Mexican Independence

It was a time of revolutionary upheaval and radical change that swept through both the Old World and the New. The bold, new ideas of the Enlightenment inspired both the American War of Independence and the French Revolution. Rationalism, the pursuit of science and the arts, the promotion of religious tolerance, and a desire for government free of tyranny - it was pretty heady stuff.

In New Spain it was the criollos, the native-born descendants of Spanish colonists who were stirred by these winds of change. They were the intellectuals and officials, clergy and merchants whose careers and opportunities were limited because they were not Iberian-born Spaniards.

Bridling under the reactionary and repressive political, economic and cultural of a remote Spain, more and more they defined themselves as Americans.

In 1808 Napoleon invaded Spain and, forcing the abdication of King Ferdinand VII, placed his brother on the Spanish throne.

This was met with resistance in Spain and political confusion in the colonies and it offered the Independentistas the opportunity to meet and organize under the political context of expressing opposition to an illegitimate king, rather than to Spanish rule.

In 1810 the wife of the alderman of the town of Queretaro, doña Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez, along with Ignacio Maria de Allende, Juan Aldama, Mariano Abasolo among others planned an uprising for that October.

The parish priest of the town of Dolores, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a brilliant academic and fervent campaigner for social justice, was invited to join the group. Royalist authorities got wind of the plot, however, so it was decided to move immediately and on the night of Sep. 15, word was sent to Father Hidalgo.

At dawn the next day, as his parishioners began to arrive for early mass, Hidalgo issued his call to take up arms against tyranny and the war for Mexican liberation began. That day his forces, poorly armed, untrained and undisciplined, marched to Atotonilco and seized the standard of the Virgin of Guadalupe and made it the flag of the insurgent forces.

A series of rapid victories followed, but inexplicably the rebels did not press their advantage and march on the poorly-defended capital, which they probably could have taken. Instead, the Royalist forces were allowed to regroup and in the following months the original conspirators were killed in battle or captured and executed.

José María Morelos fought on until his capture and execution in 1815. The struggle was kept alive by small guerrilla groups, notably Vicente Guerrero's in the south and Guadalupe Victoriano's in Veracruz.

It would be 11 years and 11 days after Hidalgo's Grito - Sept. 27, 1821 - before the unlikely (and short-lived) Trigarante alliance of liberals, conservatives and radicals and entered the capital in triumph to finally proclaim Mexico and independent and sovereign nation.