It happens every year, someone mentions that Cinco de Mayo is coming up, and some idiot always asks, "when is it?" In our ongoing effort to educate our reader, here's a little background on Cinco de Mayo.
Cinco de Mayo is a date of great importance for the Mexican and Chicano communities. It marks the victory of the Mexican Army over the French at the Battle of Puebla. Althought the Mexican army was eventually defeated, the "Batalla de Puebla" came to represent a symbol of Mexican unity and patriotism. With this victory, Mexico demonstrated to the world that Mexico and all of Latin America were willing to defend themselves of any foreign intervention. Especially those from imperialist states bent on world conquest.
Cinco de Mayo's history has its roots in the French Occupation of Mexico. The French occupation took shape in the aftermath of the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. With this war, Mexico entered a period of national crisis during the 1850's. Years of not only fighting the Americans but also a Civil War, had left Mexico devastated and bankrupt. On July 17, 1861, President Benito Juarez issued a moratorium in which all foreign debt payments would be suspended for a brief period of two years, with the promise that after this period, payments would resume.
More history on Cinco de Mayo, after the jump.
The English, Spanish and French refused to allow president Juarez to do this, and instead decided to invade Mexico and get payments by whatever means necessary. The Spanish and English eventually withdrew, but the French refused to leave. Their intention was to create an Empire in Mexico under Napoleon III. Some have argued that the true French occupation was a response to growing American power and to the Monroe Doctrine (America for the Americans). Napoleon III believed that if the United States was allowed to prosper indescriminantly, it would eventually become a power in and of itself.
In 1862, the French army began its advance. Under General Ignacio Zaragoza, 5,000 ill-equipped Mestizo and Zapotec Indians defeated the French army in what came to be known as the "Batalla de Puebla" on the fifth of May.
In the United States, the "Batalla de Puebla" came to be known as simply "5 de Mayo" and unfortunately, many people wrongly equate it with Mexican Independence which was on September 16, 1810, nearly a fifty year difference. Over, the years Cinco de Mayo has become very commercialized and many people see this holiday as a time for fun and dance. Oddly enough, Cinco de Mayo has become more of Chicano holiday than a Mexican one. Cinco de Mayo is celebrated on a much larger scale here in the United States than it is in Mexico. People of Mexican descent in the United States celebrate this significant day by having parades, mariachi music, folklorico dancing and other types of festive activities.
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Rene says:
We don't even celebrate this day in Mexico!!! Not even important. We celebrate the 16th of September the day of our independance, not cinco de Mayo.
Ladyhawke725 says:
I am from Puebla. We basically have a parade and that's it. Although it gives us a sense of pride, it has become more of an excuse to take a couple of workdays off amd just party!
Becky says:
I am originally from Mexico City, and lived there more than half my life. In the whole time I was there, we never celebrated Cinco de Mayo and it is not an official holiday there. It was just a regular school/work day.
Our REALLY big day is September 16th, Independence Day.
k says:
mexicans nor mexican americans really celebrate this. . . it's just another excuse for americans to get drunk, like st patricks day.
snob says:
So....when is it?
:-)
StillWaterz says:
why is it even celebrated HERE then???
Ani says:
Hum, I'm from Puebla too...the thing is, just a parade....and some days off...anyway, it´s historical...Im proud of being mexican....anyway, chicanos need to be linked with their roots, maybe thats why the celebrate this day like no one else....
sam2006
Heh heh. Funny. I bet poster was feeling all proud and full of herself when she posted, thinking she's somehow "educating" the "ignorant masses" about Cinco de Mayo because she knows how to cut/paste the "history" of it. Only to learn from the people she thinks she's "in tune" with that they don't even care about it as much as she does. Dude, talk about getting a dose of reality! Pull your head out of your ass, "Socialite", and recognize that you aren't nearly as "with it" as you obviously believe you are.
P.S. It's the French we're talking about here. EVERYONE has beaten the French in warfare. No wonder the Mexicans don't care to 'celebrate' it. LMAO.
jen says:
Thought I would be the first to say it...but I am an American who has been living and working in Mexico for the last couple of years. There is absolutely no, and I mean ZERO, celebration of cinco de mayo here. There are plenty of other holidays and celebrations, but cinco de mayo is just another day.
k says:
If you want to educate people about when Cinco de Mayo is, how about telling them that cinco means 5, and Mayo means May. It's really more of an answer to "when is it", n'est pas?
Kris says:
Cinco de Mayo celebrations are about as authentically Mexican as eating tacos topped with velveeta 'cheese'. But that won't stop Americans from partaking in either, of course.
lm says:
It's "n'est-ce pas," k, you moron. What's the point of even throwing in a French phrase if you can't do so correctly? Especially while criticizing somebody else. Good lord.