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On the 13th of August 1521,
Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec emperor was
captured. The indigenous allies of the Spaniards raided
Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec empire.
They didn’t know it at the time, but
they had been liberated from one oppressor and fallen in the hands of a
much more powerful authoritarian.
This was the beginning of three
centuries of Spanish rule. The new colony was named Nueva España,
New Spain.
The years that followed were
devastating. The conquerors brought with them diseases unknown to the
natives. The epidemics that broke out as well as the merciless workload
imposed upon the natives dramatically diminished the Indian
population. There were approximately 20 million Indians inhabiting
this territory before the Conquest, and after just one century of
Spanish rule there were only 1 million left!
In the early hours
of September 16, 1810, father
Hidalgo, accompanied by several conspirators –Iganacio
Allende, Doña Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez- rang the bell of his
little church, calling everyone to fight for liberty. This was the
beginning of the Independence War, which lasted 10 years.
Celebrating!
And this is the moment that every 16th
of September is re enacted in every plaza or zócalo of
Mexico, and commemorated by Mexicans all over the world. Streets,
houses, buildings and cars are decorated everywhere in the country. On
every street corner there are vendors selling flags, balloons,
sombreros and rehiletes -shuttlecock, all with
the green, white and red, our National Colors.
Flags wave from
practically every house and building. Lighted decorations are set up in
every city, the most spectacular being those of the Zócalo,
main plaza, in Mexico City. This main plaza of every town
and city is the place where the great 16 De Septiembre
celebrations take place. People of all ages come to this fiesta,
to take part in the collective gaiety! |
Live Mariachi Music bands play to the
delight of all present. There are also photography stands where one
can have a picture taken, attired with a sombrero and
atop a wooden horse!
The euphoria is collective and all are
prepared to shout, yell and make as much noise as possible with fake
trumpets, noisemakers and whistles!
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As the evening advances, the plaza gradually fills with more and more
people; suddenly there is practically no room to move. Excitement and
euphoria reach a crescendo at the culminating moment when a government
official arrives in the zócalo, at 11:00 P.M. to give
the grito or cry of Independence. This ritual recreates
the moment in which Father Hidalgo, gathered his
followers in Dolores Guanajuato.
It is
customary for our President to deliver the grito in
Mexico City’s zócalo. It is in this plaza, atop Palacio
Nacional, the National Palace -a beautiful colonial building
where the President’s offices are located-, that the original bell
rung by Hidalgo is placed. And this is the
bell that is rung
every 16th of September.
The ceremony reaches the high
point when the crowd joins in proudly shouting out the names of the
heroes of our Independence, to end with the exciting
VIVA MÉXICO!
When the grito
ceremony ends, the sky lights up with multicolored rockets that shower
our hearts with the pride of knowing that we are a free and
independent nation.
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2005
