Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo, or the Fifth of May, commemorates the 1862 Battle of Puebla, where Mexican forces achieved a significant but temporary victory against French invaders. Though the battle did not alter the course of the Franco-Mexican War, it inspired a sense of national pride and confidence among Mexicans. Today, Cinco de Mayo is a national holiday in Mexico and is celebrated widely among Mexican Americans, especially in states like Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona. The holiday has evolved into a prominent celebration of Mexican culture and heritage in the United States, marked by festivals featuring music, dancing, parades, and parties, often extending beyond May 5 itself.
While Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in various countries, including Canada and the UK, its commercialization in the U.S. has led to a greater observance than in Mexico, where the day is primarily recognized in Puebla. The holiday's popularity has surged in recent decades, partly due to the significant Mexican immigrant population in the U.S., which underscores themes of Mexican nationalism and cultural pride. Overall, Cinco de Mayo serves as a reminder of a historical victory and a celebration of Mexican identity, particularly in the diaspora.
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Cinco de Mayo
One of the great days in Mexican history is known as the Cinco de Mayo, or the Fifth of May. It is the anniversary of the 1862 Battle of Puebla, in which Mexican forces against overwhelming odds defeated French invaders. The battle itself was not of great military importance, since the victory represented only a temporary setback for the French troops, but it nevertheless appealed to the imagination of the Mexicans and gave them the confidence they needed to achieve victory in the long run. May 5, a national holiday in Mexico, is therefore celebrated with festivities by Mexicans both at home and in foreign countries. In the United States, the anniversary is observed by Mexican Americans everywhere, especially in the states that border Mexico such as Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.
The following events led to the much celebrated battle. Mexico had defaulted on payments due in bonds sold to France, Spain, and England. An arrangement was made by the three European countries at a conference held in London on October 30, 1861, to make a joint naval demonstration against Mexico in order to compel payment to the bondholders. Fleets of the three powers sailed for Veracruz, arriving there near the end of the year. It was announced that there was no intention of conquering Mexico and that nothing was desired but a settlement of just claims. A conference was arranged with Mexican representatives, and a preliminary agreement was reached. Thereupon the British and Spanish fleets sailed for home in April 1862. However, French emperor Charles-Louis-Napoléon, who was eager to establish a centralized monarchy under French control in Mexico as a means of achieving hegemony in Spanish America, started a war of conquest.
On May 4, 1862, the commander of the French forces communicated this message to France's minister of war:
We have over the Mexicans such superiority of race, of discipline, and organization that I beg Your Excellency inform the Emperor that tomorrow, at the head of six thousand of my choice troops, I will attack, and I consider that Mexico is mine.
When he attacked the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe on May 5, however, two thousand Mexican soldiers under General Ignacio Zaragoza drove the men back with serious losses and won the day. The French ultimately conquered the country, and put Archduke Maximilian of Austria, the brother of Emperor Francis Joseph, on the throne on June 12, 1864, only to have him deposed and shot by the Mexicans on June 19, 1867, after a troubled reign. The city of Puebla, Mexico, which had been known as Puebla de los Angeles, changed its name to Puebla de Zaragoza as a tribute to the general who had defended it from the French. The body of the general was placed in the Panteon de San Fernando in the capital, Mexico City. This hero of the 1862 battle had been born in Goliad, Texas—when Texas was then part of Mexico and the town known as Bahia del Espiritu Santo—on March 24, 1829. The birthplace site was designated a state park in 1960, and was dedicated on May 5, 1967.
Chicano activists in the United States pushed for greater recognition of the holiday during the 1960s, providing Mexican Americans with a way to celebrate their heritage. The Chicano agenda also proposed the radical repatriation of the American Southwest to Mexicans. Cinco de Mayo is now the biggest Mexican American holiday in the United States, and the holiday is also observed in other countries, such as Canada, the UK, Australia, and Japan. Large festivals are held every year in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston and along the US–Mexico border, including Mexican music, dancing, parades, and parties. The revelries can last the entire week, instead of just occurring on May 5. The commercialization of the holiday (especially by beer companies) in the United States has actually led to it becoming more celebrated in America than in Mexico, where Cinco de Mayo is primarily celebrated in Puebla, where the historical battle took place. The growth of the holiday in the past couple of decades has been aided by an influx of Mexican immigrants.
In 2006, there were more than 150 official Cinco de Mayo celebrations around the country. In 2021, about 10.7 million Mexican immigrants lived in the United States, and about half of these immigrants were undocumented. The majority of these Mexican immigrants lived in California, Texas, and Illinois, but the population also spread into states such as Ohio and New Jersey. Immigration from Mexico continued into the 2020s, as the US government struggled to either deport or give these people legal status. Immigrants came to the United States to follow the American dream and give better prospects to their children but were often turned back by the US government or sent to prison. With the great increase in Mexican living in America, it makes sense that the holiday of Cinco de Mayo should gain greater importance in the United States. In the 2020s, the spirit of the holiday remained significant because it marks Mexican victory over European forces and celebrates Mexican nationalism.
Bibliography
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"Cinco de Mayo." History, 20 Apr. 2023, www.history.com/topics/holidays/cinco-de-mayo. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
Gonzalez-Barrera, Ana, and Jens Manuel Krogstad. "What We Know about Illegal Immigration from Mexico." Fact Tank, Pew Research Center, 2 Mar. 2017, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/02/what-we-know-about-illegal-immigration-from-mexico/. Accessed 27 Apr 2024.
Lovgren, Stefan. "How a Mexican Holiday Became a Party in the USA." National Geographic, 4 May 2023, www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/100505-cinco-de-mayo-history. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.