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The Mexican holiday known as Cinco de Mayo is widely misconstrued in this country, even by people of Mexican descent. Other people do not seem to care about the origin and cultural significance of Cinco de Mayo, they simply see it as an opportunity to go out and get drunk on Mexican beer at reduced prices. Despite its commercialization, this holiday is of importance to many people. This writing will attempt to clarify the meaning of this holiday and return some significance to a day that has lost most of it to the advertisement industry of this country. The biggest misconception about Cinco de Mayo is that it commemorates of Méxicos Independence Day. That holiday is, in fact, celebrated on September 16. On that date back in 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo issued a proclamation known as El Grito de Dolores that united the many different rebellions going on against Spain into one cohesive struggle. México achieved its independence from Spanish rule in 1821. Cinco de Mayo is actually a commemoration of a victory by Mexican troops in La Batalla de Puebla more that fifty years later, on May 5, 1862. From the time of Mexican Independence in 1821 to the time of this battle in 1862, México suffered numerous setbacks in its attempts to form a stable republic, and endured several incursions into its sovereignty as an independent nation. Fifteen years into its independence, Texas seceded from México. The Texas Revolt was led by AmericanMexicans, Anglos who immigrated from the United States to México, promising to obey Mexican laws and respect Mexican traditions. This revolt eventually led to the MexicanAmerican War 18461848, a war won by the U. S. As a result, México was forced to surrender approximately half of its territory to the U. S. México, which had never been financially stable, underwent a severe economic crisis during the 1850s. President Benito Juárez inherited Méxicos troubled political and financial situation, which included a bankrupt Mexican treasury. As a result of these problems, President Juárez issued a moratorium in 1861 halting payments on Mexican foreign debt. Much of this debt was owed to France. Shortly thereafter, France sent troops to México to secure payment of its debt.

 

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