Mexican Independence (1)

Like most Latin-American countries, Mexico obtained its independence at the beginning of the 19th century. In some of those countries it was a more violent movement than in others. In Mexico, however, it was as violent as violent gets.

Since the beginning of the Spanish occupation, Mexico had seen uprisings, riots, rebellions and attempts at revolution, organized by its indigenous peoples, who revolted against their oppressors. The Spaniards reacted to these revolts with more oppression and were not to be gotten rid of. In the 19th century, however, Spain’s attention for its colonies diminished due to political and economic changes in Europe, leaving a vacuum and a great desire for local government in Mexico. This desire was not common to all Mexico’s inhabitants. On the contrary. The so-called Gachupines or Peninsulares, i.e. those who were born in Spain and who had all the power in Mexico, did not want to get involved in a struggle for emancipation from their home-country. The Mexican-born Criollos (Creoles), however, far more numerous and far more frustrated due to the total lack of power in their country, longed for an own, independent country, a desire they shared with the indigenous peoples.

A group of intelligentsia started planning their revolt against Spain. One of them was Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a well-educated and liberal priest who became the principal figure of the uprising. The plans he and his fellow revolutionaries had made leaked out and Spanish authorities ordered their arrest. Therefore, they had to act quickly: on September 16, 1810, Hidalgo proceeded to what would make him the Father of the Independence and which would mean his own death shortly thereafter: El grito de Dolores. (The cry in the village named Dolores or, in English, Sorrows). He urged the Mexicans to revolution, to recover the land stolen from their forefathers, to give death to the whites. The exact words are not known, but his speech ended with “Mexicanos, viva México”. Together with Allende, an army general, Hidalgo was in charge of the Indian and mestizo forces, whose ultimate goal was attaining the capital. On their way they came across a picture of the Virgin of Guadelupe, who became the symbol of their struggle.

When Hidalgo made his call for revolution, he had not foreseen the bloodbath it would cause. In just over a month, forces grew to 80,000. They took control of the cities of San Miguel, Celaya, Guanajuato, Morelia, San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas. The Spaniards were slaughtered, something that Hidalgo regretted at the end of his life, i.e. a year later when he was executed by a firing squad of Gachupines. Today, he is still revered as the father of Mexican independence.

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