Porfirio Diaz was born on September 15,
1830 to Jose De La Cruz and María
Petrona Mori Cortés in Oaxaca, Mexico. His
father was an inn keeper and died when Diaz was only three years of age
(Johnston 117). After his father’s
death, the family struggles financially.
Diaz takes control and helps with the financial instability by leaving primary
school and begins to work in a local store.
At the age of nine, he enrolls in secondary school. Five years later, because his mother’s wish
is for Diaz to enter the priesthood, he enrolls into the seminary. (It’s
important to note, entering the seminary is the most desirable and promising
education for young men during this period of time.)
At a young age Diaz becomes ‘infatuated’ with
militarism. As a result of this passion,
he abandons the seminary and dedicates his
life to the military. Diaz was infused
with a massive dose of ambition. At the
tender age of seventeen, he decides to walk two-hundred and fifty miles to the
city of Mexico to volunteer in the National Guard in the war against the United
States (116). When the war ends, he makes
his way back to his native town of Oaxaca.
In order to financially support his mother, he begins to study law and
to supplement his income by tutoring his peers.
A professor by the name of Don Marcos Perez found favor in Diaz and designates
him as the Law School librarian (116). During
this time, Perez introduces Diaz to the governor of the state of Oaxaca (Benito
Juarez) and as a result of this introduction
the rest of Mexico’s history is greatly impacted (Noll 439).
Military / Accomplishments:
1. Enters military school
2. Professor of Law
3. April of 1856 – Commander of a
battalion of the Oaxaca Militia
4. December 1856 – Captain of Infantry
5. Two years later – Command of a
battalion
6. 1859 Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
7. August 1860 – Colonel in the army of
the Juaristas
8. Civil Administrator of Ixtlan and
Military Governor
9. Elected to represent the the
district of Ocotlan (legislator)
10. June 1861 – request to be removed
from Congress, wins battle against the guerillas and wins promotion to the rank
of General Brigade
11. May 1863 Full General of Brigade and
appointed to the command of the Army of the East
President from: 1877 -
1880 and again from 1884 – 1911 ~ roughly 30 years
·
Fosters
education
·
Modern
equipment of railways, factories and telegraphs
·
Improves
every branch of government
·
Increasing
the nation’s revenues fivefold
·
Attaining
national security through long years of fighting (French War, etc.)
·
Dealt
with engineering problems with the draining of the Valley of Mexico
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1st Reference:
Chums of Chance in Old Mexico
2nd Reference:
Appears in a charcoal drawn picture on the cell wall
Porfirio Diaz was a man
of great ambition. He was a man who accomplished
rising military ranks and becoming President of Mexico. In Against the Day, the characters either
look back at his administration in admiration or disappointment. As a nation, Mexico prospered, but it was at
the expense of the Mexicans, the poor, the Indians. The manner in which he ran the
administration, the rich became richer and the poor became poorer.
Against the Day makes
a reference to “Huertistas” which tells me the South of the Border scene is
after the Diaz administration. The Tahumare
people, would have disliked Diaz because the injustice towards the Indians. He was running them off their lands. Sources:
Noll, Arthur Howard. "Porfirio Diaz." The Sewanee Review, 14.4 (1906): 436-448.
Johnston, Charles. "Porfirio Diaz." The North American Review, 176.554 (1903): 115-124
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