Cinco De Mayo Research Paper

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Cinco de Mayo, year after year what was once a political victory and morale booster for a struggling country has been turned into a marketing tool for many products like beer, chips, guacamole and just another reason to party. Cinco de Mayo has become part of mainstream society in the United States and is treated like every other made up holiday in the United States just so all the companies that promote them can fill their pockets. Had the French successfully invaded Mexico how would things have changed? How different would Mexico be or for that matter how would the United States have changed. Who were the people involved in the battle that don’t really ever get mentioned when people are out celebrating and what was their significance.
Before we can really dig deeper into how this day constantly gets confused as Mexican Independence Day we have to look at the people involved and what their actions meant when the French were defeated. Mexico was dealing with the effects of the Mexican-American war in 1846-1848 and the Mexican civil war in 1858 and it had left Mexico nearly bankrupt and with no way to pay back any of the money it owed many world powers in England, Spain and France. Mexican president Benito Juarez suspended payment to all foreign debt. In their efforts to reclaim the money owed to them the French asked the Spanish and English to help invade Mexican territory to force their hand. But it has been said that the French’s true motives were not just about money but a way to enter the United States once they were through with whatever Mexican resistance they faced. Napoleon III used the excuse of México owing them money as a way to get other countries involved to take over Mexico and install his empire in Latin America....

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So why is Cinco de Mayo celebrated in the United States when many of the people who celebrate don’t know the significance of the event. It has become just how Saint Patrick’s Day is a day when people wear stereotypical outfits that are suppose to portray the Irish and you see everyone wearing green. People drink margaritas; wear sombreros, ponchos and mustaches. Its okay if you want to celebrate just know what you are celebrating and don’t be stereotypical by wearing clothes that people associate with México.
Cinco de mayo’s significance and reason to celebrate has changed over the years but I believe that it now represents how México has been attacked many times and this particular day they were able to win with the odds stacked against them. It shows that self-determination and heart can overcome almost anything when things are not going your way.

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