cinco de mayo :: essays research papers

Cinco de mayo"After Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, it faced internal power struggles that left it in a volatile state of ascension and instability for years." In 1846, the Mexican government, under the dictator Santa Anna, went to war with the United States. As an outcome of that war, Mexico lost a large amount of land--the land we straight off know as Texas. In 1854, Juan Alvarez and his troops led a successful revolt to drive Santa Anna out of power. One of Alvarezs strongest supporters was a man by the get of Benito Juarez, a Zapotec Indian leader. In 1855, Juarez became the minister of Justice under the new regime and issued two new controversial laws. One denied the right of the perform and military courts to try civilian cases and the other made the sale and distribution of church lands legal. Many people disagreed with these laws and for trinity years a civil war raged between the two sides. In 1861 Juarez took control of the capital, Mexico City, and put his new Constitution into effect. Not only had Juarezs laws split the country, they had caused the civil war that left Juarez in debt to Spain, England, and France. The three countries were concerned about the debt, so they held a meeting in London, at which Spain and Britain decided to waive the debt in exchange for military control of the Custom mansion house in Vera Cruz. France did not agree to these terms and invaded Mexico in 1861 in hopes of defeating the country and disposing of Juarez. The French troops--deemed among the best trained and equipped in the world--marched into the city of Puebla on May 5, 1862, expecting no resistance. The French army consisted of 6,000 men under the command of Marshal Lorencz. The French were met by an armed force of 2,000 peasants under the command of General Ignacio Zaragoza. The Mexican guerilla forces successfully obeyed their positions and attacked and drove back the French forces. Victory, however, was short lived. Withi n a year, France had successfully conquered Puebla and the rest of Mexico, and went on ruling there until 1867 when Juarez was once once again restored to power. He ruled the country until his death in 1872. Cinco de Mayo, therefore, does not celebrate Mexicos independence, rather it symbolizes "the right of the people to self determination and national sovereignty, and the ability of non-Europeans to defend those rights against modern military organizations.