In this lesson, we will analyze the history of Cinco de Mayo. We'll start with the battle behind the date and then try to figure out how that event became so big here in the U.S. Does its popularity have anything to do with its roots in Mexican history? What do Americans, including Mexican Americans, see in Cinco de Mayo that is worth celebrating? You should learn a lot, but be warned: Looking at Cinco de Mayo more analytically may lead to more meaningful celebrations. They'll still be fun, though--we promise.
Warning!
Legalese
Ahead!
This is official legislation, so it uses some language that we don't use often in daily life. You'll see the word whereas before each part of the resolution. In a legal document like this one, whereas means because. The document is saying, "The U.S. government has formally decided that Cinco de Mayo is a significant holiday, because of these reasons:"
The first piece of Cinco de Mayo history we will analyze is also one of the most recent: U.S. Simple Resolution 440, introduced on April 26, 2012 and passed by the United States Congress on May 5, 2012. A resolution is an agreement by Congress on a topic or issue. Resolution 440 officially recognizes the historical importance of Cinco de Mayo both for Mexico and the United States. Because it includes a brief summary of the history and significance of Cinco de Mayo, this document is a good place to start our investigation.
To conduct your analysis, you will need to print out this document and then make sure you have at least three different colored highlighters, pencils, or markers handy to mark the different sections. Click the Activity button below to open the document.
As you may remember, analysis requires that you "take something apart" to understand it better. To take apart a historical document, simply identify its parts and describe what they do. Try it with Resolution 440. Read the document at least two times all the way through. Then begin marking up the different parts. You can use whichever colors you like. Just make sure you label your paper with a key or legend showing which colors identify which part, like this:
You can use our labels for your key to the parts of the resolution, or you can use a label that makes more sense to you. Just make sure that you show where the parts are and what they do. Make sure each statement in the document is marked with a color before continuing with this lesson.
