The Holiday that Really Isn't: Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo brings images of mariachis, Mexican food, and for some: alcohol. Yet this leaves the great question: how did we to celebrate this holiday that is minimally celebrated in its country of origin? 

Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican independence day (that occurs on September 15 and 16). Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the Mexican victory over invading French forces in 1862. You see, after the Mexican-American war from 1846-1848, several internal conflicts plagued the Mexican government, leaving its Treasury in ruins. As president at the time, Benito Juarez decided to issue a moratorium on payments of foreign debt for two years.

This angered France, Britain, and Spain, to the extent that they sent their Navy's to Veracruz to demand reimbursements. The conflicts with the English and Spanish were negotiated and they quickly left, the French however, had different plans. Emperor Napoleon III had decided to create a sphere of influence in Latin America by invading Mexico and establishing a puppet monarch to rule an empire there. It was during the invasion that the army of approximately 4,000 Mexican soldiers, farmers, and villagers of Puebla fought against the well-equipped and powerful 8,000 man French army.

While the battle ended in a Mexican victory, the French ended up overpowering the then poorly organized Mexican army, and established an empire for five years until the Mexican resistance deposed of the Emperor Maximilian I.  A little known, and controversial fact was that Napoleon III had been ready to accept the Confederacy in the U.S. which was in the middle of the Civil war at the time. Some say that if Napoleon III had achieved the total control that he desired, he would have supplied the Confederates with supplies to defeat the Union.

Some historians agree that the Mexican victory on Cinco de Mayo, 1862 helped the Union by effectively keeping France out of the Civil War. Whether this is true or not, we should all celebrate Cinco de Mayo, as a holiday that represents the ideals that every Republic strives for: freedom, liberty, and equality.