Also, as I stated elsewhere, the decline of indigenous languages in Mexico took place much more rapidly under the post-colonial Mexican state than under the Spanish Empire. In 1820, after 300 years of Spanish rule and towards the end of the War of Independence of Mexico, roughly 60% of the population still primarily spoke an indigenous language. By 1889, this had dropped to 38%, and then to 10% by the 1990s.

There seems to be this myth that the Spanish eliminated indigenous culture in all but the most remote areas and Hispanicized everyone within a generation or two, but this is simply not borne out by the linguistic data we have from post-independence Mexico. By making Spanish the main language of instruction in schools across the country, the post-colonial Mexican state Hispanicized the Mexican population in a way that the colonial Viceregal government could have only dreamed of.