The history It is told by the victors, the saying goes, so it is difficult to know the version of the defeated, but there is also a reconfiguration of memory, according to the political and social interests of each moment.
In Mexicothis happens with everything related to independence of the country, whose celebration has several false or erroneous data, starting with the very date on which the nation became independent.
The exclamation of independence”
On that night in 1810, when the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the bells of his parish in the small town of Dolores, in what is now the state of Hidalgo, he actually had other reasons.
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was a Creole priest, that is, he was the son of Spaniards, educated in the liberal ideas of that time that came from Europe, so he was also part of a group of conspirators, led by Ignacio Allende, who sought to give him give greater prominence to the children of Europeans born in America and overthrow those born in Europe from power.
Although there is no documentary record of that moment, among the different versions that were written later, it is said that his cry, in reality, was “death to the bad government”, referring to these Europeans who, in addition, since 1808 represented Joseph Bonaparte. , brother of Napoleon, who had invaded Spain and deposed King Ferdinand VII.
After reviewing several testimonies, historian Carlos Herrejón highlights that of Juan Aldama, who was present that night in Dolores and assures that Hidalgo’s words were:
“Children, help me defend the country. Oppression is over, taxes are over! He who follows me on horseback will have 1 peso. And he who follows me on foot will have 4 reales.”
The priest of Dolores sought to show his support for the French invader to leave Spain, but to destroy the European viceregal figure in America and give way to a government formed by the Creoles, in order not to respond to Spain while it was invaded by foreign forces. .
This idea, according to Herrejón, contradicted the intentions of Allende, who did seek to reaffirm his loyalty to Ferdinand VII and demand a Spanish government in New Spain.
September 16th commemorates the independence of Mexico
Hidalgo anticipated the plans, because the conspiracy that he, together with Miguel and Josefa Domínguez, Ignacio Allende and Juan Aldama set up in Querétaro for months, was planned to be carried out in December, during the festival of San Juan de los Lagos, had been discovered.
In reality, that early morning in 1810, a mob followed Miguel Hidalgo for several kilometers on a march towards the capital, but this uprising was put down by royal troops in four months.
Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama and José Mariano Jiménez were arrested and beheaded in July 1811 in Chihuahua. History shows that Pedro Armendáriz, a soldier in charge of the platoon of soldiers who shot Hidalgo, later enrolled in the “Friends of Hidalgo” Society, in order to promote the cult of the memory of the “Father of the Country.”
The insurgency, however, had already been organized into a militia, and the fight for independence lasted more than a decade, ending on September 27, 1821, so just last year the country reached its 200th anniversary. of independent living, although the Bicentennial was celebrated in 2010.
The heroes who gave us our country
Although in the cry given by the president in turn every September 15, the initiators of the insurgent feat are mentioned, in reality, none of them saw independence consummated. It was the participation of other figures, such as Jose maria morelos and pavon, another priest; Fray Servando Teresa de Mier, Vicente Guerrero or Agustín de Iturbide, those who brought the rebellion to its successful conclusion.
In the struggle, it was Morelos who managed to direct different successful military campaigns, occupying territories in the area that today includes Guerrero, Morelos, Taxco, Veracruz, Oaxaca. Furthermore, he was the one who put the independence ideology and ideas on paper since 1812, while, in 1813, in the speech “Sentiments of the Nation”, he laid the foundations for independence and the subsequent constitution.
Morelos’ ideas to end slavery, return the lands to the natives of each region and form a Congress contrasted with those of Agustín de Iturbide, who defeated him in 1814, a year before he was shot.
However, although the history of Mexico does not recognize him as a national hero, Agustín de Iturbide was the one who, instead of continuing to shed blood, managed to achieve independence through a negotiation with Juan O’Donojú, political leader. of New Spain, with whom he later signed the treaties of Córdoba.
It was Iturbide who later triumphantly entered what is now Mexico City together with the Trigarante Army, so called because it sought to guarantee independence, the union of the country and the Catholic religion.
His popularity led him to head the first independent government of Mexico, however, the country, which had twice the territorial area of the current one, was still in crisis and power struggles continued in several regions; The courts had ignored the treaties signed by O’Donojú and the economy was bankrupt.
The struggle for power later became political, with several confrontations between the ruler and the Congress, installed since February 24, 1822. Overwhelmed, Iturbide threatened to resign, so in May of that year, Sergeant Pío Marcha led to his regiment to mutiny shouting “Long live Agustín I, Emperor of Mexico!”, which received immediate popular support.
Congress was pressured to vote in favor of Iturbide’s coronation on July 21, after which it was dissolved.
The rise of an absolute ruler, in such a large and diverse nation, gave rise to several rebellions and conspiracies, and ended with his deposition and execution in 1824. This unfortunate outcome denies him his place among the “heroes who gave us our country.” although it is one of the main ones.
