By Mary Swift-Swan

Day, September 15th
El Grito is the cry for independence, “Mexicanos, Viva Mexico!”, first given by respected Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in Dolores, Guanajuato, in the early hours of September 16, 1810. He exhorted his Indian and mestizo* congregation to start the Independence movement to throw off the shackles of Spanish rule. The surprised congregation, armed with axes, clubs, and machetes and 300 years of pent up hatred for the cruel and oppressive rule of the Spanish, came in answer to Hidalgo’s call, beginning the long and bloody struggle.

When the Indians under Aztec rule joined forces with Spanish conquerors to bring down the Aztec empire, their population was 20 million. Within a century, their numbers were dramatically reduced to only one million due to the disease brought in by the Spanish and the brutal labor the Indians were forced to endure as they buried the Venice-like Aztec capitol to build a new city above it. In New Spain, class rules and privileges chafed below the harsh leadership.

Groups of criollos (those of Spanish decent born in Mexico) across Mexico plotted to overthrow the authority of gachopines (those of Spanish decent born in Spain) who, because of their Spanish heritage, had legal and social priority over the criollos. When Joseph Bonaparte replaced King Ferdinand as the leader of Spain, the criollos recognized a prime opportunity for Mexican sovereignty. The nucleus of this movement was a group of intellectuals in Querétaro led by the Corregidor of Querétaro, his wife, and a group of army officers distinguished by the adventurous Ignacio Allende.

The criollos plan for revolution did not originally focus on the manpower of Mexicans. Rather, the criollos sought to avoid military confrontation by convincing criollo army officers to sever their allegiance to the gachopines. By claiming loyalty to the defeated King Ferdinand, the criollos aimed to establish Mexico as an independent nation within King Ferdinand’s Spanish empire. It was hoped that gachopines who claimed authority under Bonaparte’s rule would be driven out of Mexico.

Hidalgo had close ties with this group. At nearly sixty years old, Hidalgo was loved and greatly respected by the Mexican populace. Once the dean of the College of San Nicolas at Valladolid in Michoacan (now Morelia), Hidalgo was a well-educated, courageous humanitarian. He was sympathetic to the Indians, which was unusual amongst Mexican clergymen. Against gachopine law, Hidalgo taught Indians to plant olives, mulberries, and grapevines and to manufacture pottery and leather. His actions angered the Spanish viceroy who, as a punitive measure, cut down Hidalgo’s Indian’s trees and vines claiming Hidalgo was a rebellious influence.

Word got out when a priest reportedly heard of the criollos plans in confession from criollos officers who were approached but did not want to join the movement. Three months before their launch, gachopines found a house with a cache of weapons and ammunition. They planned to arrest key criollos leaders and Hidalgo. Allende rode through the night to warn Hidalgo of his impending arrest. Near dawn on September 16, Hidalgo began the revolution by ringing the church bell that called into action the untapped manpower of Mexico. Together they marched.
When the Indian and Mestizo forces, led by Hidalgo and Allende, reached the next village en route to Mexico City, they took a picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe and made it their freedom banner. The Virgin of Guadalupe was indigenous to Mexico and a woman of color. Her image became the image of freedom for the revolutionary forces as Hidalgo and Allende led troops toward Mexico City and the expulsion of the gachopines.

Mexico erupted in flames under that banner of freedom. When the army of Mexican independence fighters approached Mexico City, they were 80,000 strong. Hidalgo was concerned for massive loss of life on both sides and veered north. He was captured in Texas, then part of Spanish rule, and executed on July 31st, 1811. Ten more years of strife ensued. By 1821, all the early leaders of the uprising, Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, and José María Morelos, were dead. Agustín de Iturbide, a Creole soldier in the service of the Spanish crown, had been charged with crushing the freedom fighters.

Agustín changed sides. He allied himself to Vicente Guerrero and together they announced the Plan de Iguala, which had three basic guarantees: Roman Catholicism would be the country’s religion, all Mexican citizens were to be equal, ending class discrimination, and there was to be a constitutional monarchy. The Spaniards and Mexicans accepted the plan, which was ratified by the Treaty of Córdoba, finally giving Mexico victory and Independence.