This week we celebrate a great American holiday.

Mothers Day? Well no, not exactly… Cinco de
Mayo.

You see, I was about 12 hours late on my blog deadline (again)
as I thought I knew where this story line would lead…Mexican food, singing and
dancing. But I found myself being lead down an entirely different path.

Fact # 1: Cinco de Mayo (Spanish
for "fifth of May") is a holiday commemorating the date when 4,000
machete-wielding Mexicans under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín, defeated an army of 8,000 invading French forces
at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

Fact # 2: Cinco de Mayo is celebrated as a regional holiday,
and is limited to the state of Puebla
and is celebrated only sporadically in the rest of Mexico. The date is observed
mostly in the United States
as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

Now I really didn’t believe that one, so I spoke with some
Mexican-Americans with whom I work.

Rosendo Mata was born in Yuriria, Guanajuato, Mexico and
now lives in Kennett Square. I asked him what he knew about Cinco de Mayo. He
answered that it was a decisive battle between the Mexicans and French at
Puebla.

I then asked him how important the day was to him and how
his family celebrated. He answered that it wasn’t important and that they don’t
celebrate it, as his home town was far from Puebla.

Mata then added, “People here celebrate it more than in
Mexico because they think it’s like St Patrick’s Day and an excuse to drink.

Indeed, according to the Houston Chronicle, “The holiday …didn't
gain popularity until the 1980s when marketers, especially beer companies,
capitalized on the celebratory nature of the day and began to promote it."
And thus what started out as a minor holiday in Mexico has become a major
beer-drinking fiesta in the states.

Fact # 3: Cinco de Mayo is not the Mexican Fourth of July.

Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16 and
commemorates Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla ringing the bell of his little
church in the early hours of September 16, 1810—some 50 years earlier—calling
everyone to fight for liberty from Spain.

Fact # 4: The 1862 Battle of Puebla on 5 May had a direct
bearing on the Union victory in our Civil War.

Now wait—I’ve watched Ken Burns’ Civil War series on PBS at
least a dozen times and I don’t remember that part.

In 1862, there were suspicions that the real goal of Napoleon
III’s army in Mexico, other than collecting a debt owed to his country, was to
break up the Union by aiding the Confederacy. The Mexican victory against the
French at Puebla kept the French from re-supplying the Confederates and allowed
the Union to realize historic victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg one year
later.

Fact # 5: Cinco de Mayo is an American holiday.

Yes, really. On June 7, 2005, the U.S. Congress
issued a Concurrent Resolution calling on the president to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of
the United States to observe Cinco de Mayo with appropriate ceremonies and
activities.

So lift your Dos Equis, grab a handful of tortilla chips and
say it with me…

Viva El Cinco de Mayo!

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