Investigating the History before Cinco de Mayo The Battle for Independence

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Investigating the History before Cinco de
MayoThe Battle for Independence

• Team A
• Dawn, Robin, Debbie, Tamie, Mike

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Cinco de Mayo - The Holiday

• Mexicans living in the United States wanted to
  maintain and reaffirm their roots.
• They chose Cinco de Mayo to celebrate their
  ethnic and cultural background.
• May 5th has been enthusiastically adopted by
  Mexican-Americans, Chicanos and various Hispanic
  communities in the United States.
• The Cinco de Mayo Fiestas include many forms of
  Latin music, great variety of foods, theater,
  artwork, crafts fairs and many other cultural
  expressions
• http//zedilloworld.presidencia.gob.mx/PAGES/cultu
  re/note_5may.html

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Cinco de Mayo - Important Dates

• 1821 Gained independence from Spain but unstable
  period
• 1846 Mexico and United States war began
• 1855 Reform period with conflict
• 1861 Onset of Puebla battle
• 1862 Battle of Puebla

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Cinco de Mayo - 1821 Gained independence from
Spain

• Mexicos fight lasted from 1810 to 1821
• Mexicos struggle for independence against
  Spanish Colonial rule.
• After an 11 year fight, Mexico won its
  independence from Spain in 1821

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Cinco de Mayo 1846 Mexican-American War

• BEGAN April 25, 1846--The first battle between
  the Mexican and U.S. armies.
• The Mexican War between the United States and
  Mexico began with a Mexican attack on American
  troops along the southern border of Texas on Apr.
  25, 1846.
• A dictatorial Centralist government in Mexico
  began the war because of the U.S. annexation
  (1845) of Texas, which Mexico continued to claim
  despite the establishment of the independent
  republic of Texas 10 years before. the Mexicans
  opened fire on the fort and the battles of Palo
  Alto and Resaca de la Palma followed.

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Cinco de Mayo - 1848 Mexican-American war

• The Mexican Army of more than 5,000 troops was
  defeated by Taylor's army of 2,000
• ENDED February 2, 1848--The signing of the
  Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo

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Cinco de Mayo - Was the war Eminent?

• The ongoing and passionate battle between the
  Liberals and Conservatives
• Government witnessed eighteen transfers of power.
  One of the key issues was the role of the
  Catholic Church and the separation of church and
  state.
• With the adoption of a Liberal-based constitution
  in January 1857, the Conservative/Liberal
  conflict evolved into a full-scale civil war,
  referred to as the War of the Reform.
• http//www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/jalisco.htm
  l

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Cinco de Mayo - Leading towards war.

• Mexico went through forty years of internal power
  struggles and rebellions.
• By 1861 the countrys finances were so bad that
  the nation owed 80 million pesos in foreign
  debts.
• Mexicos president, Benito Juarez, pledged to pay
  off these debts eventually but, as an emergency
  measure, he suspended all payment for two years.
• In France, Napoleon III saw this as an
  opportunity to establish French colonies in Latin
  America

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Cinco de Mayo - The War of the French Intervention

• México, which had never been financially stable,
  underwent a severe economic crisis during the
  1850s.
• Much debt was owed to France.
• France sent troops to México to secure payment of
  its debt..
• French troops invaded Mexico in an attempt to
  install Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico

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Cinco de Mayo - Battle of Puebla

• The Battle of Puebla, May 5, 1862 -- This period
  painting shows the beginning of the French attack
  on Puebla de los Angeles (Puebla), May 5, 1862.
• The heights of the Cerro de Guadalupe, a ridge of
  high ground dominating the entrance to Pueblo,
  the fort of Loretto and the fortified monastery
  of Guadalupe rise in the background.

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Cinco de Mayo - Victory at Puebla

• The Victory of Cinco de Mayo. In this painting,
  as the defeated French troops stream back from
  their failed assault, Mexican cavalry with lances
  pick off the stragglers.
• French troops of the elite 2nd Zouave Regiment,
  with their distinctive baggy red trousers, are in
  the foreground.
• The white gaiters or spats over their shoes are
  those that General Count de Lorencez ordered them
  to freshly whiten in order to impress the
  Mexicans in what he hoped would be his triumphal
  entry into Puebla.
• Meanwhile other French infantry, wearing white
  trousers, blue coats and fezzes, can be seen
  fleeing in the background.

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Cinco de Mayo - Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian

• 1832-1867
• A dreamy romantic, he was selected by Napoleon
  III to be the puppet Emperor of Mexico in 1862.
• When the Mexican adventure of Napoleon III
  collapsed in 1867, Maximilian was captured and
  executed by a Mexican firing squad.

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Cinco de Mayo - General Ignacio Zaragoza

• (1829-1862) Helped to overthrow the dictatorial
  Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna in
  1855.
• Served as Minister of the Army and Navy under
  President Benito Juarez between April and
  December, 1861, but resigned to take command of
  the Mexican army opposing the French invasion.
• He defeated French General Count de Lorencez at
  the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

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Cinco de Mayo - Benito Juarez

• From January of 1858, Juarez served as president
  of Mexico until July 18, 1872 more than 15
  years.
• He led his country through some of its most
  difficult years, notably the La Reforma
  (1857-1860) and French intervention (1861-1867)
  periods.
• While still serving as president, Juarez died of
  an apoplectic stroke at the National Palace in
  Mexico City on July 18, 1872. His birthday
  March 21 is a national holiday in Mexico.

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Cinco de Mayo - Emperor Napoleon III

• (1808-1873) born April 21, 1808 in Paris.
• As the nephew of Napoléon Bonaparte, Louis
  Napoleon believed that he was the rightful heir
  to the French throne.
• In 1861, Napoleon III plotted to carve out a
  French empire in Mexico.
• When Mexico was forced to suspend payments on its
  foreign debts, France, Great Britain and Spain
  landed an expeditionary force at Vera Cruz.

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Cinco de Mayo - Migual Miramón

• 1832-1867- Mexican soldier of French extraction,
  was born in the city of Mexico
• He first fought against the U.S. and then, as
  leader of the reactionary party, against the
  liberals.
• Decisively beaten by the Liberals in 1860, he
  spent some time in Europe advocating, foreign
  intervention in Mexican affairs and returned as
  a partisan of Maximilian.
• His ability as a soldier was shown by his double
  defence of Puebla in 1856.

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Cinco de Mayo - Brigadier General Porfiro Diaz

• In 1846 Diaz joined the Mexican National Guard to
  fight against the United States in the Mexican
  War.
• Diaz opposed Mexican president Antonio Lopez de
  Santa Annas seizure of power in 1853, and was
  forced into exile.
• He helped overthrow of Santa Annas dictatorship
  on August 12, 1855, and distinguished himself in
  the War of the Reform (1857-1860), fighting for
  the Liberal party.
• During the French intervention, he continued his
  distinguished career, fighting in the battle of
  Puebla and elsewhere until the Mexicans prevailed

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Cindo de Mayo - dictator Santa Anna

• Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was a Mexican soldier
  and politician.
• President of Mexico 11 times and often ruled as a
  dictator, he was always overthrown.
• He began his long career by fighting for Spain
  against the Mexicans when the Mexicans started
  their armed struggle for independence in 1810.
  1838, the French attacked Veracruz.
• Santa Anna took command of the defending troops
  and beat back the attackers. From 1841 to 1844,
  he was president of Mexico

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Cinco de Mayo - Juan Alvarez

• From 1810 to his death in 1867 Juan Alvarez
  fought for progressive causes. Son of a Spaniard
  and an Acapulco Afro-Mexican, Alvarez was a
  lieutenant to Guerrero during the 1810 war.
• Juan Alvarez became President of Mexico in
  October 1855. On November 14, 1855, he rode into
  Mexico City attended by his bodyguard of Indian
  warriors from the southern mountains.
• He gave his entire life to the cause of Mexican
  independence.

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Cinco de Mayo - References

• Images http//www.nevadaobserver.com/Archive/04050
  1/Featurestory.htm
• http//www.elbalero.gob.mx/kids/history/html/sxix/
  imperio.html
• Santa Anna http//www2.worldbook.com/wc/popup?path
  features/cincopagehtml/santa_anna.htmdirectye
  s
• 1821 Mexican America n War http//thenaturalameric
  an.com/mexican_american_war.htm