feliz dia de independencia.

time for a bit of a history lesson, september 16, 1810 mexico declared its independence from spain, which signaled the end of centuries of colonial and imperial rule. present day mexico was inhabited by several indigenous tribes, the olmec, toltec, maya, teotihuacan, and aztec before the sixteenth century arrival of spanish conquistadores. the aztecs having established an expansive empire that had conquered and absorbed many of the other tribes, were the dominant group, so when the spanish showed up they decided to focus on toppling the aztec empire. many of the conquered tribes decided to aid the spanish in their efforts to defeat the aztecs, in hopes that they would be freed from their oppressive rule.

well, you know how it goes, meet the new boss, same as the old boss. life was equally, if not more miserable for the indigenous people living in the area. new diseases were brought over, and the epidemics they caused were devastating. the workload imposed by the spanish also contributed to ridiculous death among the native population. the indigenous population dwindled from twenty million to just over one million.

the presence of the spanish provided for the emergence of different people groups in the area, most notably the criollos who were the mexican-born offspring of spanish parents. because of their birthplace they were considered a class below spanish born in spain, and as such were second class citizens. even beyond the line between native spanish and the criollos, the society was highly stratified and that, coupled with the influence of recent revolutions in the united states and france, as well as the writings of the french philosophes, rousseau, montesquieu, and voltaire, provided the impetus for revolution.

the revolution was planned to begin on december 8th, but the spanish caught wind of the plan which forced the revolutionaries to either accelerate or abandon their plans for war. so on september 16th, father miguel hidalgo rang the bell at his church in the town of dolores, calling everyone around to fight for mexico's liberation from spain. the war lasted ten years and culminated with mexico's independence. father hidalgo is revered today as the father of the revolution and mexican independence.

viva mexico.

feeling: connected
thinking of: el grito
music: "mexicanos al grito de guerra" the mexican national anthem