Miguel Hidalgo: The War For Mexican Independence

To what extent was Mexico’s independence from Spain a “full-scale assault on dependency”? This essay will investigate how the Mexican independence from Spain was only slightly a “full-scale assault on dependency”, due to several political and social conflicts. Firstly, Mexico remained a monarchy (but not under the control of Spain) after the insurgency. Secondly, there was still an official state religion in Mexico. Another reason is because social conflicts reduced the desire for independence .On the other hand, it assaulted dependency because there were some changes within the social hierarchy, and because Mexico was free from Spain.

The Chilean War of Independence was a war between Chilean creoles seeking independence from Spain and Chilean creoles supporting the Captaincy General of Chile and membership of the Spanish Empire.

There were a few main points that led up to the Latin American independence movement. In, 1797 the Britain blockade of Spain took place for two years, which cut off

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in 1848, officially ended the war between Mexico and the United States. Even though it happened over 168 years ago, its legacy persists, because the treaty redefined the border and the border region. Under the terms of the treaty, Mexicans who suddenly found themselves living in the United States choose either Mexican citizenship, in which case they would have to relocate south of the new border, or to stay where they were and become citizens of the United States. About 80 percent—a total of seventy-five thousand Mexican people—remained in the United States (Passel, 2011). Since then, continuing economic and political difficulties in Mexico, combined with economic opportunities in the United States, have encouraged the flow of migration from Mexico to the United States in large numbers. Today, Mexican Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States and the estimated Mexican American population in 2000 was 20.6 million people, the largest Mexican population outside of Mexico (Center for Immigration Studies, 2010). Most Mexican Americans entered the United States legally and have become full U.S. citizens, however, the number of illegal immigrants arriving from Mexico has been an alarming and concerning issue in the United States and especially the state of Arizona. Arizona is in a unique geopolitical location in the United States because it shares a 370-mile border with Mexico. Much of the border is open and

To begin, let’s go back the start of Mexico’s independence: “Mexico” was declared in 1821, and the Spanish crown lost control after the Mexican War for Independence (Menchaca 161). As a result of Mexico’s independence, the ownership of power was given to the Mexican people. This led to immediate socio-political and territorial changes. Mexico’s war for independence was inspired by the Catholic priest known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. After his call for action against the Spanish in the town of Dolores, Mexico, also known as the “Cry of Dolores,” the people of Mexico united to rebel against the Spanish (Acuña 40). This led to an eleven year war to achieve independence. That very first day of the revolution will always hold symbolic meaning in the eyes of the Mexican people: 16 September 1810. Alas, Mexico was left with the debris of 300 years of Spanish control following their immediate

All of the aforementioned factors contributed to the independence movement of Mexico. However, the main steps towards independence came because of Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1808. The monarchy was greatly weakened when Napoleon gave the crown to his brother causing the people of Madrid to revolt. With Spain’s back turned, the leaders of New Spain began to argue amongst themselves. The viceroy was forced to allow the Criollos to participate in administration. Then, a group of Peninsulares, those who had been placed in many of the administrative positions, did not like that the Criollos were gaining any influence in the government. They staged a coup d’etat and overthrew the viceregal government.

came back and helped kill over 10,000 Aztecs and in the act, thousands of Spaniards died. Suddenly, Cortes started

Knowing that the Texans were not obeying Mexico’s laws, the Mexican President sent Antonio López de Santa Anna to fight and stop the revolting Texans. “Santa Anna gained his earliest military experience fighting for the Spanish army

Different groups had very different goals for what the Mexican revolution would accomplish. The rural peasants and indigenous people wanted the land to be taken out of the hands of the aristocracy or the elite and have the land be evenly divided between the rural towns. They wanted the territory of their ancestors back because it had been stripped from them during the regime of Porfirio Diaz. They also wanted to be taken out of poverty and to have farming available to them again so that they could sustain their lives and work for their living. Therefore, because the peasants were suffering under the regime of Diaz, they wholeheartedly supported the revolution and everything that came with it. The Roman Catholic Church,

After the victory there was a split between the two revolution leaders due to differences in direction for Mexico. The Constitutionalist

     The factors that started the Mexican War lay heavily on American shoulders. Whether if the factors were created by social, political or economical needs, they have all become the center of attention for the question of being a national interest or disgrace. However, the Americans felt that they existed for “…spreading the blessings of peace.” according to Andrew Jackson. There will always be controversy between the two sides of this matter, the Americans who feel that it had to be done, to the Mexicans who felt that it was an injustice done to their nation.

Cinco de Mayo is surprisingly not celebrated as often in Mexico as it is in the United States. It’s a common misconception that May 5th is Mexico’s Independence Day, though that day is September 16th. During the time that the victory took place, Texas and California were not included in the war but they

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

Now Cortez was in Tenochtitlan and conquering Mexico, the Cuban governor sent a force to kill Cortez and take over what he accomplished. Cortez took the Cuban commander hostage and

Throughout its history Mexico has had many revolutions. The most famous perhaps is the Mexican Revolution from 1910-1920. The people of Mexico were getting tired of the dictator rule of President Porfino Diaz. People of all classes were fighting in the revolution. The middle and upper classes were dissatisfied with the President’s ways. The lower and working class people had many factors such as poor working conditions, inflation, inferior housing, low wages, and deficient social services. Within the classes everyone was fighting; men, women, and children all contributed to the fight for freedom from Diaz (Baxman 2). This revolution proved to be the rise and fall of many leaders.