FREE Cinco de Mayo Printables Pack

Hola. Mañana es Cinco de Mayo.

Hi. Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo.

In honor of this important day in Mexican history, I thought I would put together a printables pack for you to share with your children.

But before I share the little ‘paquete’ with you, let me explain a little bit about Cinco de Mayo.

About Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is NOT the Mexican Independence Day. That is actually “El Dieciséis de Septiembre” or “The Sixteenth of September.” Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in remembrance of the Battle of Puebla which took place during the French occupation of Mexico.

In the mid 1800’s, Mexico owed France a great deal of money which it couldn’t afford to pay back. So Napoleon III sent an army, 8000 strong, to invade Mexico. The Mexican army, under President Benito Juárez, consisted only of about 4500 men and was poorly equipped. Because of that, they lost many battles against the French.

However, on May 5th, 1862 in Puebla, the Mexican army under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza succeeded in defeating the French. It wasn’t a major strategic battle in military terms, but it did succeed in boosting the morale of the Mexican people tremendously. With that little success under their belts, the Mexicans fought with renewed vigor and were able to oust the French from their country within 6 years.