Cinco de Mayo is a national holiday celebrated to make Mexico seem timeless, and serves as a unifying force for the Mexican and Chicano people. Representing the defeat of the French Army in the Battle of the Puebla , Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of the Mexican strength to overpower invasions of other countries. "Anthropologists have compared town festivals to traditional society’s public rituals, which reflect and justify contemporary values and social situations, and which offer a vision of the future. Anthropologists argue that these national celebrations have other important functions such as preserving heritage, fostering social cohesion, releasing tensions accumulating from daily life, and inculcating pride and loyalty” (Anthropology 1998). Though Cinco de Mayo is a day of enormous military and political significance, we must remember that it is not only the battle of Puebla itself that we celebrate. Cinco de Mayo remains primarily an ideological celebration of the strength, tenacity and independence of the Mexican spirit.

     Cinco de Mayo is culturally significant in the terms of politics. Without the defeat of the French army, Mexico would have been controlled by France . This victory enabled Mexico to build its own government and culture without outside influence. Mexico ’s political structures would have been different as the French would have tried to mold the country to its model nation. This celebration expresses the idea of freedom for Mexicans as they are able to make their own opinions on how the country should be molded. It celebrates pride as Mexico served as the dominant force over a world superpower, and it celebrates independence as Mexico broke free from French invaders and established a world that was ideal in their eyes. Cinco de Mayo reinforces the idea that people must fight for their rights and freedom. As seen in the United States with the Civil War, the Northern and Southern colonies fought for and against slavery. Without these wars, national universal values would be left unidentified. Cinco de Mayo signifies that battles for independence seem never-ending, and are remembered for their cultural impact.

   Cinco de Mayo, although a significant victory, was not the event that won Mexican independence. Cinco de Mayo is often identified as Mexican Independence Day, when in actuality it was the final defeat of outside forces attempting to enter the nation (Web Holidays 1999). Some may challenge the idea that independence was not completely achieved until this day, but five years following the battle (Menard 2000). This battle illustrates the will of the Mexican people to fight for their country and culture.

     Being an independent nation was not easy. Through the 1800s, Mexico received economic aid from several nations, including France , England and Spain . Thus, Mexico became indebted to these countries (Web Holidays 1999).  Due to internal political struggles for power, Mexico was not able to pay back the loans. In 1862, President Benito Juarez issued a “moratorium” in which all-foreign debt payments would be suspended for a period of two years, with the promise that after this period, payments would resume (Gonzalez 1996:1). In 1862, the three European countries dispatched their fleets to Mexican shores pursuing their money. A government representative greeted them and explained that Mexico did acknowledge its debts, but it had no funds to pay them. They were offered payment warrants in exchange. The Spaniards and the British decided to accept the warrants and withdrew. Yet, the French government did not accept the offer and prompted its troops to invade the country and head toward Mexico City , the nation’s capital (Mex Online 2004). They had to cross through the state of Puebla to get to the capital. Thus, the Battle of the Puebla occurred, and the victory of Mexico determined its political fate for the future, which is now celebrated by Cinco de Mayo festivities.

     Celebrated throughout Mexico , Cinco de Mayo serves as a time where citizens can place conflict aside and accept their unity as a nation. With celebration, there is “a breakdown of everyday inhibitions, a freeing of the senses, and a renewed sense of fellowship and identity with local, regional, and national dimensions” ( Stanton 1999). Cinco de Mayo ignores inhibitions, frees the senses with festival activities, and renews Mexican fellowship nationally with historic remembrance. This David vs. Goliath battle serves as a time of remembrance for Mexico ’s accomplishments, and gives natives a time to take pride in the struggles in which their country has persevered (Menard 2000). It’s a time to celebrate the freedoms in which the citizens have gained, and a time to be acknowledged by all nations as Mexico : the country that defied all odds.