More than a Party: What is Cinco de Mayo?
Originally Published in the Butte College Roadrunner on May 5, 2020
Every year people from a large variety of backgrounds get together to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (Fifth of May) — some respectfully, others very much the opposite. Despite its ubiquity even among the Anglophone majority in the United States, it is very seldom understood what is actually being celebrated.
Some believe the event is just a generic celebration of Chicano or Mexican heritage, while others are under the impression that the celebration marks the day of Mexican’s independence. Mexico actually marks its Independence Day on September 16th, but the events that inspire Cinco de Mayo are nonetheless extremely important both to the continuing independence of the Mexican people, and their ongoing struggle against foreign oppression. Tequila and Tacos are quite nice, and there is no harm in respectful celebration of culture — but keep the past in mind, and don’t go out and buy a sombrero: You’re only making yourself look like an idiot.
Mexico received independence from Spain in the form of a “Mexican Empire” under independence leader Agustín de Iturbide. This empire was replaced within a few years by the first Mexican Republic. Nominally a democratic Republic, Mexico was in reality ruled by a series of unstable democratically elected leaders, and military-backed strongmen. The Mexican-American war saw over half of the country seized by the United States. (What, you thought Los Angeles was an English name?)
The aftermath of this war left all of Mexico shaken, and the dominant place of the army in society was now in question following its disastrous defeat. In the midst of all this chaos the Liberal Party rose to prominence, and began to implement reforms to move the country away from military rule, and to secularize society — limiting the power of the Catholic Church, an extremely influential force in the country. The conservatives ultimately went on the counter-attack against the reforms, forcing President Ignacio Comonfort to resign in January of 1858.
According to the constitution, Comonfort was replaced by the President of the Supreme Court — Benito Juárez — a man who would go down in history as one of Mexico’s greatest national heroes. Four and ½ feet and illiterate until his teenage years, this son of Zapotec campesinos would help bring down an Empire, and radically transform Mexico forever.
In many ways Benito Juárez was an embodiment of everything the conservative Mexican establishment hated — a self-made lawyer of entirely indigenous descent, an atheist, and advocate for economic development of the country along capitalist lines. Much can be said about the suffering of the Mexican people under capitalism, but in comparison to the conservative model — a rotting imitation of Spanish colonial rule — this was a progressive vision. Juárez led the country through a brutal civil war, and with American help was ultimately able to come out on top.
After both the Mexican-American war, and the Reform War the economy of the country was devastated. Unable to pay back loans to foreign countries (many of which had been sent to the Conservative rebels when they controlled Mexico City), Juárez was forced to announce that Mexico would not make payments for 2 years. This angered foreign powers, including the French Empire under Napoleon III.
In late 1861 Napoleon III launched an invasion of Mexico which would culminate in the installation of a puppet “2nd Mexican Empire” under Emperor Maximiliano, younger brother of the Austrian Emperor. Despite their ultimate victory, one thing held them up — on May 5, 1862 an outnumbered and under-equipped Mexican army under Ignacio Zaragoza heroically stood their ground in the city of Puebla, and forced the French army to flee. This event became a rallying cry through the dark days of losses that would come. The Mexican Republic was overthrown in the Capital, but the memory of Puebla kept Juárez and his forces sustained through five years of exile, and guerrilla warfare.
Following American recognition of the Juárez government in exile (among other things the imperial government had angered the U.S. by welcoming Confederate refugees) the French finally withdrew from Mexico, and the Republican forces were able to retake the capital and Maximiliano was tried, and executed. Three years later Napoleon III himself was defeated in the Franco-Prussian war, and France too was engulfed in revolution — might some of these revolutionaries have been veterans of the Mexican campaign, inspired by the resistance of their enemies? History is silent on this.
Today, Cinco de Mayo is often commercialized, but it is worth reflecting on what it meant to people historically, and what it still means to some today. Outside of special recognitions by the Mexican government in the capital, celebrations of the 5th of May are not usually seen in Mexico outside of Puebla itself. This has not always been the case — Juárez proclaimed the day a national holiday, and it has been celebrated throughout the country at different times.
A much more lasting impact has been seen in the United States, and interestingly, there is a somewhat divergent origin for the holiday in the U.S. The Battle of Puebla happened only a little more than a decade after what would become the Southwestern United States had been seized in the Mexican-American War. Those Mexicans who stayed in the conquered territories already had some unique cultural experiences from the rest of Mexico, but at the same time felt a lot of connection to Mexico.
The victory of the Mexicans over the French must have engendered both pride, and an example for resistance in a country that treated them as lesser human beings in the land in which many of them were born. (This must have stung even more, as many Mexicans had fought and died in the Civil War due to vehement hatred of slavery.) On the first anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, Mexican workers in California celebrated the occasion with fireworks, music, and toasts giving birth to a unique and organically Chicano cultural tradition.
