Mexican War of Independence

The Mexican War of Independence was the struggle that ended Spanish rule in New Spain, the viceroyalty that included Mexico. It began when the priest Miguel Hidalgo called on his parishioners to rise up in the town of Dolores in what is known as the Grito de Dolores. His mass movement was defeated and he was executed, and the revolt was continued by leaders such as Jose Maria Morelos and Vicente Guerrero. The conflict combined a social uprising of peasants and indigenous people with a political struggle over control of the colony. It ended in a compromise between insurgents and conservative royalists, led by Agustin de Iturbide, whose army entered Mexico City in triumph and established the independent Mexican Empire.

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