For Americans with or without Mexican ancestry, the day has become an excuse to toss back shots of tequila with salt and lime and feast on tortilla chips smothered with melted orange cheddar cheese, a custom unfamiliar to most people in Mexico. In other words, like many holidays it has become commercialized, so much so, that it will run through the weekend.
However, in the United States, the date is largely seen as a celebration of Mexican American culture stretching back to the 1800s in California. It is usually marked by parades, street food, block parties, mariachi competitions, or folkloric ballet.
Cinco de Mayo is often confused with Mexico’s Independence Day which falls on September 16. In reality the holiday commemorates Mexico’s unexpected victory over France in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The conflict had begun in 1861, after Benito Juarez, then the president of Mexico, suspended the nation’s foreign debt payments, and Napoleon III responded by sending French troops to invade.
The war was fought between 6,000 Mexicans and 8,000 French forces and despite being heavily outnumbered, General Ignacio Zaragoza and his troops were able to declare victory over its adversaries. The victory in Puebla galvanized the Mexican forces but turned out to be short-lived, and France later occupied the country, installing Maximilian I, as emperor. It wasn’t until 1887 when the Mexican Republic finally expelled the French, executed Maximilian I, and regained control of the country.
