Hispanidad: May 5 shows U.S.-Mexico ties

Perhaps it is appropriate this year's "Cinco de Mayo" holiday -- a date of great historic significance in Mexico -- comes at a time when many people in the United States are inclined to look down upon France.

For May 5 marks a military victory against the French during that country's last attempt to have a significant presence on the North American continent.

Mexico's ability to stand up for itself during the French Intervention of the 1860s also impacted U.S. history, affecting the Civil War in ways that helped ensure the United States remained one country.

Despite being a foreign holiday, "Cinco de Mayo" has picked up influence in certain parts of the United States. People in cities like Chicago, Houston and San Diego will have Mexican-themed parades, although at least two towns -- Haines City, Fla., and Fontana, Calif. -- canceled festivals this year to show respect to the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Other cities use the date for more generic Hispanic festivals.

The Texas Stadium grounds where the Dallas Cowboys play will host a multi-act Spanish music concert. (No football players, but the famed cheerleaders will be present.) Orlando, Fla., plans a Viva La Musica festival Saturday and Sunday at Sea World.

So why are some people this weekend going to consume tamales and churros and watch costumed dancers? Despite what many think, it's not Independence Day (that's Sept. 16). It's also not a multinational Spanish event -- the date means nothing to people of Puerto Rican, Cuban, Ecuadorian or any other Hispanic descent.

"Cinco de Mayo" commemorates May 5, 1862, the date on which Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin defeated French troops near the town of Puebla.

France occupied Mexico from 1862 to 1867 and even installed Maximilian von Hapsburg -- a member of the Austrian royal family who was too far down the order of succession to lead his own country -- as its puppet emperor.

While victory on May 5 did not chase France out of Mexico, it is regarded as a historic event because it was considered a sign the indigenous Mexican people and their supporters (who wanted to form a democracy based on the constitutional ideals expressed by the United States) were capable of standing up to European powers who preferred to carve up the country.

A French victory early on would have squashed Mexican resistance and demoralized the people into accepting European rule, which French officials claimed was justified because of debts Mexico owed to France, Germany and Spain as it tried to rebuild from its defeat in the Mexican-American War, 1845-1847.

What does this have to do with the United States?

The French military in 1862 and 1863 was so preoccupied with fighting off Mexican forces that it became impossible for Napoleon III to use Mexico as a base from which his armies could have helped the South secede from the United States.

France supported a southern Confederacy until the Independence Day 1863 weekend when the U.S. army won a significant victory at Gettysburg, Pa.

After Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops in 1865, leading to other surrenders by southern military leaders and the end of the U.S. Civil War, the U.S. military lent its assistance to Mexico's indigenous leaders, such as President Benito Juarez, to chase France off the North American continent.

That finally occurred when Napoleon III ended support for Maximilian, who had dreams of stretching the Mexican empire south into Central and South America.

When French troops left Mexico early in 1867, it was just a matter of time before Maximilian was captured. He was put on trial and executed by firing squad on June 19.

Admittedly, this was not the beginning of peace for Mexico. The remainder of the 19th century and early years of the 20th century included tyrannical leaders and another revolution. The current constitution under which Mexico operates did not come about until 1918.

But for all those people who prefer to think of the United States as an isolated island of superiority among the mass of countries that make up the Americas, recalling the events behind "Cinco de Mayo" is a reminder of how intertwined the United States is with its neighbor to the south.

So everybody in the United States who lives in a town with a significant Spanish-speaking population ought to give thought this weekend to attending the parades, tasting the food and enjoying themselves.

It's partially your history too.

And if by chance someone manages to snap a photograph of you looking silly in a sombrero, take solace in the fact that you don't look any more ridiculous than you did drinking all that beer and wearing all that green on St. Patrick's Day.

(Hispanidad is a weekly column about the culture of Hispanics and Latinos in the United States, written by Greg Tejeda, a third-generation Mexican-American. Suggestions for topics can be made to gtejeda@upi.com)