History Series: Cinco de Mayo

History of Cinco de Mayo

Is it the Mexican 4th of July?

Cinco de Mayo is frequently regarded as the Mexican equivalent of the United States’ 4th of July. This is incorrect: it is the equivalent of the “5th of May” in Spanish.

Another misconception is that this has something to do with Mayonnaise. That, too, is a bum spread, as the condiment originated with the French, who will come into our story later.

Finally, it does not involve County Mayo in Ireland, though we’ll make sure the Irish get into this story at some point. Instead, the “Battle of Cinco de Mayo,” specifically the Battle of Puebla, occurred on May 5, 1862.

Background of Cinco de Mayo

President Benito Juarez, who had been Zapotec Indian Minister of Justice in Juan Alvarez‘s cabinet in the 1850s, entered Mexico City on January 11, 1861, and promptly expelled the Spanish minister, the papal legate, and members of the episcopate.

Additionally, he took steps to enforce the decrees of 1859, dis-endowing and disestablishing the church. He could not have known then that “antidisestablishmentarianism” would become the longest word in the English dictionary almost a century later.