It’s almost painful how much residents of the U.S. don’t know about our neighbor to the south, Mexico.
No, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. That would be September 16.
Mexico’s Independence Day is celebrated on September 16.
September 16, 1810, was the date of the famous Grito de Dolores, the speech that ignited the drive that ended in Mexico’s independence from Spain.
Dolores Hidalgo Church at night. Wikipedia image
Just to confuse things more, Mexico did not get independence on September 16.
September 16 is the usual date given for the most famous speech in Mexico’s history — a speech for which no transcript survives, and so, a speech which no one can really describe accurately. A Catholic priest who was involved in schemes to create an armed revolution to throw out Spanish rule (then under Napoleon), thought his plot had been discovered, and moved up the call for the peasants to revolt. At midnight, September 15, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla declaimed the need for Mexicans to rise in revolution, from his church in the town of Dolores, near Guanajuato. The cry for freedom is known in Spanish as the Grito de Dolores.
Hidalgo himself was hunted down, captured and executed. Mexico didn’t achieve independence from Spain for another 11 years, on September 28, 1821.
To commemorate Father Hidalgo’s cry for independence, usually the President of Mexico repeats the speech at midnight, in Mexico City, or in Dolores. If the President does not journey to Dolores, some other official gives the speech there. Despite no one’s knowing what was said, there is a script from tradition used by the President:
- Mexicans!
- Long live the heroes that gave us the Fatherland!
- Long live Hidalgo!
- Long live Morelos!
- Long live Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez!
- Long live Allende!
- Long live Galena and the Bravos!
- Long live Aldama and Matamoros!
- Long live National Independence!
- Long Live Mexico! Long Live Mexico! Long Live Mexico!
Political history of Mexico is not easy to explain at all.
Hidalgo’s life was short after the speech, but the Spanish still feared the power of his ideas and names. In Hidalgo’s honor, a town in the Texas territory of Mexico was named after him, but to avoid provoking authorities, the name was turned into an anagram: Goliad.
In one of those twists that can only occur in real history, and not in fiction, Goliad was the site of a Mexican slaughter of a surrendered Tejian army during the fight for Texas independence. This slaughter so enraged Texans that when they got the drop on Mexican President and Gen. Santa Ana’s army a few days later at San Jacinto, they offered little quarter to the Mexican soldiers, though Santa Ana’s life was spared.
Have a great Grito de Dolores Day, remembering North American history that we all ought to know.
Father Hidalgo: Antonio Fabres, Miguel Hidalgo, oil on canvas, image taken from: Eduardo Baez, military painting in the nineteenth century Mexico, Mexico, National Defense Secretariat, 1992, p.23. Wikipedia image
More:
- Mexican Independence Day celebration returns to the Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after 144 years (Santa Fe New Mexican)
- Recipes to celebrate Mexican Independence, from MexGrocer.com
- Brief, but more detailed history of Mexico’s independence, at About.com
- At Pulzo: “El grito de Dolores, el histriónico ritual de los presidentes mexicanos; Enrique Peña Nieto celebrará este martes la independencia con la tradicional arenga de cada 15 de septiembre.“
- At El Universal, in Caracas, Venezuela: “Mexicanos celebran los 205 años del Grito de Dolores”
- Mexican-Americans celebrate Mexican Independence Day, El Grito! (nbclatino.com)
- Feliz Dia de la Independencia… Vive Mexico! (davemillersmexico.wordpress.com)
- Mexicans mark Independence Day (charlotteobserver.com)
- Mexican Independence Day (mexicohereandthere.com)
- Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Why Sept. 15? (blogs.loc.gov)
- ‘El Grito’ Celebration Marks Mexico Independence Day (ktla.com)
- Viva Mexico! (moskitoplayadelcarmenvacationrentals.wordpress.com)
- Note also other Central American nations celebrate September 15, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize
Playing for Change offers Mexico’s musicians joining in a rousing Mexico Lindo y Querido:
Yes, this is mostly an encore post. Fighting ignorance requires patience.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
I love that painting. It’s not contemporary, but it’s so dramatically different from the way leaders and revolutionaries are usually portrayed.
I always forget until the 16th. Some day I’ll get another calendar that will provide timely ticklers for blogging.
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Oh, I had forgotten that it was 15 de septiembre. The painting of Father Hidalgo is richly stunning! (Wonder if Donald Trump knew about Mexican Independence Day?) Cheers for the weekend!
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