Zapata And The Mexican Revolution

7 Pages 1792 Words

Heather Toneff
11/13/03

Zapata and the Mexican Revolution
The Zapatistas were rebel groups under the rule of Emiliano Zapata. A man of local ties in the state of Morelos, Emiliano Zapata fought for the locals. He began as an independent fighter, trying to reclaim land that had been unfairly and unjustly taken from other locals. These lands were under the rule of haciendas, and these haciendas were owned by rich people. The idea that seemed to have emerged throughout the reign of Dictator Porfirio Diaz was that the rich should have a right to everything in order to be richer and to provide a wealthier economy for Mexico itself. Seeing the injustice in this matter, Emiliano Zapata eventually took matters from a state level to a national level. Fortunately for himself, Zapata was trusted by his followers; after all, he was one of them. Unfortunately, Zapata learned in a rather hard way that not everyone can be trusted, and those who seem to be trustworthy probably are even less likely to deserve trust.
Zapata and his followers can be commended for their constant devotion to their cause, although not all of them. However, they managed to endure 10 years of battle, with only about one year of seemingly rest and peace in the sate of Morelos.
Zapata is considered the most famous revolutionary of all in the Revolution. He started with his own states people, and with his success and the respect he built for himself, he was able to gain more support from other groups. Due to repetitive upset to Zapata by the new president Madero, Zapata withdrew all previous support to the regime and with the help of Otilio Montaño, a schoolteacher from Ayala, he and his followers developed the Play de Ayala (Meyer, 494). This plan would prove to be the basis for which Zapata and the Zapatistas stood. The Plan de Ayala provided for agrarian reform for the villagers and citizens that had previously lost them to wealthier entities. This motiv...