Acuna, Rodolfo F <rudy.acuna@csun.

edu>

Excerpt Tenth Grade History, a Mexican American Chronicle, by Rudy Acuna

A single man or woman does not create a revolution, inequality does. In

1910, Mexico seemed firmly under Porfirio Díaz’s control. Two years before
Francisco Madero a wealthy criollo from Coahuila wrote a book, The
Presidential Succession of 1910. Madero called for the popular election of
the Vice-President. Since there was no question about Díaz being the
candidate, Madero reasoned that the people should at least choose the
Vice- President. This book attracted readers
and made Madero a national figure.

In 1910, delegates at the anti-reelection convention nominated Madero for

the Presidency. At first, Díaz did not take Madero seriously, publicly joking
about him. However, it was soon evident that Madero enjoyed widespread
support, so Díaz jailed him. Revolts erupted throughout Mexico. Díaz, eighty
years old, refused to relinquish power and manipulated the vote, “winning”
the election.

Meanwhile, in the United States these events unleashed events and

emotions that rippled through the corridors of migration on both sides of the
border. On November 3, 1910, Antonio Rodríguez, 20, was lynched at Rock
Springs, Texas, Regeneración angrily wrote, “Mexicans know that there are
no guarantees in our country nor abroad.” Less than a week later Toribio
Ortega and some sixty-five villagers clashed with government forces at
Cuchillo Parado in the Conchos Valley of northeast Chihuahua. Ortega
worked as a ranch hand in Shafter and Marfa, Texas, and knew English. The
lynching outraged him and his followers as it did students at Cd. Chihuahua
students who staged anti-American demonstrations.

In June 1911, a mob dragged Antonio Gómez, 14, from a cell in Thorndale,
TexasA mob beat him, tied to the back of a buggy and pulled his body around
town. The following month, the townspeople of Pecos,Texas, lynched León
Cárdenas Martínez, 15. Richardo Flores Magón wrote, “I have not witnessed
a people as imbecile as the Americans in general. They are taught in school
that the U.S. is unique. Mexicans are brutally hated. There is no justice in
court for the Mexican who is considered to be subhuman. Miserable
cowboys.”[i] William D. Carrigan estimates, “between 1848 and 1928, mobs
lynched at least 597 Mexicans.”[ii]

In 1910 Mexico numbered approximately fifteen million people. The U.S.

numbered ninety-two million. Mexico did not reach the population it had in
1519 until 1940 (25 million). The Revolution was costly. Mexico lost
approximately 1.5 million people and over 200,000 fled abroad, mostly to the
United States.

Pancho Villa (1878-1923) defied both the Mexican and American

governments to become an icon, popularizing the revolution in Chihuahua.
He was often portrayed riding in front of his men. The adelitas, women fought
alongside the troops and became another icon of the Storm that Swept
Mexico.[iii]The third was Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919) who led the
revolutionary army in the south in the state of Morelos. His father lost his
land to large landowners. Zapata rallied around the grito of Tierra y Libertad.
People were not free without land. Many other leaders emerged during and
after the revolution.

Villa and Zapata became symbols of the Mexican Revolution. Zapata

mobilized villagers of the state of Morelos and throughout southern Mexico.
Pancho Villa was from Durango and Chihuahua were the most visible. The
national figures were Venustiano Carranza, an aristocratic state governor
turned rebel; and Álvaro Obregón, the brilliant military and political
strategist, who in 1920 assumed the presidency after ten years of conflict
and popular upheaval. A loyal follower of Madero, Villa commanded the
Constitutionalist Army’s División del Norte (Division of the North). After
Victoriano Huerta’s coup, Villa formed his own army opposing Huerta.
General John Pershing and his invading army chased Villa but never caught
him. . Villa was assassinated at Parral on July 20, 1923.

As important as Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa were they were not the
entire story. It was the blood of over a million Mexicans that won their
constitutional rights. Although the assassination of Emiliano Zapata on April
10, 1919 and the murder of Pancho Villa on July 20, 1923 symbolically ended
the revolution.

The Mexican Constitution of 1917 was the most

important accomplishment of the Mexican Revolution.[iv] It sought to
remedy the social, political and economic grievances that divided Mexicans.
On paper, Mexico regained control over its natural resources. Additionally,
the constitution recognized social and labor rights; the separation of church
and state; and it granted universal male suffrage. Article 3 secularized public
education and paved the way for José Vasconcelos in the 1920s. Article 3
also forbade censorship of prohibited books, and guaranteed free,
mandatory, and lay education. One of the most controversial
provisions was the protection of the subsoil, or natural resources that in
theory belonged to the nation. Article 27 vested the nation with the direct
ownership of all natural resources, i.e., all minerals and water. Only
Mexicans had the right to own land, water, and minerals or to acquire
concessions for exploitation. Article 28 prohibited monopolies of any kind
and Article 123 empowered the labor. The Mexican Constitution of 1917 was
the first Constitution that protected social rights.

The Institutionalization of the Revolution

The institutionalization of the Revolution went forward; in 1920, President

Alvaro Obregón (1920-24) appointed Vasconcelos secretary of education.
Vasconcelos focused on building a network of rural schools and dispatched
hundreds of teachers to remote villages. Between 1920 and 1924, Mexico
established more than one-thousand rural schools and Vasconcelos
commissioned Mexican muralists to memorialize the Mexican Revolution
following the example of the Maya who venerated their history on the walls of
the pyramids and its buildings.

Networks of normalistas (rural school teachers) and public art are to this day
defenders of the Mexican collective memory. If there is any possible
criticism of the Revolution it is that it fostered a revitalization of the
nationalism of 19th century Mexican Liberals. The Indigenous People learned
that lesson in the 19th century.

The most renowned Mexican Presidents was, Lázaro Cárdenas (1895- 1970),
a Tarascan from Michoacán. Even his most bitter critics say he was an
honest and dedicated President. Lázaro Cárdenas was president during the
post-revolutionary years of 1934 to 1940.

While in office, Cárdenas cleaned up the government and renewed the

direction and vigor of the revolution. He travelled throughout Mexico visiting
with the people. He travelled by rail, burro, and on foot. Always making
himself available to the ordinary people, he extended a standing invitation to
all Mexicans to wire him collect if they had any problems. During his
presidency, he protected labor and the campesino (the small farmer). Living
until 1970, he linked the greatest achievements of the revolution to the
present.

The most popular and yet controversial act of Cárdenas was the
expropriation of oil fields owned by foreign companies. It is said that Mexico
during the Porfiriato was the mother of foreigners and the stepmother of
Mexicans. By the 1930’s foreign companies owned vast holdings. As
mentioned, under the Constitution of 1917, under Article 27 the sub-soil
belonged to the nation. If it was in the best interest of its citizens, the
government could take it back. Foreign companies did not like it and the
government and the foreign oil companies entered into a gentlemen’s
agreement. The foreign oil companies could continue operating without
interference as long as they respected the law. A labor dispute arose that
jeopardized this agreement. Under mediation the dispute was decided in
favor of the workers. The Mexican courts ordered the companies to pay the
higher wages; the oil companies ignored the ruling so Cárdenas confiscated
the properties. Eventually, Mexico and the United States reached an
agreement.

During the controversy, Cárdenas reminded the British representative that

Britain had not repaid the United States its World War I war debts. Britain
withdrew from Mexico. This action is said to have put Mexico on the road to
economic independence. History teaches differently and today the
Constitution of 1917 is in danger.

People’s Literature

Since the Revolution many of its accomplishments have been eroded. It

could be said that aside from the Constitution of 1917, its greatest legacy
was its institutional memory that literature, music and art have kept alive.
The passion generated from the upheaval produced a large body of
literature. They formed the memories of modern Mexicans. The Mexican
Revolution inspired novels such as Laura Esquivel’s Como Agua Para
Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate, 1989). The most celebrated of the
contemporary Mexican authors were Carlos Fuentes, The Death of Artemio
Cruz (1962), Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo (1961), and Octavio Paz, El laberinto
de la soledad (1950).

All evoke inspiration from Mariano Azuela González (1873- 1952). His Los de
Abajo is the prototype of the novel of the Mexican Revolution. The Underdogs
(1915) was his masterwork. Azuela was a prolific writer of novels, theatre
works and literary criticism. He wrote about every facet of the Revolution.

Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012) was one of many Mexican novelists of the

Mexican Revolution. Among his books are The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962),
Aura (1962), Terra Nostra (1975), The Old Gringo (1985) and Christopher
Unborn (1987). Fuentes captured the complicated essence of his country’s
history. Fuentes was a contemporary of poet Octavio Paz and Mexican Elena
Poniatowska (1932-Present), a politically involved author.

The history of the Mexican Revolution is preserved by oral tradition and

corridos, Mexican folk ballads put the epic to music. Las Adelitas dedicated
to the women soldaderas who followed the revolutionary troops into
combat.[v] The importance of the corrido is easily grasped: In 1910
out of fewer than 15 million Mexicans less than 12 million knew how to read
or write; 3.6 million could. For them, the folk ballad defined the Revolution’s
goals and its heroes. It was a living history and is as popular and vivid today
as it was in 1920.[vi]

The Corridos: The People’s Music

As mentioned, folk music of the revolution filled Mexico. Corridos (ballads)

praising the revolutionary heroes were composed and sung by the common
folk. All it took was a guitar and a singer. The following is an excerpt from one
of many corridos dedicated to Doroteo Arango, alias Pancho Villa.

“Pancho Villa en Torreón Year of nineteen hundred and thirty-eight is the

time

For me to convey my recollections of the taking of Torreón.

General Francisco Villa says “I don’t care about anything,

Let’s go, boys, and take Torreón Remember (as you did) in Ojinaga.” At the
cry of: “Long live Villa!”

Those soldiers fought

“Long live the Ortega Brigade And also don Raúl Madero!” The grenades
exploded Scattering buckshot, The Federals came down

Fleeing from their emplacements Long live Villa forever In the hearts of
Mexicans! Because your name is brave

And you conquered the tyrants. Now with this (verse)

I bid farewell.

Long live the Revolution! Here ends the corrido About the taking of
Torreón”.130

The most popular corrido among the troops was las

Adelitas:

Adelita

If Adelita went away with another

I would follow her by land and by sea

by sea in a warship

by land in a military train

The bugle sounds, to announce the war

the brave warrior comes out to fight

rivers of blood will flow

a tyrant in power, never

And if I died in battle

and if my body will lie in the ground

Adelita for God´s sake I beg you

don´t cry for me

Don´t cry anymore my dear Adelita

don´t cry my dear woman

don´t be ungrateful with me

don´t make me suffer

I say goodbye now, my dear Adelita

I will go away with great pleasure

I carry your picture in my chest

like a shield, to win every battle

I am a soldier and my country summons me

to the fields, to fight

Adelita, dear Adelita

for God´s sake, never forget me

By night, walking in the field

I hear the bugle calling for a meeting

and I repeat deeply in my soul

Adelita is my only love

I say goodbye now, my dear Adelita

I would like to carry a memory of you

I carry your picture in my chest

like a shield, to win every battle

Vast number of corridos have survived and are still popular in Mexico and the
United State[vii]

Mexico also produced classical music: Carlos Chávez, Mexico’s great

orchestral conductor and composer, who used Indigenous melodies as a
base for works that became the foundation for a national music. Silvestre
Revueltas was also a renowned classical composer. Young composers
during this renaissance wrote songs that were translated into many foreign
languages. Classics such as the great Mexican music composer Agustín
Lara’s “Granada” are the most obvious expressions of Mexico’s rich musical
tradition.
The Arts and Literature of the Revolution

A cultural renaissance accompanied the political changes. Artists portrayed

original Mexican subjects. They embodied Mexican Indigenous legends and
Indigenous customs. Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, José
Vasconcelos, commissioned Mexican artists to decorate the walls of public
buildings. The mural renaissance strengthened nationalism. Many young
artists took up the challenge and depicted native Mexico

David Siqueiros (1898-1974), was a former revolutionary soldier while Diego

Rivera (1886-1957), the most flamboyant of the Mexican artists, wore two
holstered guns while painting to symbolize his commitment to the
revolution. Rivera’s works are warm and human, featuring revolutionary
subjects. He studied in Italy and was acquainted with the fresco paintings of
the Italian Renaissance. About this time, the Maya wall paintings of the
Seventh Century were discovered. Rivera went to study these paintings and
it is said to have been so overcome that he wept, realizing that his people
pioneered mural painting over a thousand years ago. Diego Rivera (1886-
1957) emulated Indigenous masters. He flamboyantly painted with a broad
brush on the walls of the buildings of Mexico City saying that art belonged to
the people not to the rich.

José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949) is considered the best of the three great
Mexican artists, possessing great force and an intense sense of form. He is
famous for his cartoons of the revolution that graphically document the
emergence of Mexico after the revolution.

David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) was a Mexican social realist painter. He

painted large murals in fresco, along with Diego Rivera and José Clemente
Orozco, Siqueiros was a founder of Mexican Muralism. He was the youngest
and the most radical politically. His influence on the Chicano Movement is
indelible.

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) painted self-portraits. She explored questions of

identity, class, and race. Frida’s life experiences guided her estimated two-
hundred paintings, sketches and drawings. Married to Diego Rivera she was
a dedicated communist. Kahlo painted with vibrant colors influenced by
indigenous Mexican cultures of Mexico and incorporated European Realism,
Symbolism, and Surrealism.

Agustín Yáñez (1904-1980) epic work Al Filo del Agua (On the Edge of the
Storm) was published in 1947.[viii] It represented the best of the novels of
the revolution. Yañez describes the people of a small Mexican village just
before the revolution. The author masterfully recreates Mexico on the edge
of the revolution, in the fading moments of the Díaz regime. It is a novel of
social protest, written with a superb technique. Below

“At night, at first stir of dawn, throughout the long course of the morning, in
the heat of the noonday sun, in the evening light, they may be seen—strong,
radiant, colorless, long-suffering old women, matrons, maidens in the
bloom of youth, young girls; they may be seen on the church steps, in the
deserted streets, inside the shops, and glimpsed through a few, the very few,
furtively open doors.”[ix]

Yáñez describes the frustration of the townspeople:

“The harvest was bad. Heaven rained down its punishment upon a region
that could give birth to such a criminal as Damian, whose wickedness had
found its way even into the newspapers. There was little rain. A severe
drought lasted through August into September, an unheard- of thing, which
made God’s anger manifest, unappeased by petitions, vows and pleas for
pardon. Plague destroyed the livestock. Crop-destroying pests

infested the land as they had not done for years.”[x]

The thrust of much of the literary and cultural expression is the recovery of
the memory. It was inspired by the nationalist fervor of the Revolution. As
mentioned,the foremost philosopher of the day was José Vasconcelos
(1882-1959). Teacher, philosopher, lover of knowledge, he promoted
education and culture during his tenure as Minister of Education. Under
Vasconcelos, Mexico approved its largest budget for education to date. He
fought with contemporaries who were preoccupied with getting Mexico on
sound economic footing, pointing out that the revolution had to be
accompanied with bold advancements in education. Vasconcelos also
established specialized schools in agriculture and occupational skills,
encouraging the publication of inexpensive books, and bought and
distributed free textbooks to the poor. Although a nationalist, Vasconcelos
printed the classics and distributed to the people, so that they could have
the works of Homer, Dante and Plato in their own homes.

Despite all this public fanfare, Vasconcelos found time to write numerous
works. Among them are La Raza Cósmica and Indologia. In these works, he
presents idealistic visions of Mexico’s future and takes up the theme of a
new race, a combination of the best of Europe and the Americas, the
Spaniard and the Indigenous peoples. His works expressed the philosophy of
a future “fifth race” in the Americas that would combine the best attributes
the Indigenous and European. Vasconcelos must be read in the context of
the times, the fervor of the Revolution and the hopes of the Mexican People.
It was an expression of them, not now.

Meanwhile, Mexico’s intellectual revolution continued. Revolutionaries

reopened the university and it became a mecca for students from all over the
world. Mexican intellectuals seized the intellectual leadership from
Argentina so that today more books are published in Mexico than in any other
place in Latin America.

Mexico also produced many outstanding intellectual leaders. Antonio Caso

(1883-1946), a widely- known Mexican philosopher, was a conservative, and
not in tune with the revolution, but Mexicans nevertheless revered and
respected him. Alfonso Reyes (1889-1959) was an essayist and literary critic.
His works are on world themes and many literary experts judge him one of
the most erudite thinkers of the century. Below is a passage from his Mexico
in a Nutshell.135

“Mexico is at once a world of mystery and clarity; clarity in her landscape,

mystery in the soul of her people. The dazzling light sculptures objects and
brings them close, naked and glowing, offering temptations to the eyes.
Mountains shimmer in the distance; on the volcanoes snow glistens amid
rose and silver tints; eagles soar serenely out of sight in the deep blue, “like
nails that sink slowly,” says Manuel José Othon, our poet of the deserts.
There is no mist, only clouds, bright-edged and so firmly molded they seem
almost tangible. Instead of color there are strong contrasts of light and
shade; the effect is stark sincerity.”[xi]

Octavio Paz (1914-1998) was an essayist, poet, playwright, editor, diplomat

and Nobel Prize winner. The Labyrinth of Solitude: Life and Thought in
Mexico, translated intoEnglish, is widely read in universities. Here is a
passage from the work that analyzes part of the Mexican ideal of manliness.

“All these expressions reveal that the Mexican views life as combat. This
attitude does not make him any different from anyone else in the modern
world. For other people, however, the manly ideal consists in an open and
aggressive fondness for combat, whereas we emphasize defensiveness, the
readiness to repel any attack.”

“The Mexican macho—the male—is a hermetic being closed in himself,

capable of guarding both himself and whatever has been confided to him.
Manliness is judged according to one’s invulnerability to enemy arms or the
impacts of the outside world. Stoicism is the most exalted of our military and
political attributes.
Our history is full of expressions and incidents that demonstrate the
indifference of our heroes toward suffering or danger. We are taught from
childhood to accept defeat with dignity, a conception that is certainly not
ignoble. And if we are not all good stoics like Juárez and Cuauhtémoc, at
least we can be resigned and patient and long-suffering. Resignation is one
of our most popular virtues. We admire fortitude in the face of adversity more
than the most brilliant triumph.”[xii]

Samuel Ramos (1897-1959) a philosopher of international reputation. His

book, The Profile of Man and Culture in Mexico, translated into English; it
analyzes life in Mexico and makes a profound psychological study of the
Mexican man. Here is a
discussion of the Mexican Revolution as a creator of Mexican identity.

“The Mexican Revolution was, among other things, a nationalistic

movement. It uncovered a false Mexico, imitative of Europe and led by the
French-fried regime of Porfirio Díaz. It vindicated the Indians by reinstating
them in the national community . . . The Revolution was nevertheless the
moment when the main cause of national failure was recognized as the
indiscriminate substitution of foreign remedies for a quest of solutions
naturally adaptable to the problems themselves. Finally, the absurd desire to
imitate was cured. It was then that Mexicans realized they had lived in
ignorance of their own reality, and now they felt the urgency to observe and
comprehend it. For the first time, new economic social and political systems
were seriously considered, including those without a foreign trademark.
“[xiii]

The Return of the Científicos

In 2018 Mexico was at a critical juncture. It was among the largest Spanish-
speaking nations in the world and the tenth largest with an estimated 132
million people, almost tenfold its population in 1910. Inequality plagues
Mexico. Some fifty percent of Mexicans live below the poverty line;
seventeen percent live in poverty. This is occurring while many billionaires
Mexico if the standard of its progress. Mexico has adopted the U.S.
neoliberal model of privatization, the return to the days of the cientificos and
the times of Porfirio Díaz as well as increasing inequality.
Will this result in a storm like the one that swept Mexico in 1910? It must be
remembered that while the Mexican Revolution brought about dramatic
changes it also delayed the resolution of lo indigena.

Forjando Patria
Despite the positive outcomes of the Mexican Revolution it did delay a
resolution of the Indigena Question. From the outset of the War of
Independence Mexicans were in denial about the Indigena Question. The
Revolution glorified the Indigenous People and the Mesoamerican Culture.
However, Mexicans failed to peel the onion and deal with the effects of
colonialism and its treatment of Native Mexicans. At the time, the Mexican
anthologist Manuel Gamio brought up the Indgena Question but was
drowned out by Nationalism and the cult of the mestizo nor address the
existence of the castas and their affect on Mexicans..

Gamio is often referred to as the father of Mexico’s anthropological studies.

In 1916, in the midst of the Mexican Revolution Gamio wrote Forjando Patria
literally swimming against the current of Mexican Nationalism generated by
the Mexican Revolution that romanticized Mexican mestizaje. Gamio
criticized this romantic idealism and countered the new nationalism,
insisting on propagating the enduring legacy of the Indigenous civilizations.
His argument stopped short of promoting full sovereignty for indigenous
communities, arguing instead for self-governing organizations. Gamio
sought to incorporate the Indigenismo and put the question of what about
the people who founded Mexico?

In the United States, Forjando Patria was eclipsed by Gamio’s The Mexican
Immigrant: His Life Story (1931) that may have been the first attempt to
represent Mexican immigrant voices and experiences of the Mexican
immigrant. Gamio gives a historical insight into immigration politics and
draws attention to the plight of the Mexican immigrant in the US. This work
has grown in importance with the growth and development of the Mexican
population in the US and the popularity of immigration studies. Forjando
Patria remains at the heart of the Mexican identity on both sides of the
border.
[i] Ricardo Flores Magón, “El Niño niño mártir,” Regeneración, núm. 95, 22
de junio de 1912. http://archivomagon.net/obras-completas/art-
periodisticos-1900-1918/1912/1912-150/ RFM, “A salvar a un inocente,”
Ricardo Flores Magón. Regeneración, núm. 54, septiembre 9, 1911.
http://archivomagon.net/obras-completas/art-periodisticos-1900-
1918/1911/1911-139/ RFM,“El niño mártir.” Regeneración, núm. 94, 15 de
junio de 1912

[ii] William D. Carrigan, Clive Webb, Forgotten Dead: Mob Violence Against
Mexicans in the United States, 1848-1928 (Cambridge: Oxford University
Press,2013).

[iii] José Doroteo Arango Arámbula AKA Pancho Villa (1878-1923) in San Juan
del Rio, Durango. Anita Brenner, The Wind that Swept Mexico: The History of
the Mexican Revolution (Austin: University of Texas Press; New edition, 1984)

[iv] José Maria Serna de la Garza, The Constitution of Mexico: A Contextual

Analysis (Hart Publishing, 2013).Salvador Martinez De Alva , “The Mexican
Constitution of 1917,” The American Political Science Review, 1 May 1917,
Vol.11(2), pp.379-381.

[v] Francisco de la Torre, “La Adelita, el corrido más popular de la Revolución

Mexicana, Centauro del Norte,” May 11, 2015.
http://centaurodelnorte.com/la-adeli- ta-corrido-popular-revolucion-
mexicana/#ixzz4n8sjD49Q

[vi] James Presley, “Mexican Views on Rural Education, 1900-1910,” The

Americas, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jul., 1963), pp. 64-71.

Lee Stacy (ed), Mexico and the United States (Marshall Cavendish Corp,
2002) ), p. 466.
[vii] Francisco de la Torre, “La Adelita, el corrido más popular de la
Revolución Mexicana,” centauro de lnorte, May 11,
2015. https://centaurodelnorte.com/la-adelita-corrido-popular-revolucion-
mexicana/ La Adelita (English translation). Artist: Jorge Negrete (Jorge
Alberto Negrete Moreno) Song: La Adelita. https://lyricstranslate.com/en/la-
adelita-adelita.html

[viii] Augustin Yanez, The Edge of the Storm, translated by Ethel Brinton
(Austin:, University of Texas Press, 1963).

[ix] Ibid, p.3.

[x] Ibid

[xi] Alfonso Reyes, Mexico in a Nutshell and Other Essays." Hispania 51.1
(1968): 209. Web.

[xii] Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude: And the Other Mexico (New
York: Grover Press, 1985), 31

[xiii] Samuel Ramos, Profile of Man and Culture in Mexico, translated by

Peter G. Earle, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1963