Part 1 Flashcards
Porfirio Diaz (1876-1910)
Dictator of Mexico. Ruled with the help of Cientificos (scientists, engineers, etc) who were wealthy, educated, and generally old. Diaz let foreign companies take over ejidos and other resources because he wanted Mexico to become more industrialized.
“Porfiriato”
Diaz’s rule from 1876-1910. Only those of pure Spanish decent had power, reinforcing the caste system first introduced by Spanish colonialists. Foreign companies owned the majority of natural resources. Indigenous populations had their land taken away. Workers didn’t have protections/rights which prompted violent strikes. Widespread poverty and illiteracy. Rurales (rural police) brutally enforced the Porfiriato.
Emiliano Zapata
Mexican revolutionary who fought to overthrow Diaz and return ejidos to the indigenous and peasants. He believed in democracy and equality, and thought that land-based changed was necessary to ensure this. He stood for “Tierra y Libertad” - land and freedom. He used guerrilla tactics to mobilize Southern Mexico.
Coup de’ etat
Huerta had Madero overthrown with the help of Henry Lane Wilson.
Creelman Interview
A 1908 interview between Porfirio Diaz and an American journalist, James Creelman, in which Diaz announced he would not run for office in 1910. This interview was published in newspapers and caused a flurry of democratic excitement in Mexico, as the 1910 election would be the first election without Diaz since the 1880s. Francisco Madero began his campaign.
Ejidos
Communal land holdings that many indigenous communities owed together. These groups would farm the land together and provide for their whole community. Under the Porfiriato, ejido lands were often given away to foreign owners/companies and because the indigenous often did not have proper land titles (b/c land was passed down generation to generation), they could not prove ownership. One of Francisco Madero’s goals in the Plan de San Luis Potosi was to get the ejido land back into the lands of the indigenous communities they originally belonged to.
Rurales
They were the rural police force that Diaz used to enforce his rule. Peasants were terrified of them. They followed the ley fuga, which allowed them to shoot suspected criminals on the spot, no trial needed. Despite promises to make life safer and better for peasants, Madero kept the rurales and his reliance on them was 1 reason his rule was labeled “Porfirismo without Porfirio”
Plan de San Luis Potosi
This document highlighted the inequalities in Mexico and put forward a plan for how to make positive changes. It discussed: 1) democracy 2) fair elections 3) the removal of Diaz and the científicos from office 4) the restoration of indigenous land holdings (“ejidos”) 5) dealing with economic inequalities in Mexico 6) no re-election of government officials 7) that government should listen to the will of the people 8) that the 1910 elections should be considered null and void, as Diaz rigged them 9) Madero becoming the president 10) Mexicans picking up their weapons to fight on Nov, 20, 1910
November 20, 1910
This was the date that Madero said the Revolution should start in his Plan de San Luis Potosi. This was also the date the Madero came back to Mexico from Texas, only to find that the Revolution was not underway, so he went back to Texas.
Aquiles Serdan
He tried to start the Mexican Revolution on November 18, 1910, two days early. He figured out the Diaz’s army knew about the November 20 start date, so tried to begin it early. He was caught and killed and the Revolution did not start.
February 14, 1911
Madero returned to Mexico for a second time, this time finding that the Revolution was actually underway.
Battle of Cuautla
After this battle in the south, Diaz realized he could not win against the revolutionaries and began thinking about resigning. He did not resign yet, though.
Battle of Parral
After this battle, Villa was put under the command of Huerta. Together, they defeated Orozco and Huerta was made Commander-in-Chief of the federal army. He used this power to arrest Villa. This pitted Villa against Madero.
Battle of Ciudad Juarez
Pancho Villa helped Pascual Orozco capture Ciudad Juarez, resulting in Diaz’s choice to go into exile. He signed the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez, which paved the way for Madero’s rise to power.
Constitution of 1917: Article 2
• The rights of the indigenous people must be respected/protected. Indigenous communities can decide their form of “social, economic, political and cultural organization.” • Indigenous people can run for office and all barriers to success must be fixed (schooling, language barriers etc). This helped to establish equality in the eyes of the law. While many indigenous learned Spanish, some said that this eroded indigenous culture. Others said it helped them to participate in the broader creation of a Mexican identity. This helped set the tone for the education and muralist movement in the 1920s.
