What you know about Cinco de May is only half the story. It is also known as the great mayonnaise mess.

Most people don’t know that back in 1912, Hellmann’s mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.

The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.

Fooled ya!

Cinco de Mayo is often mistaken for Mexico’s Independence Day here in the US. Mexico’s Independence Day is celebrated on September 16 because it was day that Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, in the small town of Dolores, in the state of Guanajuato, rang the church bell and made the call to retaliate against the Spanish. Every year at midnight on September 15, Mexicans led by the president of Mexico shout the Grito, honoring the crucial and impulsive action that was the catalyst for the country’s bloody struggle for independence from Spain.

Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the victory of the Mexican Army, led by Texas-born General Ignacio Zaragoza, over the French expeditionary forces in the “Batalla de Puebla” (Battle of Puebla) on May 5, 1862. On that morning, history was written that continues to serve as a reminder that with patriotism, valor and pride, one will overcome any and all obstacles. Cinco de Mayo is a day of great importance for the Mexican and Chicano communities. Cinco de Mayo’s history has its roots in the French Occupation of Mexico. But Cinco de Mayo also plays an important historical role in US history.

French intervention took shape soon after the Mexico-US War of 1846-48 and the signing the “Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo”, which settled the war with fifteen million dollars in payment for the annexed lands.

Much like today’s war in Iraq, many felt that the war with Mexico was an “unjust war.” Freshman House member and future President Abraham Lincoln spoke out and accused President James Polk’s motive as a desire for “military glory – that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood.” In his speech to Congress, Lincoln said:

“God of Heaven has forgotten to defend the weak and innocent, and permitted the strong band of murderers and demons from hell to kill men, women, and children, and lay waste and pillage the land of the just.”

Like Iraq today, Mexico entered a period of national crisis during the 1850s. Years of not only fighting the Americans but also a Civil War, had left Mexico devastated and bankrupt. In 1861, the newly elected democratic President Benito Juarez issued a moratorium to defer their debts for two years, with the commitment to start making payments after that period.

On October 31, 1861, Queen Isabella II of Spain, Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Emperor Napoleon III of the Second French Empire refused the request, so they sent their troops to Mexico to collect their debts. The English and Spanish quickly made deals with Juarez and left. The French had other ideas. A month after the Spanish and British withdrawal, France brought 4,500 troops and began marching inland on its war of occupation. Their intention was to dispose of the Mexican Constitutional Government and create an Empire in Mexico under Napoleon III, who also detested the growing power in the US because Napoleon III believed that the US would eventually become a power in and of itself if left unchallenged. At that time, the US had already entered into the American Civil War (1861-1865).

Not too may people realize that Napoleon III came very close to officially recognizing the Confederacy because he was driven by a desire to keep the Union split. All through 1862, Napoleon III entertained Confederate diplomats, raising hopes that he would unilaterally recognize the Confederacy. Napoleon III also had plans to impose a monarchical government upon the nations of Central and South America. By doing this, France would have been able to provide raw materials and trade for the European nations as well as put the US in check.

Napoleon III had help from the plutocratic and conservative landowners of Mexico who feared loss of land and political power to the newly elected constitutional government of Benito Juarez. In 1862, Napoleon III began to advance by sending his army of the Second French Empire into Mexico. Napoleon III planed to seat Maximilian I, a Hapsburg prince, as Emperor of the new Mexican empire. The French Army had never lost a battle in 50 years, and thus invaded Mexico confident of success. The French Army was equipped with modern weaponry and with a newly reconstituted Foreign Legion. Historians believe the French established the monarchy, especially since the US was already in its own Civil War.

At this time, President Juarez (a full-blooded Zapotec Indian) was already taking countermeasures. President Juarez commanded General Ignacio Zaragoza to block the advance of the French Army at the fortified hills of Loreto and Guadalupe by the city of Puebla. Under the command of General Zaragoza, the Mexicans awaited with 5,000 ill-equipped Mestizo and Zapotec Indians. On May 5, 1862, General Zaragoza beat back repeated French assaults and ended up defeating the French army in Puebla. Before the day was over, more than a thousand French soldiers were dead.

General US Grant told President Lincoln in 1865 that the Civil War would not have been over if the French continued to stay in Mexico. The 1962 Mexican victory did contribute to the Union victory in our Civil War. If not, Napoleon III would have continued to supply weapons to the Confederate Army, and American history would have been different.

The importance “Cinco de Mayo” is not that it only memorializes a historical event, but it is a cultural emergence coupled with a history that has taken place that defines who we are as Latinos/as. The significance of the Battle is not about who won or lost, nor is it about a battle that took place in Mexico or how it indirectly helped the Union win, it is about respect. It is respect for those, the Mestizos and Zapotecs, who were often taken for granted, ignored and without any resources other than their patriotism, which has helped defined a moment in Latino history.

The victory at Puebla does have specific meaning to me because it is about putting a spotlight on my heritage as a Mestizo and how we took part in shaping the course of history for both Mexico and the US. Even though I am born in the United States and have nothing to do with Mexico, I cannot ignore my Mexican familial roots and their role in Mexican history, as I also cannot ignore my American familial roots and their role in shaping the US.

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