Blog # 3: “La Independencia y el Regreso del Empirio”

As I pulled at the strands of white and purple thread, my eyes straining to see the tiny stitches and my fingers cramped from gripping the wooden instruments, a small woman moved quickly between students, offering instructions and making adjustments.  She studied my work for a moment, regarding with a skilled eye the fabric, which I had managed to knot into a fluffy mess in the minutes since her last visit.  “Oh, muy bien! Puede dárselo a su mama”, she exclaimed cheerfully as she nimbly unknotted the tangle.  As she worked, she spoke of her craft, explaining, “mi trabajo es muy despacio y muy lento, pero cuando yo termino, el tejido es muy bonito”.  As I detached myself from the cloth weaving contraption that encircled my body and connected me to a marble column in the center of the Becari Language School, the woman echoed this sentiment to each frustrated student.  The weaver cheerfully acknowledged that her work was slow and required great care, yet she made it clear that, for her, the fact that it took so much time made it all the more valuable.  

This morning, we discussed the Mexican fight for independence.  This movement was not a smooth and easy transition, but rather proved to be made up of complex internal and external struggles.  Just as each row of my weaved fabric was a bit knotted despite my intense effort, the transition towards Mexican independence was marked by “knots” and complication.  Just as the weaver’s work takes a great deal of time, Mexican independence did not come quickly.  Today, Mexicans value their history and take great pride in the heritage of the nation for which their ancestors fought so long and hard.

According to Peter Guardino’s The Time of Liberty, the Bourbon reforms significantly changed the way in which colonial Mexico functioned.  As Spain weakened, the Spanish crown attempted to strengthen the political and economic systems in its overseas empire.  The Bourbon officials levied higher taxes and began to take a more involved role in the lives of civilians through a system of “radical social engineering to produce a more rational and productive citizen” (92).  As the fabric of Mexican history continued to tangle itself in the struggles of the Spanish government, a new knot began to form among the citizens of “New Spain”.  In 1810, conservative citizens began to advocate for the ideas and reforms of the Spanish crown, while liberals supported a philosophy of change.  Rumors wove their way through the predominantly illiterate society and a civil war ensued.   Guardino suggests that the events that transpired between 1808 and 1821 produced a move towards the idea of political equality for all adult men, yet at the same time pulled the historical “knot” tighter as rumors flew and enabled violence (154).  

On May 5, 1862, the day for which the festival “Cinco de Mayo” is celebrated, Mexicans defeated the French army at Puebla, thus delaying French occupation of Mexico for a year.  In his piece Sons of the Sierra: Juarez, Diaz and the People of Ixtlan, Oaxaca, Patrick McNamara suggests that the holiday is celebrated because the victory “symbolized Mexico’s determination for independence from foreign governments” (51).  With this determination, the Mexican people sought to untangle the knots of the fabric of their history and weave their way towards independence.  Ordinary citizens, like Benito Juarez and Porfirio Diaz, rose to respected positions as determined supporters of Mexican independence.  During our visit to the Museo de Benito Juarez today, we visited the home in which this extraordinary leader was raised.  As a young boy from an indigenous family, Juarez never knew his parents, but was adopted and was educated in Oaxaca City.  This young man from the hills surrounding Teotitlan led an impressive revolutionary movement and furthered the determination for independence. 

While internal and external struggles complicated Mexico’s political atmosphere, U.S. interventions further challenged this state’s weak leadership.  President Polk’s War Message to Congress in 1846 spoke of the “grievous wrongs perpetuated by Mexico upon our citizens throughout a long period of years [that] remain undressed” and wrote that he would “prompt action of Congress to recognize the existence of the war” (25, 26).  The War that followed prompted questions about the location of the Mexican border, an area which still remains a topic of debate in the political arena today. 

This morning, the weaver smiled with pride at my knotted attempt at her craft because she believed that the small cloth, no matter how imperfect, was the product of valuable time.  Similarly, the fight for Mexican independence took a great deal of time and left the blanket of Mexican history dotted with knots.  Even today, border control and emigration issues still tangle the fabric.  Despite these challenges, or perhaps because of them, modern Mexicans are proud of their heritage and their history.

-Sarah-