(WHTM) — “Wait a minute, I thought that was Cinco de Mayo!“
No, that came later.
A member of the Air Force carrying a predatory bird looks toward the President as they march past the National Palace during an annual Independence Day parade by Mexico’s Armed Forces, in central Mexico City, Mexico, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. Mexico is marking the 204th anniversary of its independence from Spain. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 
Members of the military wearing costumes representing the 1911 revolutionary forces, stand at a military base moments before leaving to downtown Mexico City for to the military parade of the Independence Day celebrations, Mexico City, Sunday Sept. 16, 2012. Mexico celebrates the 202nd anniversary of its 1810 independence uprising. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini) 
Ceremonial fire marks the beginning of the Independence Day parade by Mexico’s Armed Forces, in the Zocalo, in central Mexico City, Mexico, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. Mexico is marking the 204th anniversary of its independence from Spain. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 
Female members of the military march in a review of the troops who will participate in the Independence Day parade, in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016. Thousands will gather in Mexico City’s main square, known as the Zocalo, on Friday for a massive military parade to commemorate Mexico’s independence from Spain.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 
Military vehicles ride through the Zocalo as military aircraft fly over the Cathedral during the Independence Day military parade in Mexico City, Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018. Mexico is celebrating its independence from Spain. (AP Photo/Anthony Vazquez) 
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and first lady Beatriz Gutierrez Muller wave after Lopez Obrador gave the annual independence shout from the balcony of the National Palace to kick of Independence Day celebrations at the Zocalo in Mexico City, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019. Every year the Mexican president marks the “Grito de Dolores,” commemorating the 1810 call to arms by priest Miguel Hidalgo that began the struggle for independence from Spain, achieved in 1821.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 
Revelers celebrate as fireworks explode over the Metropolitan Cathedral after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gave the annual independence shout from the balcony of the National Palace to kick off Independence Day celebrations in Mexico City, late Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019. Every year the Mexican president marks the “Grito de Dolores,” commemorating the 1810 call to arms by priest Miguel Hidalgo that began the struggle for independence from Spain, achieved in 1821. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 
National Guards march during the Independence Day military parade in the capital’s main plaza, the Zocalo, in Mexico City, Monday, Sept. 16, 2019. Mexico celebrates the anniversary of its 1810 independence uprising. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) 
A man rides his custom-made bicycle as he carries a Mexican flag along a main downtown avenue in Mexico City, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. Mexico will celebrate its day of Independence from Spain on September 16. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) 
Security agents and journalists stand around a closed Zocalo plaza ahead of the annual shout of independence, which will be held without spectators amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. Instead of the throngs of supporters who pack the Zocalo in a typical year, this Independence Day, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will look out over an empty plaza as he gives the traditional “Grito de Dolores,” which commemorates the 1810 call to arms by priest Miguel Hidalgo that began the struggle for independence from Spain.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rings the bell as he gives the annual independence shout from the balcony of the National Palace to kick off subdued Independence Day celebrations amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, at the Zocalo in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. Instead of the throngs of supporters who pack the Zocalo in a typical year, this Independence Day the president faced an empty plaza as he gave the traditional “Grito de Dolores,” which commemorates the 1810 call to arms by priest Miguel Hidalgo that began the struggle for independence from Spain. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 
Fireworks light up the sky over the Zocalo during Mexico’s independence celebrations in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) 
Fireworks go off in front of Metropolitan Cathedral after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gave the annual independence shout to kick off Independence Day celebrations amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, at the Zocalo in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. Instead of the throngs of supporters who pack the Zocalo in a typical year, this Independence Day the president faced an empty plaza as he gave the traditional “Grito de Dolores,” which commemorates the 1810 call to arms by priest Miguel Hidalgo that began the struggle for independence from Spain. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
By 1810, Spain had ruled Mexico and its other Central American territories (lumped together as New Spain) since 1521, and it ruled with an iron fist. Wars with Native Americans erupted frequently and were suppressed brutally. A rigid caste system developed. Only Spaniards born in Spain could hold high-level government posts.
Creoles (Spaniards born in Mexico) could attain wealth but had little government influence. Mestizos, people with both Spanish and Native American ancestry, were deemed racially inferior by Spaniards and Creoles, which meant Native Americans were at the bottom of the heap. African slaves got lumped in with the Native Americans.
By the early 1800s, displeasure with Spanish rule was near the boiling point just as the Spanish Empire was starting to fall apart. In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte forced the abdication of the Spanish King and replaced him with his brother Joseph Bonaparte. This did not sit well with the Spanish in Spain, and the fight over who was really in charge weakened Spain’s grip on its territories.
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On September 16, 1810, Father Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor, a Roman Catholic Priest in the village of Dolores, rang his church bell, assembled the inhabitants of the village, and issued the Grito de Delores, the Cry of Delores, a call to rise up and fight for independence.
Ironically, no one really knows what Miguel Hidalgo, as he is popularly known, actually said; he never wrote it down, and nobody at the time was taking notes. Well, whatever he said, it worked. Within a few days, a ragtag army sprang into being, and the Mexican War for Independence was underway. The movement gathered support from all parts of society, from the Native Americans to the Mestizos, to the Creoles, and even some of the Spanish.
More importantly, they put aside their differences and fought together. The war would last for eleven years; and in the end, Spanish rule disintegrated, and on August 24, 1821, the Treaty of Córdoba was signed. Spain had recognized the independence of Mexico.
Miguel Hidalgo did not live to see this victory; in fact, he didn’t survive the first year of the war. He was captured, and executed on July 30, 1811. But to this day he is remembered in Mexico as the Father of Mexican Independence, and it is September 16, not August 24, that is celebrated as Mexican Independence Day.
The celebrations actually begin on September 15, with a ceremony in Mexico City. Crowds gather in the Zocalo, the main square in the city, which dates back to the Aztecs. At around 11:00 p.m., the President of Mexico appears on the balcony of the National Palace, rings the bell that Hidalgo rang in 1810, and recites what’s become known as the Grito Mexicano:
Spanish
¡Mexicanos!
¡Vivan los héroes que nos dieron patria!
¡Viva Hidalgo!
¡Viva Morelos!
¡Viva Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez!
¡Viva Allende!
¡Viva Aldama y Matamoros!
¡Viva la Independencia Nacional!
¡Viva México! ¡Viva México! ¡Viva México!
English
Mexicans!
Long live the heroes who gave us our homeland!
Long live Hidalgo!
Long live Morelos!
Long live Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez!
Long live Allende!
Long live Aldama and Matamoros!
Long live the nation’s independence!
Long Live Mexico! Long Live Mexico! Long Live Mexico!
The president rings the bell again, waves the Mexican flag, a band plays the Mexican National Anthem, and a massive fireworks display concludes the ceremony. September 16th is marked by parades, concerts, dancing, feasting, and general celebration.
Oh, as for what Cinco de Mayo is actually about, check this link.
