You probably think Mexican Independence started with a clean, organized revolution. It didn’t. It was messy. Honestly, it was a chaotic mix of high-stakes gambling, religious fervor, and deep-seated racial tension that boiled over in a way nobody—not even the leaders—really expected. People often confuse Cinco de Mayo with the actual independence day, but the real story kicked off on September 16, 1810. It wasn't just a political pivot. It was a violent, decade-long struggle that fundamentally reshaped North America.
Most history books give you the "Great Man" version. They talk about Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla as this saintly figure. Reality? He was a radical, a bit of a rebel within the church, and someone who unleashed a social force he couldn't actually control. When he rang the bell in Dolores, he wasn't just asking for a new government. He was tapping into centuries of indigenous and mestizo rage against a caste system that treated them like afterthoughts.
The Grito de Dolores and the 1810 Explosion
The Mexico War of Independence didn't start in a vacuum. Napoleon Bonaparte is actually the guy who accidentally set the fuse. By invading Spain and putting his brother Joseph on the throne in 1808, he created a massive power vacuum. In Mexico (then New Spain), the local elites—the criollos—saw an opening. They weren't necessarily looking for total freedom at first. They just didn't want to take orders from a French puppet.
Hidalgo was part of a "literary club" in Querétaro that was basically a front for a revolutionary cell. When the Spanish authorities found out about their stash of weapons, they had to move fast. Hidalgo didn't give a polished speech. He gave the Grito. He didn't even shout "Independence!" specifically; he shouted for the end of bad government and, interestingly, "Death to the Gachupines" (the Spanish-born elite).
Within days, his "army" was tens of thousands strong. It wasn't a professional military. It was a mob of farmers and laborers armed with slings, machetes, and hoes. They moved through the Bajío region like a tidal wave. When they hit Guanajuato, things got dark. The local Spaniards and wealthy criollos holed up in a massive granary called the Alhóndiga de Granaditas. The insurgents broke in and massacred almost everyone inside. This moment is crucial. It terrified the wealthy criollos who might have supported the revolution, making them realize that if Hidalgo won, their heads might be next on the chopping block.
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Morelos and the Shift to Guerilla Warfare
Hidalgo was eventually captured and executed in 1811. His head was literally hung in a cage on the corner of that granary in Guanajuato as a warning. It didn't work. The mantle passed to José María Morelos.
Morelos was a different beast. He was a brilliant strategist. While Hidalgo had a disorganized mob, Morelos built a disciplined, mobile force. He was also much clearer about what he wanted. In his document Sentimientos de la Nación, he called for total independence, the abolition of slavery, and the end of the caste system. He wanted Mexico to be a place where "vice is replaced by virtue."
But the Spanish were getting their act together. They sent Felix Calleja, a brutal but effective general, to crush the rebellion. Morelos was eventually caught and shot in 1815. At that point, the movement fell apart into fragmented guerilla bands. Think of guys like Vicente Guerrero and Guadalupe Victoria hiding in the mountains, keeping the flame alive but unable to actually take Mexico City. For a few years, it looked like the Spanish had won.
The Weirdest Plot Twist in History: Agustín de Iturbide
If you want to understand why Mexico is the way it is, you have to look at 1820. This is where the story gets bizarre. In Spain, a liberal revolution forced the King to accept a constitution. This freaked out the conservative elites in Mexico. They realized that if they stayed with Spain, they’d lose their privileges to a bunch of European liberals.
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Enter Agustín de Iturbide.
He was a Spanish officer who had spent years hunting down insurgents. Now, he flipped. He decided to lead the independence movement himself to save the social order. He met with his former enemy, the rebel leader Vicente Guerrero. They shook hands—the "Embrace of Acatempán"—and formed the Army of the Three Guarantees.
The three goals were:
- Religion (Catholicism remains the only faith).
- Independence (Mexico becomes a constitutional monarchy).
- Union (Equality between Spaniards and Mexicans).
This was the Plan of Iguala. It was a brilliant political compromise that almost everyone could get behind. Iturbide marched into Mexico City in 1821, and just like that, the Mexico War of Independence was technically over. But it wasn't a victory for the masses. It was a victory for the elites. Iturbide even crowned himself Emperor shortly after. It didn't last long—he was exiled and then shot when he tried to come back—but it set the stage for a century of political instability.
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Why the Details Matter Today
We often overlook the role of Afro-Mexicans in this struggle. Vicente Guerrero himself had African ancestry. The war wasn't just a "Spanish vs. Mexican" thing. It was a complex racial reckoning. By the time the dust settled, Mexico had officially ended slavery (decades before the US), but the social hierarchies remained deeply entrenched.
Historians like Lucas Alamán, who lived through it, noted that the country was left in absolute ruins. The silver mines—the engine of the economy—were flooded or destroyed. The transition from a colony to a nation wasn't a smooth graduation. It was a violent birth that left the country broke and vulnerable to the invasions that followed from the US and France.
Actionable Insights for the Modern Historian
If you’re looking to truly grasp this era beyond the surface-level dates, here is what you should actually do:
- Primary Source Check: Read the Sentimientos de la Nación. It’s short. It shows you that the revolution wasn't just about taxes; it was an early attempt at radical social justice in the Americas.
- Visual Context: Look up the murals by Diego Rivera in the National Palace. He paints the war with a specific political bias, but his depiction of the different factions—the clergy, the military, the peasants—is the best visual map of the conflict's complexity.
- Geographic Deep Dive: If you ever visit, go to the "Independence Route" in Guanajuato and Dolores Hidalgo. Standing in the Alhóndiga de Granaditas gives you a visceral sense of the scale of the violence that standard textbooks tend to gloss over.
- Comparison Study: Compare Iturbide’s rise to Napoleon’s. It explains why Mexico struggled with "caudillismo" (strongman rule) for so long. The war didn't just end Spanish rule; it created a template for military leaders to seize political power.
The Mexico War of Independence wasn't a single event. It was a series of failed revolutions that eventually succeeded through an unlikely alliance. It teaches us that the people who start a revolution are rarely the ones who finish it, and the "peace" that follows is often just as complicated as the war itself.