Emiliano Zapata

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Emiliano Zapata was born to Gabriel Zapata and Cleofas Jertrudiz Salazar of Anenecuilco, Morelos, the ninth of ten children. Contrary to popular legend, the Zapatas were a well-known local family and reasonably well-off. Gabriel Zapata was a farmer and horse trainer, and Emiliano's upbringing on the farm gave him an intimate familiarity with the difficulties of the countryside and his village's long struggle to regain the land taken by expanding haciendas. He received a limited education from his teacher, Emilio Vara, but it included 'the rudiments of bookkeeping.' Gabriel died when Emiliano was about 16 or 17, leaving the latter to care for his family. Emiliano was entrepreneurial and bought a team of mules to haul maize from farms to town and bricks to the Hacienda of Chinameca; he was also a successful farmer, growing watermelons as a cash crop. He was a skilled horseman and competed in rodeos and races, as well as bullfighting from horseback. These skills brought him work as a horse trainer for Porfirio Díaz's son-in-law, Ignacio de la Torre y Mier. In 1909, an important meeting was called by the elders of Anenecuilco, whose chief elder was José Merino. After nominations were closed, a vote was taken and Zapata became the new council president without contest. Zapata became a leading figure in the village, though he did not take the title of Don; the Anenecuilcans referred to him affectionately as 'Miliano.'

Reader's Guide

Zapata's significance lies in his leadership of the peasant revolution in Morelos during the Mexican Revolution. He joined Madero's campaign against President Díaz, and his first military campaign was the capture of the Hacienda of Chinameca. When Zapata's army captured Cuautla after a six-day battle on 19 May 1911, it became clear that Díaz would not hold on to power for long. In November 1911, Zapata promulgated the Plan of 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. After a coup against Madero in February 1913, Victoriano Huerta took power, but a coalition of Constitutionalist forces led by Venustiano Carranza, Álvaro Obregón and Francisco 'Pancho' Villa ousted him in July 1914 with the support of Zapata's troops. Zapata did not recognize Carranza's authority, continuing his adherence to the Plan of Ayala. In the aftermath, Zapata and Villa broke with Carranza, and Mexico descended into a civil war. As Carranza consolidated his power and defeated Villa in 1915, Zapata initiated guerrilla warfare against the Carrancistas. 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 Obregón 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. Article 27 of the 1917 Mexican Constitution was drafted in response to Zapata's agrarian demands.

Did You Know?

• Zapata was the ninth of ten children born to Gabriel Zapata and Cleofas Jertrudiz Salazar.
• He worked as a horse trainer for Porfirio Díaz's son-in-law, Ignacio de la Torre y Mier.
• Zapata's first military campaign was the capture of the Hacienda of Chinameca.
• His forces captured Cuautla after a six-day battle on 19 May 1911, helping to force Díaz from power.
• Zapata was killed in an ambush on 10 April 1919.