Día de la Constitución – Constitution Day in Mexico
By: Slade Ogletree
Día de la Constitución, or Mexican Constitution Day, is celebrated on February 5th. The Mexican Constitution was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro by a Constitutional Convention during the Mexican Revolution. It was approved by the Mexican Constitutional Congress on February 5, 1917, with Venustiano Carranza serving as the first president under its terms. It is usually recognized with the festivals and street celebrations.
The Mexican Revolution of 1910 was a social and cultural movement which brought the beginning of changes in Mexico. The revolution started as a rebellion against President Porfirio Díaz. As the rift between the poor and rich grew under the leadership of General Díaz, the political voice of the lower classes was also declining. Diaz was once quoted as saying of his own people, "The Mexican people would ammount to nothing without being driven by the whip." The opposition of Díaz surfaced when Francisco I. Madero, who was educated in Europe and at the University of California, began to gain recognition and political power.
Diaz had Madero imprisoned, feeling that the people of Mexico just weren't ready for democracy. During this time, several other Mexican folk heros began to emerge, including the well known Pancho Villa in the north, and the peasant Emiliano Zapata in the south.
Díaz was still unable to control the spread of the growing insurgence and resigned in May, 1911, with the signing of the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez, after which he fled to France. Madero was then elected president, but received opposition from Emiliano Zapata who didn't wish to wait for the orderly implementation of Madero's desired land reforms. In November of the same year Zapata denounced Madero as president and took the position for himself. Zapata controlled the state of Morelos, where he chased out the estate owners and divided their lands to the peasants. Later, in 1919, Zapata was assassinated by Jesus Guajardo acting under orders from General Pablo Gonzalez.
Emiliano Zapata was born in 1879 in the Mexican state of Morelos. The son of a farmer and a natural born leader, Zapata's destiny soon revealed itself. His father died when he was 17 and shortly thereafter, Emiliano assumed the responsibility of providing for his family. Zapata was of Mestizo blood and he spoke Nahuatl, the indigenous language of central Mexico. Widely respected by his community, the village elected Zapata to be their leader in 1909. He quickly recruited an insurgent army of farmers from his village to protect the farms in their immediate community. Zapata and his men fought the government troops in the south of Mexico while Pancho Villa fought in the north.
Pancho Villa was born Doroteo Arangol in Durango on June 5, 1878, the son of a field labourer. As an adolescent Villa became a fugitive after killing a man who assaulted his sister. Fleeing to the mountains, he changed his name and became a bandit.In 1910 he joined the rebellion led by Francisco Madero, which was successful. When Madero was assassinated in 1913 Villa formed an army several thousand strong which came to be known as the Division del Norte - the Division of the North. He fought on the side of Venustiano Carranza and the Constitutionalists.
Eventually, Venustiano Carranza rose to the presidency, and organized an important convention whose outcome was the Constitution of 1917, which is still in effect today. Carranza made land reform an important part of that constitution. This resulted in the ejido, or farm cooperative program that redistributed much of the country's land from the wealthy land holders to the peasants. The ejidos are still in place today and comprise nearly half of all the farmland in Mexico .
I had a really good sleep and after breakfast I went on a great almost three hour hike around the lake…I do enjoy hiking by myself I do lots of planning and thinking at these times and today was good for me to re visit my life, the transition in moving here and how it has been…I know I need to work on some aspects of my life and I embrace all that comes my way this year. Some photos of the hike..
The X is where I am heading.
If you set your mind to it almost any scenery could be a beach and ocean!!!
I turned around here..
I had about one hour sunbathing and then got cleaned up and went to deliver Daniela's letter to her English class teacher but forgot it was a holiday and the school was closed so I will take it on Wednesday.
From there it was on to the place where we play poker every Wednesday, the Chinese Restaurant owned by my Spanish tutor and her husband,,it was my first private lesson and Lilly is a great teacher….the hour went by fast and I have homework to do and I enjoyed the lesson..now if I can remember what I learned.
I then went to take some drinks and crackers to Sara….she has been sick for a couple of days..something she ate so had a visit with her and hope she gets well soon.
Back home and after supper sitting down watching a hockey game!!!
Thanks to Paula for sending these rules to live by!!!!!!
ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
TWO ... Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
... FOUR . When you say, 'I love you ,' mean it.
FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.
SIX ... Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
SEVEN.. Believe in love at first sight.
EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
NINE . Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
TEN. ... In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.
TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.
THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'
FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk..
FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.
SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson !
SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.
EIGHTEEN.. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship..
NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone.. The caller will hear it in your voice.
TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone
Yashi Koshi!!!
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