Cinco de Mayo’s surprise victory affected both Mexican, and US history
By Sheryl Losser
Cinco de Mayo celebration in Washington, D.C. This holiday is celebrated more in the U.S. than in Mexico, in part because the Battle of Puebla's victory inspired Mexicans in border states like California and Texas with a sense of nationalism and identity. (dbking/Wikimedia Commons)
A recent poll conducted in the United States by Mexican avocado exporters showed that only 22% of Americans know the true history of Cinco de Mayo. For Mexican Americans, it is a day to celebrate their Mexican heritage. For those who aren’t Mexican — and who often mistakenly think it is Mexico’s Independence Day — it’s a day to imbibe tequila and indulge in guacamole and chips.
But May 5, 1862, profoundly impacted the history of Mexico and the United States. Cinco de Mayo is a commemoration of the Mexican victory over the French in the 1862 Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War.
In the 1862 Battle of Puebla, Mexican troops were outnumbered and outgunned, yet defeated an elite army. The figure holding the flag is the Mexican president at the time, Benito Juárez.
By 1861, Mexican President Benito Juárez’s government was suffering financially. The Mexican-American War (1846–48) and the Reform War (1858–61) — between the Liberals who wanted separation of church and state and the Conservatives who wanted a close bond between the government and the Catholic Church — had nearly bankrupted the country.