Biography of Emiliano Zapata - Essay Example

Biography of Emiliano Zapata. Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919) was a Mexican revolutionary and agrarian reformist. He was born in a peasant (campesino) family on August 8, 1879 in the village of Anenecuilco, in the southern state of Morelos.  Zapata attended school irregularly but was literate. (Becker). In 1897, Zapata participated in a peasant protest against the appropriation of their lands by a hacienda. He was arrested and later pardoned. As Zapata persisted in agitating for rural land reforms and for the rights of the campesin, he was drafted into the Mexican army.

He was discharged and was a horse-trainer for a short period. (Biography.com). Zapata was elected President of the Anenecuilco village council in 1909. (Becker). Zapata first used peaceful negotiation. He then increasingly resorted to the forcible confiscation of land from the haciendas and its redistribution among the peasants. In 1910, Zapata joined Francisco Madero’s revolution against the entrenched dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz.  In March of 1911, he formed a small guerilla band and captured Cuautla, Morelos, a strategic location, helping to remove Díaz from power.

 Zapata then opposed Madero, himself was a hacienda owner, for his indifference to democracy and land reforms.  Zapata retained his guerilla force, retreated to the mountains and continued his fight against the new regime. Along with Otilio Montaño, a local school teacher, Zapata composed the Plan of Avala, which expressed the land aspirations of the local peasants. In 1913,the new dictator, Victoriano Huerta attempted to reconcile with Zapata, but Zapata rebuffed him and went on to consolidate his hold over all of Morelos, and parts of the other neighboring states, by the summer of 1914.

 Zapata formed an alliance with Francisco Pancho Villa, in December 1914 and took control of Mexico City. His attempts to implement his land reforms in Morelos met with limited success.  In 1915, Venustiano Carranza took control of the revolution and invaded Morelos. Zapata faced increasing internal dissent. He finally attempted to form an alliance with Jesús Guajardo, a dissenter in Carranza’s army. Zapata was shot dead by Guajardo’s troops as he rode to his meeting with Carranza at Chinameco on April 10, 1919.

Works Cited.Becker, Marc. “Emiliano Zapata.” Truman State University. Web. 19 March 2013.http://revolutions.truman.edu/mexico/zapata.aspBiography.com. “Emiliano Zapata. Biography.” Web. 19 March 2013http://www.biography.com/people/emiliano-zapata-9540356