Cinco de Mayo (
Spanish for "fifth of May") is a holiday held on
May 5. It is celebrated nationwide in the
United States and regionally in
Mexico, primarily in the state of
Puebla,
[1][2][3][4] where the holiday is called
El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla (English: The Day of the Battle of Puebla).
[5][6][7] The date is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride,
[8] and to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War.
Consequences to the United States
Some historians have argued that France's real goal was to help break up the
American Union, at the time in the midst of a
civil war, by helping the
southern Confederacy:
[26] "The Mexicans had won a great victory that kept Napoleon III from supplying the confederate rebels for another year, allowing the United States to build the greatest army the world had ever seen.