At the time, the country was in financial ruin after years of internal strife, and the new president was forced to default on debt payments to European governments. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew their forces. France, however, ruled by Napoleon III , decided to use the opportunity to carve an empire out of Mexican territory.
Certain that success would come swiftly, 6, French troops under General Charles Latrille de Lorencez set out to attack Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east-central Mexico. The vastly outnumbered and poorly supplied Mexicans, led by Texas-born General Ignacio Zaragoza, fortified the town and prepared for the French assault.
On May 5, , Lorencez gathered his army—supported by heavy artillery—before the city of Puebla and led an assault. The battle lasted from daybreak to early evening, and when the French finally retreated they had lost nearly soldiers.
Fewer than Mexicans had been killed in the clash. In —thanks in part to military support and political pressure from the United States, which was finally in a position to aid its besieged neighbor after the end of the Civil War —France finally withdrew.
Puebla de Los Angeles was renamed for General Zaragoza, who died of typhoid fever months after his historic triumph there. Traditions include military parades, recreations of the Battle of Puebla and other festive events.
For many Mexicans, however, May 5 is a day like any other: It is not a federal holiday, so offices, banks and stores remain open. In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is widely interpreted as a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with substantial Mexican-American populations.
Today, revelers mark the occasion with parades, parties, mariachi music, Mexican folk dancing and traditional foods such as tacos and mole poblano.
Some of the largest festivals are held in Los Angeles , Chicago and Houston. Many people outside Mexico mistakenly believe that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican independence, which was declared more than 50 years before the Battle of Puebla. Hundreds of thousands attend annually.
In Puebla and in many U. Traditional Mexican food is served or sold. Mariachi bands fill town squares and a lot of Dos Equis and Corona beers are served. In the U. Cinco de Mayo is important because it's a celebration of Indigenous Mexican people against European colonizers. Unfortunately, this holiday has been commercialized by the U.
In America, the holiday has also been used to highlight racist caricatures about Mexican people. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights.
Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Christopher Minster. Professor of History and Literature. Christopher Minster, Ph. Featured Video. But what exactly does Cinco de Mayo celebrate?
Brush up on its rich history with these five facts. The first American Cinco de Mayo celebrations date back to the s, when Mexicans living in California commemorated the victory over France in Puebla.
At that time, the United States was embroiled in a Civil War. The tradition of celebrating Cinco de Mayo has continued in Los Angeles without interruption since , according to Hayes-Bautiste, although the original reason and the history have gotten lost. About a century later, Chicano activists rediscovered the holiday and embraced it as a symbol of ethnic pride. Today, Cinco de Mayo in the U.
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