Mexican Tile,mexican Pottery,guanajuato,dolores Hidalgo,san Miguel De Allende
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Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional (Dolores Hidalgo, Cradle of National Independence), situated in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Guanajuato, was an unlikely place for the birth of Mexico's independence. For centuries, the small town was inhabited by indigenous people called the Otomi, until the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors in the late 1400s. They called the town simply, "Dolores," and it would be centuries before it would gain its full name and rightful place in the history of a proud nation.
Throughout the period of Spanish hegemony over the area of today's United States of Mexico, the town remained an area of minor agricultural importance, attracting few settlers of European descent. Yet, it would be in this small settlement, on September 16, 1810, that the "Grito de Dolores," or "Cry of Dolores" was proclaimed by a priest named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. The "Grito de Dolores," later became the battle cry of the War of Mexican Independence against Spain. A brief excerpt from the proclamation still renders the feeling of national liberation that were borne there in Dolores Hidalgo: |
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| Who was this man who dared to speak out against one of the most powerful empires in world history? Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was originally sent to Dolores on a penal mission. As he had long spoken out against the improprieties of Spanish colonial rule, he was not unknown to the Spanish officials for his denunciations of their harsh rule over his people. He was, therefore, banished to the small town, so as to render him harmless. The Spanish officials guessed that even if he were to still speak out against their rule, only a few hundred poor farmers would be his potential audience; something the Spanish considered insignificant. However, the Spanish had made a poor gamble — unlike the previous American Revolution that exploded only a few decades before in the American Colonies to the North, the Mexican Revolution that started on that day was one that emanated not from an enlightened aristocracy, but rather, from the oppressed peasants, who had long suffered under the Spanish yoke. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla's speech spoke right to the hearts of his people, and the Grito de Dolores was sung, chanted, and whispered from Dolores Hidalgo to all parts of the country, carrying the message of independence and courage. It's power would ignite a ferocious desire on the part of the peasants to liberate themselves through unity and war. Only four days after his famous speech, the first major battle between the Mexican and Spanish forces occurred at the Battle of Guanajuato. It was the beginning of a long war for Mexico's independence that would not end for a decade, on September 27, 1821, when Spain finally relinquished its grip on the Mexican nation. |
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Today, the city of Dolores Hidalgo, whose population stands at about 50,000 remains close to the hearts of millions of Mexican Citizens. The name "Dolores Hidalgo" is borne by hundreds of public squares in the country.
The events of September 16, 1810 are celebrated throughout the country as Independence Day. Every year, thousands of revelers flood into Mexico City's central square to hear the President of the Republic recite the "Grito de Dolores" to a half a million citizens who gather there to keep the memory of the Mexican War of Independence alive.
Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional, the cradle of Mexican Independence, will forever remain an integral part of the shared history of the Mexican people because of the events of September 16, 1810. |
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