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The Pantheon of National Heroes
- University of Texas Press
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The Pantheon of National Heroes These historical figures are mentioned throughout the book. This list does not include all national heroes, only those that have the most resonance in Mexican patriotic discourse. Cuauhtémoc (1502?–1525) Cuauhtémoc was the nephew of Moctezuma II and the last Aztec king and ruler of Tenochtitlán. He tenaciously defended his people and city against the Spanish conquistadors of Hernán Cortés in the summer of 1521. In August of that year he was captured and later tortured but would not reveal the location of the “lost” Aztec treasure. Cortés took Cuauhtémoc on his expedition to Honduras in 1524–25 but, out of fear of rebellion, the Spaniards tried and convicted the former ruler of treason and hanged him from a tree. Cuauhtémoc, not Cortés, triumphed in death and history as an important symbol of Mexican nationalism. A monument to his honor was raised in Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma in 1887. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753 –1811) The “Father of the Patria,” Miguel Hidalgo, a Catholic priest, was one of a group of Creole conspirators in the Bajío region. The conspirators plotted against the Spaniards, who in 1808 had overthrown Viceroy José de Iturrigaray because of his support for Creole autonomy. When the conspiracy was discovered prematurely, Hidalgo called, from his parish church in the town of Dolores, for a popular revolt to be carried out on September 16, 1810. Hidalgo’s revolt mobilized tens of thousands of Indians and mestizos and seized the great cities of the Bajío. His advance arrived on the outskirts of Mexico City in October and, despite a costly victory against a royalist army, Hidalgo abandoned his plan to occupy the city. From this point, the popular army suffered defeats by the royalist forces. Hidalgo and other in1 r surgent leaders retreated north and were captured in Coahuila. They were tried in Chihuahua and executed by firing squad in July 1811. The heads of Hidalgo and his commanders were displayed on the four corners of the alhóndiga (the city granary) of Guanajuato for the next ten years. The town of his parish was renamed Dolores Hidalgo in his honor and the state of Hidalgo was created in 1869. José María Morelos y Pavón (1765 –1815) The “Servant of the Nation,” Morelos was commissioned by Hidalgo to take the revolt to the south. In November 1810, Morelos ordered the end of slavery and the caste system. Upon the execution of Hidalgo, the southern insurgents continued the struggle. Morelos convened the Supreme National American Congress in Chilpancingo in 1813 and that body named him generalíssimo in charge of the executive power. When the Congress moved to Apatzingán in 1814, it proclaimed a constitution. Morelos was captured in 1815, taken to Mexico City for trial, and executed. In 1823 he was declared Benemérito de la Patria and his native city was renamed Morelia in his honor in 1828. The state of Morelos was established in 1869. Benito Juárez (1806 –1872) Juárez, a Zapotec Indian from the state of Oaxaca, led the liberals in the Reform, the revolution of the late 1850s that wrote a new constitution, eliminated the judicial privileges of the Catholic church, separated church and state, and expropriated the property of the Church. He became president in 1858 and led the liberal forces in the War of the Reform (1859–61) against conservatives opposed to the anticlerical measures. In 1861 he was elected president but soon faced the intervention of French forces, who invaded Mexico in 1862 and imposed the Austrian archduke Maximilian von Habsburg as emperor in 1864. Juárez led the Republican forces during the War of the French Intervention (1862–67), which eventually led to victory and the execution of Maximilian. Juárez was reelected president in 1867 and again in 1871. He died in 1872 and was transformed into the premier symbol of nationalism. He was proclaimed Benemérito de la Nación. His monument, the Hemiciclo de Benito Juárez, was inaugurated in the Alameda Park in Mexico City during the centenary fiestas of 1910. 2 la revolución [44.192.53.34] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 15:03 GMT) Los Niños Héroes (d. 1847) These “child heroes” were six cadets of the national military academy who were killed during the assault by the United States army upon Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City...