It’s fiesta time! Cinco de Mayo is a fiesta day in Mexico and the United States. It’s celebrated on the fifth of May. This colorful holiday honors Mexico’s victory over the French army at the Battle of Pueblo in 1862. People march in parades, dance, and set off fireworks. Families enjoy traditional Mexican food and drink. Then they watch people act out the famous battle. Find out more about this joyful celebration of Mexican culture.
*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading "We are so superior to the Mexicans in race, in organization, in discipline, in morality and in elevation of feeling, that I beg your Excellency to be so good as to inform the emperor that I am already master of Mexico." - French General Charles de Lorencez before the Battle of Puebla There are two great misconceptions about Cinco de Mayo in the United States, despite the fact it has become one of the country's most beloved days. The first misconception is that the date marks the Independence of Mexico, and the second is that the celebration was imported in relatively recent times by Mexican immigrants. In fact, May 5 does not mark Mexico's independence (which is celebrated on September 16), but the day of the most important battle in the history of the country, fought against the French. Furthermore, the celebration of Cinco de Mayo did not originate in Mexico but in America in the 1860s, shortly after the Battle of Puebla. Indeed, Mexico was still occupied by the French at the time, and Cinco de Mayo is actually as American as apple pie. The Battle of Puebla took place 100 miles east of Mexico City in May 1862, pitting a poorly-fed, ill-equipped and inexperienced Mexican army, largely formed by peasants who were simply given a rifle or a saber, against one of Europe's greatest powers. Nonetheless, the results would demonstrate not only Mexico's integrity but also the crumbling of colonial European power in the Americas. The triumph of a modest Mexican general who was born in Texas was a surprise not only for Mexicans, but even more so for French Emperor Napoleon III and his army, considered to be "the first soldiers of the world." It also resonated in the European press that expected to see a re-conquest of Mexico without great difficulties. Things would forever be different in the Americas. 150 years later, Cinco de Mayo is firmly established as a party day for millions of people, most notably in America. The streets fill with dances, colorful parades, mariachi music, and lots of Mexican food, as Americans consume 81 million pounds of avocados, millions of bags of tortilla chips, and $735 million worth of beer, not to mention the countless margaritas made with 127 million liters of tequila, a drink that everyone properly associates with Mexico. The celebration is not limited to the Hispanic community, either, as people of all origins commemorate the day to recognize Mexico's contribution to North American history or to have fun and drink more tequila than ever. Even America's federal government has joined the festivities; since the 1980s, the White House has celebrated Cinco de Mayo with mariachi music and Mexican dances, making clear the connection between the Mexican victory and America's own Civil War. Cinco de Mayo: The History of the Battle of Puebla and the Famous Mexican Holiday looks at the important battle, its ramifications, and the celebration of the event. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Cinco de Mayo like never before.
Cinco de Mayo, or the Fifth of May, honors an important battle fought by the Mexican army in 1862. On this day, people celebrate with Mexican food, music, and dancing. Sing along as you explore Holidays in Rhythm and Rhyme!
Viva Mexico! Pinatas, floats, and tasty food all play a role in the holiday that remembers Mexican independence. Kids learn the historical significance behind the festivities and gain an appreciation for the exciting traditions and rich cultural celebration associated with May 5.
The Latino Holiday Book is the essential resource for everyone wanting to celebrate and honor the special traditions and celebrations of Hispanic Americans. Author Valerie Menard takes readers through the full year, covering new year's traditions, Día de los Reyes, Calle Ocho, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, the feast of independence, National Puerto Rican Day, the feast of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre and Our Lady of the Divine Inspiration, Día de la Raza (the Latin American version of Columbus Day), Día de los Muertos, the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and Christmas. Weddings, birthdays, and quinceañeras are also explored in rich detail. For each celebration, Menard discusses their religious or social history, typical customs, special foods and activities, and gives recipes and instructions for making the authentic foods and crafts that particularly represent a day's traditions. With a foreword by Cheech Marin, this newly revised and expanded edition is more inclusive of Dominicans and Colombians and features two new holidays: Mother's Day and Día de los Niños.
Marco loves the food, parades, and fun of Cinco de Mayo. This year he's one of the dancers. As he listens to the mariachi music, Marco thinks of the brave Mexicans at the first Cinco de Mayo. Find out the different things people do to celebrate this holiday! Learn the history behind the days people celebrate in the Holidays and Special Days series. Each book follows a young narrator through the process of preparing for and celebrating a special event.
This is a book which is long overdue and one that treats Lincoln as an international figure, not merely an American one. It examines events leading to the US invasion of Mexico, Lincoln's opposition to it in the Congress, his support of Mexico as President during and after the US Civil War, and the impact of the Mexican-American War nationally and internationally. It also includes documents from archives in the USA and Mexico.
A sweeping saga of the Spanish history and influence in North America over five centuries, from the acclaimed author of Empire’s Crossroads. Because of our shared English language, as well as the celebrated origin tales of the Mayflower and the rebellion of the British colonies, the United States has prized its Anglo heritage above all others. However, as Carrie Gibson explains with great depth and clarity in El Norte, the nation has much older Spanish roots?ones that have long been unacknowledged or marginalized. The Hispanic past of the United States predates the arrival of the Pilgrims by a century, and has been every bit as important in shaping the nation as it exists today. El Norte chronicles the dramatic history of Hispanic North America from the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century to the present?from Ponce de Leon’s initial landing in Florida in 1513 to Spanish control of the vast Louisiana territory in 1762 to the Mexican-American War in 1846 and up to the more recent tragedy of post-hurricane Puerto Rico and the ongoing border acrimony with Mexico. Interwoven in this narrative of events and people are cultural issues that have been there from the start but which are unresolved to this day: language, belonging, community, race, and nationality. Seeing them play out over centuries provides vital perspective at a time when it is urgently needed. In 1883, Walt Whitman meditated on his country’s Spanish past: “We Americans have yet to really learn our own antecedents, and sort them, to unify them,” predicting that “to that composite American identity of the future, Spanish character will supply some of the most needed parts.” That future is here, and El Norte, a stirring and eventful history in its own right, will make a powerful impact on our national understanding. “This history debunks the myth of American exceptionalism by revisiting a past that is not British and Protestant but Hispanic and Catholic. Gibson begins with the arrival of Spaniards in La Florida, in 1513, discusses Mexico’s ceding of territory to the U.S., in 1848, and concludes with Trump’s nativist fixations. Along the way, she explains how California came to be named after a fictional island in a book by a Castilian Renaissance writer and asks why we ignore a chapter of our history that began long before the Pilgrims arrived. At a time when the building of walls occupies so much attention, Gibson makes a case for the blurring of boundaries.” —New Yorker “A sweeping and accessible survey of the Hispanic history of the U.S. that illuminates the integral impact of the Spanish and their descendants on the U.S.’s social and cultural development. . . . This unusual and insightful work provides a welcome and thought-provoking angle on the country’s history, and should be widely appreciated.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review, PW Pick
Why is Cinco de Mayo—a holiday commemorating a Mexican victory over the French at Puebla in 1862—so widely celebrated in California and across the United States, when it is scarcely observed in Mexico? As David E. Hayes-Bautista explains, the holiday is not Mexican at all, but rather an American one, created by Latinos in California during the mid-nineteenth century. Hayes-Bautista shows how the meaning of Cinco de Mayo has shifted over time—it embodied immigrant nostalgia in the 1930s, U.S. patriotism during World War II, Chicano Power in the 1960s and 1970s, and commercial intentions in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, it continues to reflect the aspirations of a community that is engaged, empowered, and expanding.
