Questions | Yonkers | Latino Communities
Mexican Culture in Yonkers
Document 6
Vocabulary
Monumentous: Something of great importance that will be remembered a very long time.
Retaliate: To take revenge, to repay someone in kind.
Gachopines: Mexican term for people from Spain.
Exploited: Made use of.
Decades: Sets of ten years.
Despotic: Tyrant, oppressive.
Persevered: Maintained, persisted.
Grito: Cry, shout.
Catalyst: Something that causes or begins a reaction without taking part in it.
The Story of Hidalgo's Call for Mexican Independence
"Shortly before dawn on September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla made a monumentous decision that revolutionized the course of Mexican history. Within hours, Hidalgo, a Catholic priest in the village of Dolores, ordered the arrest of Dolores' native Spaniards. Then Hidalgo rang the church bell as he customarily did to call the indians to mass. The message that Hidalgo gave to the indians and mestizos called them to retaliate against the hated gachopines or native Spaniards who had exploited and oppressed Mexicans for ten generations…"
"…Eleven years of war, decades of despotic Mexican rulers and political unrest proceeded Hidalgo's cry of Dolores. Yet throughout the years of turmoil, El Grito de Dolores, "Mexicanos, viva México," has persevered. Every year at midnight on September 15, Mexicans shout the grito, honoring the crucial, impulsive action that was the catalyst for the country's bloody struggle for independence from Spain."
Document 6: Excerpts from “The Story of Hidalgo’s Call for Mexican Independence,” Online. Internet. http://www.mexonline.com/grito.htm.
Document 6 Short-Answer Questions
- Why do Mexicans celebrate their Independence Day on September 15?
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