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7 Grade Social Studies
th
Mexico & U.S. History from the Revolution to Reconstruction
Class 25—French Intervention
September 30, 2013
Focus: Why do people celebrate Cinco de Mayo?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Student Objectives:
1. I will analyze the period in Mexican history known as the French Intervention.
2. I will identify the reasons why the French were not successfully able to maintain a Mexican Empire.
Homework:
Independence/Post-Independence/French Intervention/Juarez/Porfiriato Test Friday 10/4
Current Events due Monday 10/7
Handouts:
None
I. French Intervention
A. Cinco de Mayo
B. Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian
Key terms/ideas/ people/places:
Napoleon III
Porfirio Díaz
Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian
Carlota
Abraham Lincoln
Cinco de Mayo
Benito Juárez
By the end of class today, I will be able to answer the following:
Who was chosen to rule Mexico for the French?
How did the French ruler die?
Why could France not hold onto Mexico?
Why did the U.S. not stop the French invasion under the Monroe Doctrine?
Puebla
Monroe Doctrine
Notes
Class 25—French Intervention
September 30, 2013
Mexico was greatly dependent on foreigners’ money and capital. The War of the Reform had cost Mexico quite a
large sum, a sum they were forced to borrow from Great Britain, France, and Spain. Well once again, Mexico does
not have the money to pay off their loans. Great Britain, France, and Spain all send troops to Mexico to collect their
money.
Napoleon III of France
 wanted a French Colony
 Spain and Great Britain pull out of Mexico
Battle of Puebla
 May 5, 1862 (Cinco de Mayo)
 Porfirio Díaz helps defeat the French
 French still reach Mexico City a year later
Mexican Monarchy
 Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and Carlota
 Don’t make a lot of friends
 Benito Juárez fights guerrilla war against
Monroe Doctrine
 U.S. can’t do anything because fighting Civil War at home
 The North had to be careful not to push the France into an alliance with the Confederacy
 After War is over, U.S. supports Mexico and puts pressure on France to leave
Napoleon III removes troops from Mexico=Maximilian’s death
 U.S. involvement
 Issues brewing in Europe
Why French fail
 Liberal Nationalism-Juárez and his ideas
 U.S. involvement
 French troops pulled out
French Intervention’s impact on Mexico
 Shows Mexico is a sovereign nation
 Mexican nationalism grows
 Victory for the Constitution of 1857
 Mexico will continue to lack political stability and economic growth
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7th Grade Social Studies
Mexico & U.S. History from the Revolution to Reconstruction
Class 26—Restored Republic
October 1, 2013
Focus: After the years of fighting during the War of the Reform and the French Intervention, what kinds of problems
do you think the Mexican nation is dealing with after so many years of bloodshed and destruction?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Student Objectives:
1. I will analyze Mexico in the era that is known as the Restored Republic (1867-1876).
Homework:
Independence/Post-Independence/French Intervention/Juarez/Porfiriato Test Friday 10/4
Current Events due Monday 10/7
Handouts:
None
I. Mexico after the French Intervention
II. Change in Juárez
III. Another Coup
Key terms/ideas/ people/places:
Rurales
Positivism
Porfirio Díaz
Plan of Tuxtepec
Benito Juárez
By the end of class today, I will be able to answer the following:
What was so amazing about Sebastian Lerdo being elected president?
Why did Porfirio Díaz think he should be president?
Who were the rurales and what function did they perform?
Porfiriato
Sebastian Lerdo
Notes
Class 26—Restored Republic
October 1, 2013
Benito Juárez is once again back in power after the French Intervention
Issues facing Mexico:
 No money
 Federal government has little authority
 Caudillos still holding power
 Poor infrastructure/Communication systems
 Silver mines unproductive
 1874-95% of children do not attend school-can’t read or write
Benito Juárez turns away from his liberal philosophy of safeguarding people’s liberties, and becomes more of an
aggressive authoritarian ruler. He does the following:
 Rigged elections to get his favorites into power
 Tried to curtail the powers of the Congress and states by amending the Constitution
 Creates the rurales
o Heavily armed military guards on horseback
o Former bandits hired to work for the government
o Answered only to the Secretary of the Interior-eluded the system of checks and balances
Positivism emphasized the economic development and the building of a strong, authoritarian central state. Positivists
believed all problems had a scientific and rational solution. This kind of scientific politics argued that scientists and
engineers, not politicians, should shape a nation’s destiny.
Benito Juárez dies in his second term in office. His VP, Sebastian Lerdo replaces him and even will be elected to his
own four year term-the first time in history that two consecutive administrations have not been overthrown by
revolution.
Porfirio Díaz, the hero at Puebla on Cinco de Mayo, had grown come of age during the civil wars and the French
Intervention. He thus felt that the presidency should be his. He had lost two elections to Benito Juárez and on two
other occasions had attempted to overthrow the government by force. Díaz approached U.S. investors in South Texas.
He knew Lerdo was afraid of building railroads to the U.S. border (He is believed to have said, “Between weakness
and strength, let there be the desert!”). With the help of the South Texans money, he staged yet another coup under
the Plan of Tuxtepec. Díaz argued under this plan that Lerdo had committed widespread voter fraud and that Lerdo
was seeking yet another term despite a provision in the Constitution that forbade reelection.
Mexico will thus enter a 35 year long dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. Between 1876-1911 the era is known as the
Porfiriato.
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7th Grade Social Studies
Mexico & U.S. History from the Revolution to Reconstruction
Class 27— Porfiriato
October 2, 2013
Focus: What kind of tactics do you think a dictator uses in order to stay in power for 35 years?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Student Objectives:
1. I will analyze the era in Mexican history known as the Porfiriato (1884-1911).
Homework:
Independence/Post-Independence/French Intervention/Juarez/Porfiriato Test Friday 10/4
Current Events due Monday 10/7
Handouts:
None
I. Porfiriato
A. Positivism
B. Científicos
C. Foreign investment
Key terms/ideas/ people/places:
Porfirio Díaz
Porfiriato
“order and progress”
By the end of class today, I will be able to answer the following:
Who were the Científicos?
Why was the slogan “order and progress” chosen to for the Porfiriato?
What role did foreigners play in the Mexican economy?
What was positivism?
Positivism
Científicos
Notes
Class 27— Porfiriato
October 2, 2013
The catch phrase for the Porfiriato is “order and progress”-positivist thinking
Positivists admired:
 French Culture
 U.S. Technology
 Mexico can contribute to the world
Díaz surrounded himself with Científicos. In fact, this group of people would serve as his
cabinet. They believed in the scientific management of the state and that political stability would bring foreign
investment. Científicos were a circle of positivist advisors that would rise to great political and financial importance
during the Porfiriato. They believed politics were a practice of scientific and practical application. They would
control the power with Díaz and he maintained their loyalty through clientelism. Científicos harbored a profound
disdain for the rural illiterate masses. They blamed the masses for Mexico’s failure to progress. Científicos believed
the future was with the criollo elite-this creates a bigger gap between rich and poor.
“modernization from without”
 80% of the money for the RR comes from the U.S.
 U.S. has $12 million invested in mining
 U.S. and G.B. control 96% of the mining
 22% of Mexico’s land surface controlled by U.S.
 By 1911, $1 billion invested in Mexico total, 40% is foreign
 This is good initially but bad in the long run
o Capital flight
o Foreigners driving economy
o Bad for national pride- Díaz sold out
When Díaz leaves office:
 Oil-one of the largest exporters in world
 Volume of manufactured goods doubled
 Balanced the Mexican budget and even has a surplus
 Foreign credit good in the world
 Self-confidence among elite
____________________________________
7 Grade Social Studies
th
Mexico & U.S. History from the Revolution to Reconstruction
Class 28—Porfiriato
October 3, 2013
Focus: What were some positives that came out of the Porfiriato?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Student Objectives:
1. I will continue to analyze the era in Mexican history known as the Porfiriato (1884-1911).
Homework:
Independence/Post-Independence/French Intervention/Juarez/Porfiriato Test Friday 10/4
Current Events due Monday 10/7
Bring RC book tomorrow
Handouts:
none
I. Negatives of the Porfiriato
A. Pan o palo?
Key terms/ideas/ people/places:
Porfiriato
tienda de raya
Rurales
debt peonage
By the end of class today, I will be able to answer the following:
What was pan o palo?
How did Díaz stay in power for so long?
Pan o Palo
Porfirio Díaz
Notes
Class 28—Porfiriato
October 3, 2013
Díaz left out common man:
 1911-2 million Indians not speaking Spanish
 Land consolidation
o 1894-134 million acres of land owned by a few hundred people
o By 1910, ½ the Mexican population lived/worked on a hacienda-peones
Peones were 12 times poorer than a U.S. famer. They worked from sunrise to sunset seven days a week. They were
paid in metal discs that could only be redeemed at the tienda de raya-an all purpose company store on the hacienda.
The store would extend credit freely and charge high prices. You could never leave the hacienda as long as you owed
money. This is called debt peonage.
How did Díaz stay in power?
 Pan o Palo (bread or stick/beating)
o Pan-keep elite happy buy buying support to create political stability to prevent foreign intervention;
allow elite to maximize wealth through the control of labor
o Palo
 Brute force
 Intimidation
 Army and rurales-spends a ¼ of budget on military-need forced peace for modernization
 Rurales-feared by marauders, political opponents, and villagers
 Rigged elections
 Political maneuvering
 No freedom of press
 Moves general and governors around so they don’t get a loyal following
 Supports the church
 Congress was a rubber stamp
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7 Grade Social Studies
th
Mexico & U.S. History from the Revolution to Reconstruction
Class 29—Test
October 4, 2013
Homework:
Current Events due Monday 10/7