied for the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan.

The Xochimilcas settled in the center of Morelos, including Huaxtepec (Oaxtepec), Itzomatilan (Itzmatitlán), Xochimilcatzingo, Tzompango (Tzopango), Atlhuelic (Atlihuayan), and Cuauhilixco (Cuaulixo).

A third group of Nahuatl-speakers was from Chalco. They had fought against Totolapan and Tlayacapan before settling in the eastern part of the state near the volcanoes, including Chalcatzingo, Yecapichtlan (or Yacapiztlan) (modern Yecapixtla), Huitzillan (Huitzililla), and Axochiapan. Yacapiztlan was founded in 9 tecpatl, which is about 1330 or 1332 AC. Yacapitzlan was an important city-state in eastern Morelos; its lords attended the court of Techotlalatzin, tlatoani of Texcoco (1357-1377), only to be conquered by Texcoco in 1407, and reconquered by Triple Alliance in 1430 and again by Moteuczomatzin Ilhuicamina in 1450.

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There is evidence that Cuauhnahuac came under the control of the Tepanec in about 1348. King Huitzilihuitl proposed marriage to Miahuaxihuitl, daughter of Ozomatzintuectli, tlatoni of Cuauhnahuac. She turned him down, setting off a 40-year war, eventually won by Tepanec. Also, with the apparent approval of Tepanec, Cuauhnahuac tried to conquer Tzacualtitlan, which belonged to Chalco, in 1368. Teopanzolco was abandoned in about 1400 and Cuauhnahuac moved its center of operations to what is now downtown Cuernavaca; at about the same time Azcapotzalco took over from Tepanec. Itzcoatl reconquered Cuauhnahauc and took Xiutepec (Jiutepec) in the 1420s and 1430s. Upon his death, Moteuczomatzin Ilhuicamina, son of Huitzilihuitl and Miahuaxochitl, extended Aztec rule to Huaxtepec (Oaxtepec) in 1440. He extended his rule to Yautepec, Tetlama, and other locations, These conquered areas were allowed to keep their local political structures so long as tribute, which mostly consisted of cotton items, was paid. The territory was divided into two tributary provinces, one centered on Cuauhnáhuac and the other centered on Huaxtepec. Each of these territories had a population of over 50,000 by the 16th century.

In 1496 Moteuczomatzin Ilhuicamina conquered Huatepec. He established a botanical garden with fruit trees and medicinal plants from across the empire there. He relaced in the crystal-clear mineral waters of La Poza Azul surrounded by amate trees. There is an archaeological zone within the spa that was once used as an astronomical observatory.

The Mexica built a number of fortifications in the area, notably in the hills called El Sombrerito and Tlatoani near Tlayacapan. The pyramid of Tepozteco in Tepoztlán was built in 1150, but it may have been designed as a fort and lookout post by the Mexica as well.

Daily life of the Tlahuicas
The Tlahuicas, one of seven Nahuatl-speaking Aztec tribes, settled in the western valley of today's state of Morelos, its capital was Cuauhnáhuac, today Cuernavaca. The larger populations had four neighborhoods each. The cell was the family house or calli; the ithaualli which was a compound for the extended family; the neighborhood with its sowing land was the calpulli; and the altepetl was the town. 62% percent of the married men were landowners and paid tribute. 36% of married people rented land from the tlatoani or chief head, and 2% served as servants to cultivate, water, grind, weave, carry water, firewood, and make food. There were also slaves sent to fight in flower wars, which were designed to catch prisoners for sacrifice to the gods.

Men were described as medium height, robust, with big eyes, but nearly beardless. Wealthy men wore gold ornaments and precious stones. They wore shoes and white, short pants. They wore a square-white blanket knotted to the shoulder; on holidays the rich wore colored blankets. The common people often went naked. Public sexuality was common; marriage took place at twenty. Polygamy was common, but adultery was punished. Divorce was acceptable, and wife-beating was common. Drunkenness was punishable by death.

The women went barefoot and wore skirts but no tops. They were usually married at fourteen. Married women wore their long hair with a knot at the forehead, while maidens wore it loose. They bathed frequently, and abortion was common.

Married people lived in windowless and doorless houses with painted walls. They grew corn, beans, and chili peppers. They used axes and copper chisels and knives. They ate little meat, but consumed wild animals (iguanas, venison), birds (wild turkey, quail), fish, and insects (jumiles, ant eggs, bedbugs, maguey worms). They grew corn, beans, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, nopales, plums, guavas, and tamarinds. They ate tamales, pozole; they drank atole and pulque. They produced cotton fabrics and amate paper. They used cocoa beans for trade instead of money.

The role of women
In prehispanic society, the god Ōmeteōtl, symbolized by an eagle, represented heat and light—masculine traits. The jaguar represented the earth, cold, wetness, and darkness—feminine traits. Duality in creation was essential: Ōmeteōtl' was represented by both Ometechuhtli (father) and Omecihuatl (mother). The god Tōnacātēcuhtli was also the goddess Tōnacācihuātl (mother of four), including Quetzalcóatl and Huītzilōpōchtli, who in turn created the gods of the underworld, Mictlāntēcutli (husband) and Mictēcacihuātl (wife). Tōnacātēcuhtli and Tōnacācihuātl were the parents of Oxomoco (male) and Cipactonal (female), who were the parents of the macehuales, or workers. Besides procreation, Cipactonal was responsible for spinning and weaving, and she was in charge of the seeds used for healing, prophesying, and sorcery.

Villagers saw an intimate relationship between life and vegetation: the woman was associated with the earth and fertility, while a man’s semen was associated with water. Women’s and men’s roles in society were clearly distinct, with men being the providers, governors, and priests, while the women were responsible for preparing food and drinks, weaving, and child care. This did not mean that the women were subservient; for example, a widow was allowed to hire workers to cultivate her land.

Both boys and girls were sent to school, although girls were taught to spin and weave, while boys were taught in the arts of war.

Conquest and colonial period
Population estimates for the beginning of the 16th century are: Cuauhnáhuac, 50,000; Huaxtepec, 50,000; Yautepec, 30,000; Tepoztlán, 20,000; Totolapan, 20,000; and 12,000 each for Tlayacapan, Tetela, Yecapixtla, and Ocuituco.

The Spanish under Hernán Cortés arrived in central Mexico in 1519. After Cortés's defeat in Tenochtitlan on (La Noche Triste) on June 20, 1520, and retreat into Tlaxacala, he sent expeditions to Morelos. One of the first Mexicas to accept Spanish authority was in Ocuituco. Gonzalo de Sandoval then set out with 8,000 men for Huaxtepec (Oaxtepec). After a two-day fight, Sandoval returned to Texcoco to inform Cortes of his victory. Cortes returned with 20,000 men, and defeated Tlayacapan on April 8. Cortes then went to Huaxtepec, spent a night in the beautiful gardens, and moved on to Yautepec. The Spanish burned the town, and Tepoztlan surrendered. Cortes continued his march on Xiutepec (Jiutepec) and on April 13 faced the city of Cuauhnahuac (Cuernavaca). The bridges across the Ravine of Annanalco had been destroyed, but both Cortes and Bernal Diaz del Castillo relate how they were able to cross the ravine upriver via a fallen tree. The cacique of Cuauhnahuac surrendered quickly, and Cortes burned and sacked the city, and the women were raped. After spending the night in nearby Acapantzingo, Cortes moved on to Coajomulco before marching on Xochimilco. Cortes returned to Cuernavaca after the fall of Tenochtitlan, where he established a hacienda and constructed the Palace of Cortés five years later.

The spiritual conquest of Morelos began shortly after the military one and is no less impressive. Only two years after the fall of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), in the year 1523, the first church was built in Tlatenango, and over the next 50 years 500 religious constructions were built in the state.

In 1529, Cortés was named the Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, which gave him control over 4000 km2 of territory in Morelos with Cuernavaca as the seat of authority over about eighty communities, eight haciendas, and two sugar cane plantations. These lands stayed in the Cortés family until 1809, when the government confiscated all of the lands of the Marquis. There are house-to-house censuses from the mid-1530s from communities around Cuernavaca that are the earliest extant local-level documentation in Nahuatl, likely due to a dispute between Cortés and the crown about the number of tributaries of the Marquesado del Valle de Oaxaca. These Indigenous censuses make it possible to establish an early colonial-era base-line for household structure, land holding, tribute obligations, and rates of baptism and Church marriage.

Historian Ward Barrett considers that the "region now known as Morelos has a physical unity sufficient to define and set it in strong contrast to other regions of Mexico." Much of this definition comes from its geography, which is a basin into which abundant water flows. The arrival of the Spanish shifted agriculture subsistence maize production and cotton cultivation to sugar cane and the refining of such into sugar in nearby mills. This system would remain more or less intact until the Mexican Revolution.

Independence to 1910
The conditions on the sugar plantations of Morelos made Father Miguel Hidalgo's call to take up arms well received by the indigenous and mestizo populations of the state. The first rebellions broke out in 1811, with some early successes. An early insurgent leader in the state was Francisco Ayala. Insurgents from the state managed to push as far as Chalco in what is now Mexico State when royalist forces pushed them back in 1812. After Hidalgo was executed (July 30, 1811), José María Morelos y Pavon took over the insurgent effort, joined by Mariano Matamoros of Jantetelco.

By 1812, insurgents had control of the city of Cuautla, and royalist forces began to put it under siege. Morelos and his men held out for 58 days when reinforcement arrived, breaking the Siege of Cuautla. This was one of the early vital wins for the insurgent movement. Morelos would eventually be captured by royalists and executed in 1815, but the memory of this battle would lead to the future state being named after him.

In the post-war period, the sugar industry of Morelos made this region one of the richest parts of the Mexican Republic. Much of this sugar made its way to European markets. As a result, the city of Cuernavaca, serving as an important trade center for exports, became a well-established outpost along the Camino Real (Royal Road) to Acapulco. But the sugar cane estates were worlds unto themselves: great luxury for the (often absentee) owners and misery, debt, and poverty for the workers.

After winning independence, what is now the state of Morelos was the district of Cuernavaca as part of the very large State of Mexico, created in 1824. The entity would change status between state and department depending on whether liberal or conservative factions were in charge. Under the Constitution of 1857, the State of Mexico and all other states would keep their federal status permanently.

Cuernavaca gained the title of city in 1834. During the Mexican–American War, this city was taken by the Americans under General Cadwalader.

The next conflict was the uprising against President Antonio López de Santa Anna under the Plan of Ayutla in 1854. Armed rebellion broke out in Cuautla, and Santa Anna responded by burning entire villages. However, the rebellion dislodged Santa Anna, naming Juan Álvarez as president. Alvarez moved the Mexican capital to Cuernavaca. A new constitutional convention was called and when the 1857 Constitution was proclaimed, Alvarez retired and the capital moved back to Mexico City.

The new constitution did not stop fighting among conservative and liberal factions in Mexico, which escalated again into the Reform War from 1858 to 1861. Cuernavaca was a stronghold of the conservatives, while Cuautla was a liberal bastion. Anarchy ruled more than anything else, as bandits roamed the region, burned and destroyed the haciendas of Pantitlán and Xochimancas, terrorizing villagers. Ignacio Manuel Altamirano wrote a novel, set in Yautepec, about the war and the bandits, called El Zarco: Episodios de la Vida Mexicana en 1861–63. The war ended on January 11, 1861, when Benito Juárez took control of Mexico City.

The division between the liberal and conservative parts of the state remained through the French Intervention in Mexico. When the French Army invaded Mexico, Francisco Leyva raised an army in Morelos to fight in the Battle of Puebla of May 5, 1862. Despite the heroic efforts on that day, the French eventually managed to gain control of the country and install Maximilian of Habsburg as emperor in 1864. Maximilian chose the Jardin Borda in Cuernavaca as his summer residence, and he builtLa Casa del Olindo in Acapantzingo, Cuernavaca supposedly for Margarita Leguizmo Sedano, his mistress known as "La India Bonita." The French emperor improved the roads from Mexico City to Cuernavaca; telegraph service between the two began in 1866. However, resistance to French rule was well underway. On January 1, 1867, Republican troops under the leadership of Francisco Leyva, Ignacio Figueroa, and Ignacio Manuel Altamirano began an eight-day siege of Cuernavaca. France, under Napoleon III, withdrew its troops soon after that, and Maximilian was defeated by Republican forces and executed.

After the French were expelled by forces under Benito Juárez, there were efforts to divide the State of Mexico. This resulted in the creation of the state of Morelos on 21 September 1868 by the federal Congress. The territory of the state was the Third Military District of the State of Mexico as defined by the Juárez government; the name "Morelos" and the capital "Cuernavaca" were selected by the state's first legislature. The first state constitution was finalized in 1870, and Francisco Leyva Arciniegas became the first Constitutional Governor of Morelos. There were boundary disputes between the new state with Mexico State and the Federal District, but these were resolved by the 1890s.

A telegraph line from Mexico City to Cuernavaca had been laid between 1867 and 1869; in 1870 it was extended to Iguala, Chilpancingo, and Tixla. Another line, between Cuernavaca and Cuautla, was laid in 1875. Attempts were made to improve education, but limited funds made that virtually impossible. Other infrastructure projects in the late 19th century included the Toluca-Cuernavaca highway, and a rail line between Mexico City and Cuautla. 200 people died when a train plunged into the San Antonio River at the Puente de Escontzin (Escontzin Bridge) near Cuautla in what became known as the Morelos railway accident on June 23, 1881. Rail lines would continue to be built into the 20th century, connecting the state further with Mexico City and the Pacific Ocean. On May 11, 1874, the capital was moved to Cuautla; it was returned to Cuernavaca on January 1, 1876.

During the long presidency of Porfirio Diaz (1877–1911), the economy of Morelos continued to be dominated by the large sugar plantations. The sugar cane estates were modernized and began to use steam-driven mills and centrifugal extractors. These changes created a great new demand for the water and land resources needed to grow sugar cane. As a result, the haciendas expanded steadily, but only at the expense of the peasants, who were unfairly deprived of their land by the hacienda owners. Between 1884 and 1905, eighteen towns in Morelos disappeared as lands were taken by the haciendas.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuernavaca was established on June 23, 1891 with Fortino Hipólito Vera as the first bishop (1894–1898). He was followed by Francisco Plancarte y Navarrete (1898–1911).

The Revolution in Morelos
This situation would make the state ripe for the Mexican Revolution and the base for one of the best-known revolutionaries from this period, Emiliano Zapata, who was born in Anenecuilco, Ciudad Ayala. Some of the first outbreaks of violence took place in Cuernavaca under Genovevo de la O from Santa María Ahuacatitlán in 1910. Zapata's victory in the bloody Battle of Cuautla (May 11–19, 1911) brought about Porfirio Diaz's abdication, but also led to the press labeling Zapata the Attila of the South. But then, Government forces led by Victoriano Huerta attacked towns and cities in the state, trying to take it back. Shortly afterwards, on August 17, 1911, revolutionaries sacked Jojutla.

Zapata felt betrayed by Francisco Madero, and following Madero's election as president on November 6, 1911, Zapata and his followers called for agrarian reform in the Plan de Ayala. Contrary to popular belief, the state's motto, Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty) did not originate with Zapata or the Plan de Ayala; it was first used by Ricardo Flores Magón in the magazine Regeneración on October 1, 1910.

Madero was assassinated; Victoriano Huerta took over the government, but he was soon put on the run. In May 1914, Zapata, with a force of 3,600 men, took control of the southern Jojutla district. By this time, Cuernavaca was the only important town in Morelos that the Federal forces held onto. It took 72 days to take Cuernavaca, after which he marched on Milpa Alta (Mexico City).

Huerta was defeated, and 1915 was fairly peaceful in Morelos. However, by December of that year, Zapata was forced to fight a new enemy—Venustiano Carranza. Carranza embarked upon an offensive that retook significant parts of the state of Morelos. By the spring of 1916, Zapata was forced to abandon several of his strongholds. The biggest loss came on May 2, 1916, when Zapata lost Cuernavaca to enemy forces, which now numbered some 30,000 troops. As Zapata continued to lose ground, his forces were forced to return to the guerilla warfare that they had waged a few years earlier. They retook Cuernavaca in January, 1916, but he generally lost ground to the Constitutionalists. The Zapatistas imposed a heavy tax on haciendas; when the owners refused to pay, the rebels burned the cane fields such as those of Chinameca, Tenango, Treinta, Atilhuayan, Santa Iñes, and San Gabriel. Then, on April 17, 1919, Zapata was betrayed and ambushed at Chinameca. Zapata's remains are currently in Cuautla at the foot of a statue erected in his honor.

The vacuum left after Zapata's assassination was filled when General Gildardo Magaña, a middle class catrín ("dandy") from Michoacan was chosen as his successor. Rivals such as Generals Francisco Mendoza and Maurilio Maurilio did not take kindly to Magaña's designation. Magaña wanted to continue the fight, but Mejía and Fortino Ayaquica surrendered to Carrazancists in Puebla, Mendoza retired, and General Jesús Chávez joined General Manuel Peláez and continued the fight in Veracruz. General Genovevo de la O backed the Plan of Agua Prieta, saving the lives of Álvaro Obregón and Benjamín G. Hill in the process. Cuernavaca was placed under the command of De la O, while Cuautla and eastern Morelos were commanded by Mendoza with a base in Jonacatepec.

Francisco Plancarte y Navarrete was replaced by Manuel Fulcheri y Pietrasanta as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuernavaca on September 8, 1912.

1920 to 1930
President Alvaro Obregon began a new stage of the Mexican Revolution: reconstrucción (reconstruction). Zapatistas controlled Morelos, and they chose Dr. José G. Parres as governor, General Geneveo de la O as Head of Military Operations, and Gildardo Magaña, Jenaro Amezcua, and Antonio Díaz Soto y Gama as the heads of the Partido Nacional Agrarista (PNA) ("National Agrarian Party"). Parres and the PNA supported corporativización ("corporatization") of the land (agricultural communities of peasants), while De la O and the Partido Laborista Morelense ("Morelos Labor Party") wanted to bring back the former hacienda owners who were in exile in Mexico City. The Parres faction won, and although he did not last long as governor, land redistribution began and De la O was sent to Tlaxcala the production structure was changed. By 1930, 3/4 of the state's cultivable land was in hands of ejidotarios.

All was not rosy. The all-important sugar industry was nearly completely destroyed, and the population of the state had declined from 180,000 in 1910 to 103,000 in 1921. The situation was so severe that in 1920, Governor Luis Flores questioned whether the state could even exist without federal subsidies, and in 1927 Provisional Governor Ambrosio Puente commented that ...el gobierno a mi cargo, no encontró sino por casualidad la suma de 57 centavos, al iniciar sus labores. ("...the government I am in charge of, could not find 57 centavos, at the beginning of its work.") Money was not the only problem; when General Genovevo de la O complained that many governmental posts had been filled by people from other areas, Governor José G. Parres Guerrero could only admit it was true, due to the low level of education of people from Morelos. To make matters even worse, local judges used their positions as political weapons.

President Plutarco Elías Calles established his residence in Cuernavaca. His populist government was able to continue land distribution, establish schools in the larger towns, and pave major roads. The establishment of a mill for corn in Tepoztlan was seen as nothing less than a revolution of women against the authority of men, since the four of six hours previously spent daily in grinding corn could be employed in child-rearing, animal husbandry, church-going, clothes-making, or handicrafts and commerce. As gravel or paved roads replaced donkey paths, the transportation industry was born. Any chance of a rebellion led by De la O was quickly put down. Elias Calles pushed for cooperative agriculture; in Morelos, this led to a resurgence of the rice industry in the southern part of the state.

Bishop Manuel Fulcheri y Pietrasanta, who had served in Cuernavaca during the Revolution, was transferred to Zamora in March 1922, and Bishop Francisco Uranga y Sáenz took his place as head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuernavaca, a post he was to hold until 1932.

In 1926 President Plutarco Elias Calles ordered a number of restrictions on the Catholic Church, precipitating the Cristero War. While the Catholic Church generally had opposed the Mexican Revolution, many former Zapatistas joined the rebellion in Morelos. Groups led by Benjamin Mendoza in Coatlán del Río; Nicolas Zamora in Tetlama, Temixco; and Rafael Castañada in Alpuyeca, Xochitepec, joined the Cristeros. They were quickly put down by Governor Ambrosia Puente in 1927. The Cristero Rebellion is resolved largely due to the intervention of U.S. Ambassador Dwight Morrow, who had established his home in Cuernavaca in 1927.

Besides the Cristero War, other armed rebellions broke out in 1927 and three different legislatures were established. Victorino Bárcenas of Taxco, Guerrero, a former "Zapatista" and "delahuertista" (a rebellion led by Adolfo de la Huerta) rose in arms, attacking transportation and communication lines, including a train robbery in Puente de Ixtla. Bárcenas was later captured and executed in Taxco. Valentín Reyes, an associate of De la O, fought in the Sierra del Ajusco, only to be caught and executed in Toluca. The Hernández Brothers of Tepoztlan were forced to defend lands and forests from the local aristocracy; after a short guerrilla war they were killed while dynamiting a train in Yautepec.

The Mexico City-Acapulco highway opened on November 1, 1927, and there were several assaults along the Mexico City-Cuernavaca section of the highway in 1928. Mayor Alejo Hernández of Cuernavaca was executed by firing squad on June 1, 1929.

Due to increased rice and sugarcane production, Governor Ambrosio Puente established taxes on rice and sugarcane-generated alcohol; the state's financial situation thus began to improve. However, local caciques in Cuautla and Jojutla put up so much resistance that Puente was forced to resign on March 3, 1930. Puente was followed by Interim Governor Carlos Lavín, who organized the April 1930 elections, dividing the state into seven electoral districts. Dr. Manuel Mazari and Ambrosio Puente were elected federal senators, Alfonso María Figueroa was easily defeated by Vicente Estrada Cajigal. It was an overwhelming victory for the Partido Socialista Revolucionario de Morelos (Morelos Socialist Revolutionary Party), and Morelos returned to Constitutional rule for the first time since 1913.

1930 to 1976
By 1930, the government had control over Morelos, and a new civilian government was established with the adoption of a new Constitution on November 20, 1930. Although Vicente Estrada Cajigal was the governor, real power resided in the hands of Plutarco Elías Calles, the Jefe Maximo de la Revolución ("Supreme Leader of the Revolution"). The state bureaucracy and 29 local municipal governments were organized; religious names were prohibited by the use of towns. The Maximato operated out of Calles' finca (estate) in Cuernavaca, as governors and other leaders, such as Senator Carlos Riva Palacio from the State of Mexico came to visit him there. The state was still plagued by limited resources, poverty, and a lack of modern infrastructure. An industrial census in 1930 showed there was virtually no industry, and many homes had neither running water nor electricity. Cajigals's government pushed for the establishment of schools, electric services in major population centers, and improved communications. Local teachers were encouraged to participate in the politics of their communities. Both national and international tourism were encouraged; commerce increased as the ejidos began to report excess production, allowing the people to improve their daily lives.

Following the election of 1932, the Zapatistas had been driven from the government, and land distribution ground to a halt. A new force, the Bloque Reformador Democrático Revolucionario led by professionals from Cuernavaca and local leaders such as Rubén Jaramillo from the Tlaquiltenango – Jojutla area, challenged Cajigal's government. However, former governor Puente lost his position in the state legislature, Leopoldo Heredia lost his Senate seat, and the Partido Nacional Revolucionario, the predecessor of PRI, firmly controlled the governor's office, the state legislature, and all 29 municipal governments.

José Refugio Bustamante was elected governor in 1934, the same year Lázaro Cárdenas was elected president. Although Bustamante supported Cardenas' election, he remained a follower of Plutarco Calles and sided with Cajigal over Puente. Nonetheless, the peasants pushed for more land reform, and in September 1934 veteran Zapatista leader Enrique Rodríguez "El Tallarín" ("The Noodle") rose in arms in Tepalcingo and Axochiapan and all along the border with the state of Puebla. Cardenas sent General Miguel Henríquez Guzmán to put down the rebellion; "El Tallarín" moved his operations to the volcanic area of Puebla, and what was to be described as a "Second Critero War" was not put down until 1938 when the new governor, Elpidio Perdomo offered Bustamante amnesty and other concessions.

There were several major train accidents in the 1930s. The statue of the Our Lady of Guadalupe in El Calvario (Cuernavaca) was destroyed by vandals in 1934. The Hotel Casino de la Selva (Jungle Casino Hotel) was opened in Cuernavaca in 1931 (during Prohibition in the United States) and quickly became a hotspot for wealthy Americans, including Hollywood stars and gangsters. Its casino was closed in 1934, but the hotel continued operations until the late 1980s. The first middle school in Morelos, was established in Cuernavaca in 1936. A 1937 study showed that 60.46% of the population was illiterate; this was one of the highest rates in the country. The Instituto de Estudios Superiores del Estado de Morelos, the predecessor of the state university, was established in 1938.

The 1938 election saw a return to power by the Zapatistas, including not only Elpidio Perdomo as governor, but also in the local legislature. The most significant development was the opening of a cooperative sugar refinery in Zacatepec. However, in 1942 Perdomo chose as his successor Jésus Castillo López, a civilian bureaucrat who had worked in the government since the time of Cajigal. Castillo López's candidacy was strongly opposed by Rodolfo López de Nava, who ended up resigning from the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party|Party of the Mexican Revolution (PRM). Despite this internal division of the PRM, Castillo López easily won the election against General Maurilio Mejía, a nephew of Zapata's. When the government instituted a draft in 1942 due to the Second World War, several small groups rose in arms in different parts of the state. They were supported by Rubén Jaramillo when workers at the Zacatepec sugar refinery went on strike. The rebellions were put down by 1944.

A group of Japanese Mexicans purchased 200 hectares (500 acres) of land in Temixco in the early 1940s to house the growing number of immigrants from that country. In 1942 it was turned into a concentration camp. After the war, the hacienda returned to sugarcane production, and in 1968 it was converted to a waterpark.

Cementos Moctezuma began operations in Jiutepec in 1944.

Castillo López had little credibility within his party (now called "Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)") by 1946, which chose Ernesto Escobar Muñoz as its candidate. Escobar Muñoz easily won the election against Rubén Jaramillo; his term was extended until 1952. This initiated a new epoch wherein caciques in Morelos could no longer resist the power of the president when choosing its governors.

By 1950, Morelos had recovered its population, up to 270,054 (natives 75.8%) 65,788 (non-natives 24.2% includes 963 foreigners) from only 103,440 in 1921. However, poverty continued to be a problem, as indicated by the fact that 30% of the people wore huaraches (sandals made from old automobile tires) and 15% were barefoot; only in the cities of Cuernavaca, Cuautla, and Zacatepec did most people use shoes. Between 1950 and 1960, chicken farms and textile factories opened in Morelos; Textiles Morelos and Nobilis Lees were owned by Burlington Industries while Hilados Morelos was owned by "Industrias Ocotlán." Unfortunately, the first attempts at large-scale poultry farming collapsed due to an epicemic.

President Miguel Alemán Valdés chose Rodolfo López de Nava as governor in 1952. In that same year, Sergio Méndez Arceo became Roman Catholic bishop of Cuernavaca. Méndez Arceo was known for his support of the poor and was a leading proponent of Liberation theology. The Mexico City-Cuernavaca tollway opened in 1952. The Instituto de Estudios Superiores del Estado de Morelos became the Universidad del Estado de Morelos (Morelos State University) in 1953.

Journalist Pablo Rubén Villalobos called López de Nava and his police chief Mario Olea Martini todopoderoso (all powerful); Apostolic Nuncio Guglielmo Piani S.B.D. and ten "troublemakers" died in Cuernavaca in September 1956. Also, 5,000 civilians from rioting in protest when traffic police in Cuernavaca killed a man named Jorge Garrigós in 1957.

Norberto López Avelar was chosen as governor in on May 18, 1958, and the municipal president of Jiutepec, Isaías Alanís Tapia, was assassinated eight days later. "Poor Little Rich Girl," Barbara Woolworth Hutton built a lavish Japanese-style home called "Sumiya," in Jiutepec in 1959; today it is a luxury hotel and restaurant. In 1960, three government officials in Cuernavaca were fired because of embezzlement.

From 1943 to 1944, and again from 1953 to 1958, Rubén Jaramillo led peasant revolts against the government. Despite promises and a guarantee of his safety from presidents Manuel Ávila Camacho in 1944 and Adolfo López Mateos in 1958, Jaramillo was gunned down in Xochicalco by federal police on May 23, 1962. A cache of weapons was discovered in Colonia Rubén Jaramillo, Temixco, in September 1973.

As for development, Gambling was outlawed and the Casino de la Selva in Cuernavaca was closed in 1934, which had been a mecca for American mobsters and Hollywood film stars. The Buenavista-Tepoztlán highway was built in 1936, and the Mexico City-Cuernavaca tollway opened in 1952. Highway construction eventually led to the closing of a number of rail lines including the Mexico City-Cuernavaca-Iguala line in 1963.

Datsun began manufacturing automobiles in Jiutepec in 1961. The first industrial park of Morelos, Civac (Industrial City of the Valley of Cuernavaca), opened in 1966, confiscating 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of communal land in Tejalpa, Jiutepec with virtually no compensation. Mayekewa and Nissan were among the first companies to locate there.

A major water park with capacity for 20,000 visitors, was opened in Oaxtepec by IMSS (Mexican Social Security Institution) in 1966. When Mexico hosted the XIX 1968 Summer Olympics, the Junior Games were in Oaxtepec. The water park was sold to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in 2016.

There were two major disasters in 1962: in March, a bus fell off a cliff near the Lagunas de Zempoala National Park in Huitzilac, killing 22 and injuring 36. An earthquake in Cuernavaca in May killed 22, injured dozens, and destroyed two buildings.

1967 to 2000
As it has been since Aztec times, the state, especially Cuernavaca, has been a favorite retreat for those in Mexico City due to its warm year-round climate. That, plus pollution and the September 19, 1985 Mexico City earthquake has spurred a major housing boom which continues to this day. Most of this boom is centered on the city of Cuernavaca but also Cuautla and other places. 1 death & Yautepec belltower falls in 1985 earthquake. 1999 belltower of cathedral fell in 1999.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the major crime problem was kidnapping for ransom. The kidnapping crime wave caused investment in the state to drop from a high of US$245 million in 1999 to $102 million in 2002, with the state lagging behind the country in job creation. The state broke the kidnapping rings in the early 2000s, mostly by arresting corrupt lawyers, police, and judges who were protecting kidnapping rings, including one run by Daniel "Mocha Orejas" Arizmendi, who received his nickname by cutting off his victims' ears and sending them to family members. The busts brought the kidnapping rate to below national average. Governor Jorge Carrillo Olea (1994–1998) was forced to resign after being accused of covering for kidnappers.

21st Century
On December 19, 2000, tens of thousands of people in the northeast of the state were evacuated as the Popocatépetl volcano made its largest display in 1,200 years. Other eruptions occurred in December, 2005; January-February 2012, May 8, 2013; July 4, 2013 (when several planes had to be rerouted); August-September 2014; March-April, 2016 in Mexico|2016]]; November 10, 2017; and December 15, 2018-March, 2019. On March 28 2019, based on the analysis of the available information, the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Popocatépetl volcano recommended changing the phase of the Yellow Volcanic Warning Light Phase 2 to Yellow Phase 3, which is a preventive measure against the observed changes.

The rebel group Comando Jaramillista Morelense 23 de Mayo claimed responsibility for the bombing of three banks (branches of Banamex, Bancomer and Santander Serfin) in Civac, Jiutepec, on May 23, 2004. CJM took the name of Rubén Jaramillo, who was a leader for agrarian reform in the 1940s and 1950s and was murdered on May 23, 1962. CJM claimed to be against the corruption of government leaders; in particular, Sergio Estrada Cajigal (governor of Morelos) and President Vicente Fox. The group claimed Estrada Cagijal was involved in drug trafficking. Another bombing in Temixco was also attributed to the group.

Concerns about kidnapping have been replaced concerns about violence related to the drug trade, despite the fact that Morelos is far from the U.S. border. The 2009 slaying of kingpin Arturo Beltrán Leyva set off a turf war for his successor. It has increased the number of gun battles and gangland-style executions. Anonymous email threats succeed in keeping people away from Cuernavaca at night, with bars and nightclubs closing when such communications threaten drug violence. In 2004, Governor Sergio Estrada ordered the mass firing of all of the state police officers after top police commanders were arrested on charges that they were working with drug traffickers. This caused a major political battle for the governor, who then himself was accused of cooperating with drug rings, with attempts to take him out of office. The area around Lagunas de Zempoala National Park, on Morelos's border with Mexico City, is one of Mexico's 16 most dangerous regions, in part due to the narcotics trade.

The state is considered to be one of the most dangerous, despite its small size and population. Most crime is centered in Cuernavaca. Its crime rate surpasses that of Mexico City in terms of crimes per 1,000 people. It is over 50% higher than the national average. Although Cuernavaca has only 21% of the population, it suffers 45% of the crime committed in the state. There are a number of possible causes. Some blame the judicial system for being inept and there are strong links to the drug trafficking trade, en route to Mexico City.

In the election of July 1, 2018, the coalition Together we will make history won the governorship (Cuauhtémoc Blanco) and 16 of 33 municipalities, PRD-PSD won 4, PAN-Citizens' Movement won 3, PRI won 2, PVEM won 4, PANAL won 2, and Humanist Party won 1.

On December 30, 2018, the newly-formed National Guard took over police functions in Cuernavaca, Jiutepec, and Yautepec.

Starting January 1, 2019, three new municipalities were created in Morelos: Xoxocotla; Hueyapan; and Coatetelco. All three are Indigenous communities that will have increased autonomy.

The federal government held a referendum on February 23−24, 2019, to decide whether to build a thermoelectric plant and a gas pipeline in Huexca, Yecapixtla. Voters in Morelos and parts of the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala were asked if they supported the completion of $22 billion peso (U.S.$1.6 billon) plant completed in September 2017 but not put into operation due to lack of connection to the Cuautla River. Two opponents of the plant, Ruben Fajardo and Samir Flores Soberanes were murdered and there were violent protests during the public consultation. 59.5% of the 55,715 citizens voted in favor of construction, and 40.1% voted against. A number of safety and environmental factors have not yet been resolved.

Earthquakes of September, 2017
Morelos was hit by two strong earthquakes in September 2017. On September 7, the 2017 Chiapas earthquake did some serious shaking in Morelos although no physical damage or injuries were reported in Morelos. The second, on September 19, 2017 was disastrous in Morelos. The epicenter was 12 kilometers southeast of Axochiapan, at a depth of 57 kilometers Seventy-five people died in Morelos, principally in Jojutla and in the eastern part of the state; 200 people were hospitalized, 5,000 homes, 10 hospitals, 186 schools, and 4 dams were damaged. The 11 municipalities most affected were Jojutla, Axochiapan, Cuernavaca, Miacatlán, Tlayacapan, Xochitepec, Yautepec, Jantetelco, Ocuituco, Yecapixtla, and Emiliano Zapata. In Cuernavaca, 4 people were killed, the landmark Torre Latinoamericana collapsed, and 11 churches were damaged.

As the citizens of Mexico and of Morelos, as well as foreign governments, rushed to help those affected, Governor Graco Ramírez and his wife, Elena Cepeda de Leon, head of DIF Morelos (Department of Children and Families) were accused of deviating at least two large trucks of supplies for political purposes. The governor and his wife denied the allegations, explaining that they were simply organizing the delivery.

The ISSSTE hospital in Zapata was partially damagaed and forced to work on the street for two months, and the Hospital Parres in Cuernavaca was unserviceable for a year after the earthquake. Two years later, people in Jojutla were still homeless.

The earthquake of September 19 damaged the main temple at the Teopanzolco archaeological site in Cuernavaca. Archaeologists found a smaller, previously unknown temple inside that may predate the Templo Mayor in Mexico City.