,
11 tweets,
4 min read
Read on Twitter
Cinco de Mayo and it's importance to African American history: A thread.
In 1860 Mexico was broke and owed the UK, Spain and France a bunch of money. By 1861 the UK and Spain realized they weren't going to get the money back but France (headed by Napoleon) wanted their money
Napoleon figured he could go to Mexico and turn it into a French colony and because the US was too busy fighting the civil war nobody would stop him. So in order for this to happen he plan to supply the Confederates with guns to fight the civil war to keep Lincoln busy
In 1862 the French military landed in Veracruz, Mexico (home to largest Afro-Mexican population in the country) and they were on their way to Mexico City to take over but they got into a battle in Puebla on May 5th and got their ass kicked by a small home grown militia.
The French were so scared that they left and didn't come back for a whole year which gave the US time to kick the Confederacy's ass in the civil war. By the time the French returned to Mexico it was too late for them to side with the Confederates to influence the war
Californios (Mexicans who lived in California before it was a state) when they heard the news automatically made the connection, they knew that if the French won they would support the Confederacy who would strip them of their rights and freedom (many of them were Black)
Because half of the original founders of Los Angeles were Black, the celebration of freedom was important to them and other Mexicans who freed themselves from Spanish rule. In Los Angeles the tradition of celebrating Cinco de Mayo has continued without interruption since 1862.
By 1864 the French finally took over Mexico City and made archduke Ferdinand Maximilian emperor of Mexico but that didn't last long because the civil war ended by 1865 France wouldn't have Confederate backing. Lincoln opposed France in Mexico and Maximilian was executed in 1867.
If the Battle of Puebla on Cinco de Mayo didn't happened France would have taken over Mexico. Mexico would have supported the Confederacy and we probably all still would be in slavery. So this is why Cinco de Mayo is very important to African American history. The end.
Addendum: This thread was in no way meant to erase the winning effort of the Indigenous Mexican people in the Battle at Puebla. It was only meant to highlight the correlation between Cinco de Mayo and it's far-reaching effects on African American history.
Also the Napoleon referenced is Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon I. Last emperor of the first French empire and first emperor of the second French empire. Please feel free to study it for yourself. Use this thread as a starting point not an end point.
