Cinco de Mayo

Many like me know about Cinco de Mayo but have no clue why it is celebrated. You would expect me know what El Cinco de Mayo is since I'm Mexican, but I have NO CLUE. But after doing a little bit of research I was able to gain a better understanding. First of all what is El Cinco de Mayo? El Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican celebration that takes place on the 5th of May. El Cinco de Mayo is to celebrate the victory of the Mexican army in the "Battle of Puebla" on May 5, 1863, during the Franco-Mexican war. What was the Battle of Puebla? The Battle of Puebla happened during a period of time were Mexico was going through an economic crisis, France then decided that it would be a great time to take some Mexican land. The battle was between 6,000 French troops and 2,000 Mexican troops in Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east central Mexico. The French troops retreated after loosing 500 soldiers, thus making the Mexican army victorious, who lost less than 100 soldiers.

Many like me might think that El Cinco de Mayo was Mexico's Independence Day, but that is completely wrong. El Cinco de Mayo only celebrated one Battle that was won not Mexico's independence. By the time the Battle of Puebla was fought Mexico had already been independent for about 53 years. Many might not know this but in Mexico, El Cinco de Mayo isn't really celebrated to the extent it is here in the United States. Personally my family doesn't celebrated el Cinco de Mayo, mainly because my parents in Mexico didn't ever celebrate it, so they don't carry that tradition. And also partly because like me my parents don't really know what EL Cinco de Mayo is, so it would seem wrong to celebrate something that we are not really sure about.

(I have attached a simple sketch I did of the eagle that's on the Mexican flag.)