A priest from the town of Dolores, near San  Miguel de Allende, was instrumental in cutting ties with Spain. Father Miguel Hidalgo's impassioned plea to his countrymen on the morning of September 16,  1810, stirred them to "recover the lands stolen 300 years ago from your  forefathers by the hated Spaniards." Every September 15 at 11 p.m., Hidalgo's  "Grito de Dolores," or Cry of Dolores, is re-enacted in plazas throughout Mexico.  It was the decisive first step toward Mexican independence, which would come  about a decade later.

In 1824 a constitution was adopted and Mexico's first president sworn into office. The following year both England and  the United States officially recognised the Republic of Mexico. But stability  was short lived. Between 1833 and 1855 the presidency changed hands 33 times , including 11 terms held by Santa Anna. It was this same Santa Anna who led the  bloody siege against the Alamo in 1836, when settlers in northern territories fought to cut ties with Mexico and form the independent Republic of Texas.

Eleven years later the Mexico-U.S. border  and the ownership of the territories of California and New Mexico were still under dispute. US General Winfield Scott's army of occupation landed in Veracruz in March, 1847, and marched to the capital. References throughout Mexico to the "Niños Heroes" (Child Heroes) honor the young military cadets who  defended Chapultepec Castle, the last position in the city to fall. It is said  that one of the boys wrapped himself in the Mexican flag and plunged over the cliff to his death rather than surrender. They are remembered every September 13  in a ceremony at their monument in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park.

In 1861, with Santa Anna ousted for the  last time, a Zapotec Indian from the state of Oaxaca was elected president. An orphan who left his uncle's home at age 12 speaking only a few words of Spanish, Benito Juarez studied hard, became a lawyer and was elected governor of his  state. He is one of the country's most beloved historical figures, "Mexico's Abe  Lincoln."