by Marisol Dayton

Created on: March 02, 2010

Cinco de Mayo is a national holiday in Mexico celebrated primarily in the city of Puebla.  Though other areas in Mexico hold festivities, in Puebla Cinco de Mayo is the mos important holiday of the year.  The Mexican celebration has taken root in the US as well where the day honors the unique Mexican heritage and culture.

As Mexican holidays go, Cinco de Mayo is probably the most widely recognized but least understood.  Many Americans mistakenly equate Cinco de Mayo with our own Fourth of July, an independence day.  The real Mexican Independence Day, however, is on September 16 and occurred more than 50 years before the history-making May 5, 1862.

Mexico won its independence from Spain on September 16, 1810, after 300 years of Spanish rule, in what would become known as the Mexican Independence War.  Over the next 50 years, the fledgling country endured internal political strife, a civil war, the Mexican-American War, and racked up heavy debt to Spain, France, and England.  In 1861, President Benito Juarez temporarily halted interest payments to those countries.  Fleets from the countries landed at Veracruz in January 1862, with the intent of pressuring Mexico to resume payments, but the British and Spanish pulled back within three months once they realized France’s true intent was to invade and occupy Mexico.  Cities like Campeche surrendered quickly and the French embarked on a 500 mile march to Mexico City.

On May 5, 1862, the French were defeated at the Battle of Puebla – La Batalla de Puebla.  Commemoration of this Mexican victory became Cinco de Mayo.  The French troops numbered 8,000 whereas the Mexican Army numbered between 3,000 and 4,000 and was comprised of peasants, farmers and Zapotec Indians.  Though the French ultimately captured Mexico City and ruled there for five years, the victory at Puebla is significant because it was a very unlikely victory against the well-armed French army which had not been defeated in 50 years.  Since that time Cince de Mayo has become a celebration of the undying spirit of the underdog, and the spirit and heritage of the Mexican people.  It is now a celebration of national pride, particularly among the Chicano neighborhoods of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California, where there are large Mexican and Mexican-American populations.

Cinco de Mayo has also been confused at times with another Mexican holiday – the Day of the Dead, or El

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