Group+3+Mexican+Revolution

= **Z is for Zapata...and His Influence** = **"It is better to die on your feet then live on your knees."** --- Emiliano Zapata

1. Military Means to an End 2. Economic Impacts 3. Political Impacts

This page is for the purpose of displaying a growing document on Zapata's legacy in the Mexican Revolution. We hope that this will not only be informative for us, but entertaining for those who wish to learn more about this exciting period in world history! Hooray for studious natures!

We plan on splitting this essay into three distinct, yet inter-related chunks, that deal with Zapata's areas of influence: his military means, his economic impact, and his political play and clout. For ease of organization and understanding the essay will be __**color coded**__ by subject.

Red =Military Green =Economics Black=Political


 * Military Means to an End**

 Emiliano Zapata, born August 8th, 1879 in Anenecuilco, Mexico, is best known as a Mexican revolutionary who fought for agrarian reforms during the Mexican Revolution of 1910 (Parkinson  20). His career with the military started when, at the age of 17, he was arrested as he had taken part in a peasant protest against the [|hacienda] that had taken their land. He obtained a pardon and then continued his protestations. His continued illegal action resulted in Zapata (Ink and Internet) being drafted into the army. He served for six months and was discharged to train horses for a hacendado (Parkinson 22). His first formal political position came in 1909 when he was elected as president of the board of defense for his neighbors. After unsuccessful negotiations with the haciendados, a group of peasants and Zapata forcefully occupied and then redistribu t ed the land back to the peasants (Knight 190). 

Díaz, the tyrannical president of the time, strong-armed his political opponents, usually imprisoning and killing them. In the case of Francisco Madero, Díaz chose exile, which allowed Madero to formulate political and revolutionary plans. Once Madero, the now self-declared provisional president, returned from exile in 1910, Zapata, along with Pancho Villa and [|Pascual Orozco], allied themselves with Madero, for the [|Plan of San Luis Potosí]'s land reforms strongly matched his own agrarian ethics (Knight 192). Winning decisive victories in the May of 1911, Zapata, along with other outside influences, forced the politically and militarily weakened Díaz to atte mpt agreement with Madero, and thus the [|Treaty of Ciudad Juárez] was formed (Keen 283). Once Madero had signed the Treaty, which removed Díaz, but left his institutions intact, Zapata, disappointed with the lack of reform that Madero had promised, continued his fight for "Tierra y Libertad (Knight 218)." The provisional president, León de la Barra, antagonized Zapata by sending federal forces into Morelos in response to Zapata’s continued land confiscation. 

It was soon obvious that Madero, elected by a huge majority, had no plans to institute any of the changes outlined in his Plan of San Luis Potosí. Regarding this as a betrayal, Zapata concocted his own statement, the [|Plan de Ayala], and continued with his revolutionary activities (Knight 158-9). Though initiating the [|Constitution of 1917], Madero did not uphold its articles and leaned heavily to the right, favoring the aristocrats and hacendados that Zapata was fighting against. In February of 1913 Huerta usurped the presidency from Madero in a coup d'état (Parkinson 144-5). Huerta's regime was much like that of Po rfirio Díaz's, and this caused Zapata to only respond with a stronger display of arms and revolutionary spirit, forcing Huerta to commit many troops to the south. As Huerta gradually lost power the United States switched thier interference policy, funneling arms to the revolutionaries whilst applying political pressure to the president. This resulted in Huerta being deposed from his high position. 

With Huerta removed from the presidential office, having fled to Europe, and Carranza acting as the president of the provisional Mexican government, a meeting of the revolutionary leaders was imminent (Parkinson 181). After the political debacle in the October of 1914 that was the [|Aquascalientes Convention] the revolutionaries and ruling party became divided by Carranza’s refusal to accept the convention’s decisions. Villa and Zapata marched on the capital and occupied it, but, due to a combination of skillful politics and manipulations of the lower class, it was retaken by Obregón during the end of January, 1915 (Parkinson 184-5). Falling back, the Zapatistas were driven into Morelos by General Pablo González. Carranza, finally becoming established as president, continued to fight the revolutionaries. He disposed of Zapata on April 10, 1919 when, coming to inspect troops that had supposedly defected from Carranza’s army, Zapata was slain by the treacherous troops (Keen 295). <span style="color: rgb(161, 12, 12)"><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245)"><span style="background-color: rgb(186, 13, 13)"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">


 * Economic Impacts**

<span style="color: rgb(19, 118, 39)">Emiliano Zapata was first and foremost a man of the people. He found Diaz’s Mexico to be a place of injustice to those who had the most invested in the land of Mexico - the peasants. His most obvious difference of governing compared to Porfirio Diaz was on the issue of [|agrarian] reform. (Keen 285) He wanted most to return lands and powers to indigenous peoples rather than already wealthy military men. He found what he originally thought to be a like minded leader in the self appointed new president, Francisco Madero. However, when Zapata realized that Madero’s support of the Plan of San Luis Potosi did not extend to any actual implementation of land reform, he responded by bringing forth the Plan of Ayala, which focused on his plans of restoring land rights to the peasants and indigenous peoples.

The economic status of most Mexican’s during this period was fairly poor. Coming out of the bloody regime of Diaz, most peasants worked long and difficult hours in the fields. Trade was often strained due to the uncertainty of political leaders. The United States was particularly wary of "the Attila of the South", as Zapata was known, going so far as to show outspoken support for Zapata's adversary, Venustio Carranza. Zapata was determined however, to carry out the wishes and needs of the peasant class, realizing that it was hard working small farmers who most needed a voice and a leader in governing.

Zapata’s land reform had effects that lasted beyond his own lifetime. On April 10, 1922, as a direct result of the efforts of the Zapatistas, the Agrarian Regulartory Law, which protected and provided for the care of county poor, was passed by Obregon. As the Mexican economy tried to rebuild in the 1920’s however, those who Zapata fought for most, the peasants, found it difficult to get by with the rising prices of goods. Despite many of them being skilled farmers, few had the business savvy required to deal with brokers and thus had some difficulties reaching a market. In Morelos specifically, farmers often were forced to compromise with neighbors and take on extra work. Even so, by 1927, 80% of farming families in Morelos owned their own land. (Womak Jr., 373-6)

When looking back on the economic history of Mexico, it’s impossible to ignore the impacts of Emiliano Zapata. Through unparalleled determination, Zapata stood for the rights of the farmer, the rancher, and the common man. Although some might argue that he was not ultimately successful in attaining equal rights for the peasants, he undoubtedly provided a pathway to possible success that did not exist before. To the best of his ability, Zapata truly did bring “Tierra y Libertad” to Morelos and to Mexicans.

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 * Political Impacts**

In the beginning of the Mexican Revolution, it was initially Francisco Madero’s political ideals that guided the radical [|mestizo] revolutionary known as Emiliano Zapata. Madero was a strong critic of the presidency of Porfirio Diaz and his social practices. Madero wanted only small social reforms that would coincide with capitalist democracy. After an unfortunate 1910 election, Madero was arrested and exiled leaving him with no choice (in his opinion) but to launch a revolution against Diaz’s reign. Diaz was able to launch a successful beginning to revolution with the personal politics of Zapata backing him up. (Keen 283-285)

Zapata absolutely despised the Diaz presidency for everything it stood for. Diaz had seized the last communal lands of the Indians, whose blood was running through Zapata’s veins. Zapata had already raised an insurgent army for this cause and immediately pledged himself to Madero. (Brenner pct. 71)

The immediate impact that Zapata made on Mexican politics was his aggressive campaign, which made Diaz compromise and sign the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez on May 21st, 1911. This calmed down tensions and Madero considered it a victory. (Keen 283) This was short lived, and Zapata went back to Morelos where he put his own policy in of seizing land and giving it to the local villages. Over this time period, Madero seized power and started his administration in October of 1911.

Madero wasn’t quite the hope that Zapata had imagined, and resulted in Zapata’s pinnacle of politics, The Plan de Ayala. This document was a declaration of land claims and how they would be returned to their owners. It was then that the Zapatista movement was born. (Keen 285)

The Zapatista movement against Madero was short lived as Zapata’s revolution impacted Madero’s presidency in terms of diplomacy with the United States. The United States put aggressive pressure on Madero’s presidency, which lead to the rise of General Huerta to presidency on February 22, 1913. This marked the formation of the Anti-Huerta coalition with Villa, [|Carranza], and Obregon. (Keen 288)

While on the same side, Villa and Zapata had different ideas, a foreshadowing of future events. In terms of agrarian reform, Zapata’s gave confiscated lands back to the people, Villa kept lands under state control until after the revolution. However, it was Carranza that took control of the “Constitutionalist” movement against Huerta. (Keen 290)

After the fall of Huerta, Zapata and Villa were forced to take on Carranza because he refused to comply with the Aguascalientes convention that promoted Zapata’s Plan de Ayala. (Keen 290) Zapata and Villa chased Carranza to [|Veracruz], leaving the two bandits to determine Mexico’s future. December 4th, 1914 marked the first agreement of Zapata and Villa, but their government never got too far off the ground. Carranza returned and took back Mexico City from the two Bandits sending Villa north, and Zapata south. (Traywick 96)

Zapata remained a elusive figure during Carranza’s presidency. When failing to acknowledge Carranza’s presidency (his personal last political impact), Carranza posted a bounty on Zapata’s head, eventually leading to his betrayal and death. (Traywick 100)

Zapata’s political impacts on the future were backed by his legend. His Robin Hood like politics are an inspiration to Mexicans everywhere, and similar reforms to Zapata’s followed his death.


 * Sources**

Internet;

The History of Zapata. Zapata's, True Mexican Food. September 4, 2008. **[|[www.zapatasonline.com/ history.html]]**

Ink and Internet--Emiliano Zapata. University of Tennessee at Knoxville. September 8-14, 2008. [[|http://www.cs.utk.edu/~miturria/project/zapata.html]].

Books;

Brenner, Anita. The Wind that Swept Mexico. New York and London, Harper & Brothers., 1943

<span style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial">Keen, Benjamin, and Keith Haynes. __A History of Latin America.__ New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.<span style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial">

<span style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial">Knight, Alan. __The Mexican Revolution.__ Volume 1. New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1986.

Parkinson, Roger. __Zapata.__ New York: Scarborough House, 1975.

Traywick, Ben. Men and Mysteries in Mexico. Arizona, Red Marie's Bookstore., 2000

Womack Jr, John. Zapata and the Mexican Revolution. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1969.

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