Last week, Mexico celebrated its 201st year of independence. In San Miguel de Allende, the conspirators Ignacio Allende and the Aldama brothers, hasta el copete (fed up) with the abuses of the Spanish colonial government, organized a revolt.   On September 16, 1810, co-conspirator Father Hidalgo, a parish priest in nearby Dolores Hidalgos rang out the rallying cry (el grito), signaling the start of the bloody battle that would rage more than 10 years. When the war ended, Mexico emerged tattered and torn. There was a staggering national identity problem in a country of criollos (creoles), peninsulares (native-born Spaniards), mestizos (mixed race) and indigenous people. The stories of my ancestors who lived through those years are forever lost in time, though I can't help but imagine what the Mexico of those ten years must have been like. The complex society that emerged--with its … [Read more...]