Cinco de Mayo, A Mexican American Celebration

Learn about the celebration of Cinco de Mayo in the United States.

Intermediate

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Every year, more than 100 million Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo (the fifth of May), a holiday of Mexican origins that is rarely celebrated in Mexico. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's independence day. The holiday commemorates the Battle of Puebla in 1862 when the Mexicans defeated the French invaders under Napoleon III. However, the French empire overthrew Mexican president Benito Juarez and established the Second Mexican Empire.