by AGS Member Michael Wilson
If you’re like me, you don’t know that much about Mexican Independence, even though we live just a few hundred miles from Mexico and in a place that was part of Mexico until the mid-1800s.
Briefly, Mexico had an 11-year War of Independence. It started on September 16, 1810 (considered Mexican Independence Day), with the “Cry of Dolores,” and ended on September 27, 1821, when the revolutionary army entered Mexico City. The next day, September 28, Mexico’s Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed. It declared a Mexican Empire, independent of the Spanish Empire. This empire only lasted until March 1823, the first of several Mexican governments. Spain did not officially recognize Mexico’s independence until 1836.
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An important result of Mexican independence was the opening of Mexico, including New Mexico, to trade with the United States. Spain had not allowed such trade and would often jail Americans who tried to trade in New Mexico and confiscate their goods.
The beginning of the new era followed soon after Mexico’s Declaration of Independence, with a group of American traders led by William Becknell arriving in Santa Fe in November and another group arriving a couple of weeks later. Both of those groups started out from Missouri before they even knew if Mexico’s rebellion would succeed.
The trade route from Missouri to Santa Fe came to be known as the Santa Fe Trail.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Santa Fe Trail, I would highly recommend this book: The Santa Fe Trail: Its History, Legends and Lore by David Dary (2000).
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