Francisco Pancho Villa As A Folk Hero

The Mexican Revolution brought multiple parties and movements out of the woodwork. In John Womack’s Zapata and the Mexican Revolution, a story of one state’s drive for agrarian reform and its people’s evolving mission was told, with Emiliano Zapata as a pivotal leader. The dynamics of the revolution, however, reach deeper than Womack’s account portrays. While Womack documents the revolutionary path of the Zapatistas from the southern state of Morelos, the story of Pancho Villa, an arguably parallel character fighting for states in the North against the repressive powers of General Victoriano Huerta, reads more as a subplot. The writings of Samuel Brunk, Ana Maria Alonso, and Mariano Azuela shed light on the less simplistic dynamics of

In The Underdogs written by Mariano Azuela, the protagonist, Demetrio Macias is symbolized as the fuel of the Mexican Revolution. Heroes like Macias gave hope to the oppressed people of Mexico by fighting for what they felt they truly deserved, but, ironically, later becomes what he was fighting against. He does show great leadership and determination to oppress Pancho Villa's army. Pancho Villa, the dictator of Mexico during this revolutionary time, also shows prolific leadership qualities and care for his people; much like Demetrio Macias. However, at times Villa can be a ferocious general who destroyed villiages and killed innocent victims, he shows his compassion who helped those in need and rescued orphans providing them with food, education, and a home. Pancho Villa was a leader who only asked for your loyalty and trust, but was cruel when people tried to oppose him. Venustiano Carranza was another great leader that was a natural at commanding his followers through the struggle of liberty. He did not show any lack of a

Hearing of the word hero brings to my mind a good looking man with some qualities of fair, equal, courage, brave, honest and a positive leader. This makes the opposite a villain a person who wishes wrong for someone or a person who creates evil. The event changes dramatically, a hero of the past may not be considered a hero in the present and versa. Hernando Cortes a hero for joining two worlds and conquering the most powerful civilization of America or Hernando Cortes a villain for making the Aztec Empire disappear. Hernando Cortez was an important symbol for the explorations, but killing people, ending the most powerful civilization in America and spreading diseases does not makes him a hero. With

     Francisco Pizarro was a conquistador born in Trujillo, Spain in about 1471. His father, Gonzalo Pizarro, was an infantry captain and he taught Francisco how to fight at an early age. Francisco Pizarro never learned to read and write but he was full of adventure.

After Diaz had won by a landslide, he released Madero from prison. Madero promptly fled to San Antonio, Texas to plan a revolution. There he wrote the Plan of St. Luis Potosi, which said that the election was fraudulent and that he was the provisional president of Mexico. The plan was purely political and Madero planned to have a completely democratic government. The plan said nothing about changing the situation for farmers and peasants. However, rural peasants latched onto the plan, thinking that Madero would also reform the country economically and socially. There were many revolutions carried out under Madero's flag, specifically revolutions carried out by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata.

However this source also addresses the opposite side due to the fact that he was a prisoner for a time. This source has helped me with my investigation by providing information that is partial to the Mexicans and specifically mentions how the peasants viewed Pancho Villa.

1857 and the Laws of the Reform. With Benito Juarez’s victory over Emperor Maximiliano and

The country of Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821 and over the coming decades would see serious political strife while leaders fought for control of the country. In 1876 General Porfirio Diaz seized control of the country and held power for the next thirty-four years. Diaz was a no nonsense sort of leader, who did not allow any opposition to his policies. Diaz promoted investment into Mexico’s natural resources from foreign companies and improved the wages of many of his supporters, while at the same time ignoring the lower classes who saw their wages shrink and their livelihood suffer.

José Doroteo Arango Arámbula AKA Pancho Villa was a revolutionary who left a mark on History. Pancho Villa left a mark in history by leading the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1920 to fight against the perpetrator who let foreign businesses to come into Mexico: Porfirio Diaz.

During the first weeks of 1911, Zapata continued to build his organization in Morelos, training and equipping his men and consolidating his authority as their leader. Soon, Zapata's band of revolutionaries, poised to change their tactics and take the offensive, were known as Zapatistas. On February 14, Francisco Madero, who had escaped the authorities to New Orleans, returned to Mexico, knowing that it was time to restart his revolution with an all-out offensive. Less than a month later, on March 11, 1911, "a hot, sticky Saturday night," the bloody phase of the Mexican Revolution began at Villa de Ayala. There was no resistance from the villagers, who were mostly sympathetic to the revolution, being sharecroppers or hacienda workers themselves, and the local police were disarmed quickly. Not all battles that followed were this quick, however. The revolution took its bloody course with the legendary Pancho Villa fighting in the northern part of Mexico, while Zapata remained mainly south of Mexico City. On May 19, after a week of extremely fierce fighting with government troops, the Zapatistas took the town of Cuautla. Only forty-eight hours later, Francisco Madero and the Mexican government signed the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez, which ended the presidency of Porfirio Díaz and named Francisco León de la Barra, former

     There was a huge revolution in the country of Mexico that started in the year 1910, led by Porfirio Diaz, the president of Mexico in 1910. In the 1860’s Diaz was important to Mexican politics and then was elected president in 1877. Diaz said that he would only be president for one year and then would resign, but after four years he was re-elected as the President of Mexico. Porfirio Diaz and the Mexican revolution had a huge impact on the country of Mexico that is still felt in some places today.

The character of Demetrio Macias proves to be quite ironic. One facet of his character reveals his determination to find Pancho Villa’s army,

This is largely due to the fact that Diaz gave away the country's wealth to buy the loyalty of some, by gifts of haciendas (large estates), concessions or cash. Under his leadership, the gap between the rich and the poor grew undoubtedly larger due to his disregard of democratic principles and the common folk, and his acute determination to keep his dictatorship by any means possible. One of the most renowned opposition leaders of Diaz at the time was the European-educated Francisco Madero. Madero led a series of strikes in resistance to Diaz across the country and eventually ran against him in the election for presidency in 1911. Although Madero had a significant number of votes, Diaz had him imprisoned because he felt the people of Mexico were not ready for democracy, and feared the loss of his own presidency. Madero was not released until after the election so that votes could be tabulated in favour of Diaz. When released from prison, Madero continued to fight against his former adversary. Madero led the first phase of the armed revolution which resulted in Diaz's defeat and to his own presidency reign until 1913. It was during this time that many of the folk heroes of the Revolution emerged, including Francisco "Pancho" Villa of the North, and Emiliano Zapata of the South. In 1913 Madero was assassinated by A Mexican general by the name of Victoriano Huerta. Victoriano and his federal army was defeated in a coalition of armies led by Alvara Obregon, who took

Mexico suffered ten years of war, suffering, and turmoil. Mexican leaders during 1910-1920 were unable to hold the country together and a revolution consumed the nation. The Mexican people grew tired of political greed, lack of support, and unequal treatment. Several leaders such as President Diaz would prove to be a man of one interest, himself. Others would quickly rise against him and attempt to claim the presidency. General Huerta and Francisco

An interview given by Diaz in 1908 was read by Francisco I. Madero and he was inspired to gather supporters to defeat Diaz in the 1910 election. In the interview Diaz said that he thought Mexico could handle free elections by 1910 (Summary 4). Madero was a strong believer in democracy and realized that Diaz had a monopoly with the government. Madero thought that Diaz should step down from office (Consul General 1-2). By the time 1910 came around Madero had inspired many citizens and had quite a group of followers. His chances for election were very good and Diaz got scared. Right before the elections in 1910, Diaz falsely accused Madero and had him thrown in jail. Diaz is once again elected as president. Madero was soon released and, learning of Diaz’s reelection, he fled to Texas (Summary 4). While there he stated that the elections were illegitimate and that he was the President Pro-Temp until new elections could be held (Consul General 2). He also wrote a document, which called for a revolt on November 20, 1910 which marks the start of the Mexican Revolution (Summary 5).