Thomas Jefferson
president of the United States from 1801 to 1809
Emiliano Zapata was a Mexican revolutionary who led the peasant revolt in Morelos during the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. He was a key figure in the agrarian movement known as Zapatismo, which called for substantial land reforms and the redistribution of land to peasants. Zapata’s revolutionary actions and his promotion of the Plan de Ayala made him an iconic symbol in Mexico, both as a nationalist figure and as an inspiration for the neo-Zapatista movement.
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Occupation
Family Info
Siblings
Eufemio Zapata
Spouses
Josefa Espejo Sanchez
Children
Paulina Ana Maria Zapata Portillo
About the Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazarwas a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920, the main leader of the people’s revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the inspiration of the agrarian movement called Zapatismo.
Zapata was born in the rural village of Anenecuilco in Morelos, in an era when peasant communities came under increasing repression from the small-landowning class who monopolized land and water resources for sugarcane production with the support of dictator Porfirio Diaz (President from 1877 to 1880 and 1884 to 1911). Zapata early on participated in political movements against Diaz and the landowning hacendados, and when the Revolution broke out in 1910 he became a leader of the peasant revolt in Morelos. Cooperating with a number of other peasant leaders, he formed the Liberation Army of the South, of which he soon became the undisputed leader. Zapata’s forces contributed to the fall of Diaz, defeating the Federal Army in the Battle of Cuautla in May 1911, but when the revolutionary leader Francisco I. Madero became president he disavowed the role of the Zapatistas, denouncing them as mere bandits.
In November 1911, Zapata promulgated the Plan de Ayala, which called for substantial land reforms, redistributing lands to the peasants. Madero sent the Federal Army to root out the Zapatistas in Morelos. Madero’s generals employed a scorched-earth policy, burning villages and forcibly removing their inhabitants, and drafting many men into the Army or sending them to forced-labor camps in southern Mexico. Such actions strengthened Zapata’s standing among the peasants, and succeeded in driving the forces of Madero, led by Victoriano Huerta, out of Morelos. In a coup against Madero in February 1913, Huerta took power in Mexico, but a coalition of Constitutionalist forces in northern Mexico, led by Venustiano Carranza, Alvaro Obregon and Francisco “Pancho” Villa, ousted him in July 1914 with the support of Zapata’s troops. Zapata did not recognize the authority that Carranza asserted as leader of the revolutionary movement, continuing his adherence to the Plan de Ayala.
In the aftermath of the revolutionaries’ victory over Huerta, they attempted to sort out power relations in the Convention of Aguascalientes (October to November 1914). Zapata and Villa broke with Carranza, and Mexico descended into a civil war among the winners. Dismayed with the alliance with Villa, Zapata focused his energies on rebuilding society in Morelos (which he now controlled), instituting the land reforms of the Plan de Ayala. As Carranza consolidated his power and defeated Villa in 1915, Zapata initiated guerrilla warfare against the Carrancistas, who in turn invaded Morelos, employing once again scorched-earth tactics to oust the Zapatista rebels. Zapata re-took Morelos in 1917 and held most of the state against Carranza’s troops until he was killed in an ambush in April 1919. After his death, Zapatista generals aligned with Obregon against Carranza and helped drive Carranza from power. In 1920, Zapatistas obtained important positions in the government of Morelos after Carranza’s fall, instituting many of the land reforms envisioned by Zapata.
Zapata remains an iconic figure in Mexico, used both as a nationalist symbol as well as a symbol of the neo-Zapatista movement. Article 27 of the 1917 Mexican Constitution was drafted in response to Zapata’s agrarian demands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Emiliano Zapata was a Mexican revolutionary and the main leader of the peasant revolt in the state of Morelos during the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. He was a leading figure in the agrarian movement called Zapatismo, which called for land reforms and the redistribution of land to peasants.
The Plan de Ayala was a document promulgated by Emiliano Zapata in November 1911, which called for substantial land reforms and the redistribution of lands to the peasants.
Emiliano Zapata’s forces, known as the Liberation Army of the South, contributed to the fall of Porfirio DÃaz by defeating the Federal Army in the Battle of Cuautla in May 1911.
After the revolutionaries’ victory over Huerta, Zapata and Villa broke with Carranza, who had asserted himself as the leader of the revolutionary movement. Zapata did not recognize Carranza’s authority and continued to adhere to the Plan de Ayala.
After Zapata’s assassination in 1919, Zapatista generals aligned with Obregón against Carranza and helped drive Carranza from power in 1920. This allowed the Zapatistas to obtain important positions in the government of Morelos, where they were able to institute many of the land reforms envisioned by Zapata.
Article 27 of the 1917 Mexican Constitution was drafted in response to Emiliano Zapata’s agrarian demands, indicating the lasting impact of the Zapatista movement and its influence on the country’s legal framework.
Emiliano Zapata remains an iconic figure in Mexico, used both as a nationalist symbol as well as a symbol of the neo-Zapatista movement, which continues to be inspired by his revolutionary ideals and agrarian reforms.