The Intellectual Life of Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla Essay Example

The Intellectual Life of Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla Paper Eventually he came to the conclusion, based upon what he had observed while traveling, as well as what he had read, that political reform was necessary for social and economic reforms to occur. [7] During the course of this essay, numerous aspects concerning the life of Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo will be examined. This will include his education, work experience, life experiences, as well as several of the works he read and studied. A transformation from student to priest to revolutionary will be observed In this essay, with the focus on the intellectual life of Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo. Miguel Hidalgo y Cocktails educational experience began at the same place he was born, the estate of San Diego Corral. As a boy he helped with the dally agricultural duties. The years he spent living In this fashion gave Hidalgo an appreciation for agricultural work, and allowed him to understand the viewpoint of lower class Mexicans. [8] Once Hidalgo reached fourteen years of age, his father sent him to study at the Royal and Primitive College of San Noels Obis, In Validly. Founded In 1540 by the Jesuits, the College of San Noels was a common seminary for middle class Mexicans. We will write a custom essay sample on The Intellectual Life of Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Intellectual Life of Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Intellectual Life of Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It was here where Hidalgo focused his learning In ecclesiastical studies and philosophy. [9] Considering Hidalgo sagacity and saneness Nils classmates at San Nicolas Selenga NV ten complementary nickname el Zero, or the Fox. In 1767, however, the Jesuits were removed from San Nicolas ND secular clergy gained authority. [10] The students who attended this institution did not restrict themselves to the curriculum offered, but were active in smuggling in books that had been banned. Reading and studying these books rounded the students overall experience of literature. The books provided by the church and schools were often dry and boring, while the banned books offered interesting topics and inspiration. They were often written by French philosophers or poets. It has been claimed that a new social philosophy had been developed and widely accepted, thus fueling the ambitions of he revolutionists and speeding up the independence movement during its development. [11] In 1770, at the age of seventeen, Hidalgo and his brother Joaquin traveled to the City of Mexico Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico to receive their first Bachelor of Arts degree. Following this accomplishment, Hidalgo spent time in Validly where he lectured in Latin, Philosophy, and the principles of Theology at San Nicolas. [12] In 1773 Hidalgo returned to the University of Mexico for his second Bachelor degree in Theology. In 1774 Hidalgo won a prize for the best dissertation on the The True Method of Studying Theology. Then in 1778 he was ordained as a priest either in Validly or the City of Mexico. [13] During, as well as following, his academic career Hidalgo spent the majority of his time in Validly. His occupations included Rector of the college of San Nicolas, teacher, and cleric. It has been stated that many of the heroes of the revolutionary period were native of Validly or its vicinity, or were at one time resident there. Beginning in 1785 in Claim, Hidalgo engaged himself in parochial work, and in 1793 took the position of curate of the parish church in San Fillip. 14] It was in the year 1800 that the inquisition became suspicious of Hidalgo. He was denounced by Fray Joaquin Hushes for unorthodox utterances. A report issued thereafter by the Anchorman commissioner claimed that Hidalgo was a most learned man who had ruined himself with gambling and women, that he had read prohibited books and while a professor of theology he had taught from Jansenism works. [15] As no hard evidence of these accusations surfaced, the paperwork was filed away for future reference. In 1801, Hidalgo began his travels around the provincial internal (interior provinces) of Mexico. This was done out of spite against the inquisition so they could not keep such a close an eye on him. However, this proved useful in his learning experience of what kinds of conditions his fellow Mexicans were living under because of Spanish rule. During these two years Hidalgo used the knowledge he had gained from studying the prohibited French books in order to figure out what was going on politically and economically in Mexico at the time. He noticed the old Spaniards, or white colonists of pure Spanish blood or birth, who held offices in the government or were involved in business that yielded them comfortable amounts of money. He also noticed the Indians, those of pure native ancestry; creoles; mulattos; sambas, natives mixed with Negroes, also called Chinos; and African Negroes. [16] These people were usually sequestrated or enslaved Dye ten 010 Spaniards once Hidalgo Ana Tuna ten cause of the unhappiness of his people, he now had to figure out a way to change everything so his countrymen could be equal. From the prohibited books Hidalgo read, he knew that without political reforms economic and social reforms would not be possible. 17] These books that Hidalgo had read were by many different authors, mostly French. Hidalgo enjoyed works from the seventeenth century such as La Fontanne. He translated tragedies by Racine and comedies by Moldier (Tartuffe being his favorite). He was also very interested in Bouquets Discourse on Universal History because of the aspect of Divine Providence. [18] It was through these works of literature, among other factors, that inspired Hidalgo with revolutionary thoughts and steered him in the direction of leading a revolt against the Spanish government controlling Mexico. The first work to be analyzed is Molders Tartuffe. Tartuffe is a verse comedy in five acts. During the time period Tartuffe was written there were two different views of Christian morality at odds. One was a mild and tractable view, while the other was more of an austere and puritanical view, the latter condemning all instinct and pleasure as evil thus leading to a police state mentality. [19] The first version of Tartuffe, with only three acts, was attacked with violence leading Moldier to be viewed as a demon fit for hanging, and was promptly banned. 20] The play was promoted secretly through private performances and readings, and in 1667 opened publicly again under the title The Imposter, with the hypocrites name changed to Panel, to once more be banned immediately. In February of 1669 Moldier finally caught a break and the ban was lifted leading Tartuffe to become a great success. The two main characters in Tartuffe are Tartuffe and Argon. Argon is the head of a well to do family living on a grand estate. Argons daughter Marianne is to marry Vale ©re, a man whom she loves deeply and is loved the same in return. However, Tartuffe, a hypocrite posing as a religious dignitary who had lost his way and was living in poverty, has imposed himself on Argon and his family. During his stay on he estate he aids Argon with guidance while acting as his dearest friend. Tartuffe is so successful in doing so that Argon is ready to break his promise to Vale ©re for want of Marianne to marry Tartuffe instead. The only other person in the play who Tartuffe captivates is Madame Personnel, everyone else sees through Tartuffe scheme. Argons bullheadedness leads him to refuse to take anyones advice that is not in agreement with his decisions. Not only does Argon disown his son Dams, but he also attempts to force Marianne to marry Tartuffe that very night. In a desperate attempt to place an end on Argons insanity, Elmira, Argons wife, asks Argon to bear witness to see Tartuffe infidelity. Earlier in the day, since Tartuffe had made an advance on Elmira, she knew that he would accept her advance on him. Argon then hides under a table and Elmira summons Tartuffe. When Tartuffe arrives she seduces him, and right before an indiscretion is about to take place, Argon appears from under the table and tells Tartuffe to leave. Argon thus makes amends with his family, and proceeds to inform Vale ©re that he intends to make good on his promise for him to wed Marianne. When all seems well, the bailiff Monsieur Loyal comes to the door to speak with argon on laureate T According too writ Trot ten Klan ten Tamely Is to vacate the estate by the following day so Tartuffe can move in. This occurs because of a contract Argon had previously signed with Tartuffe under false pretenses. Following this news, Vale ©re arrives to take Argon away because of a warrant for his arrest. As they are about to escape the kings guards arrive with Tartuffe. When Tartuffe is denounced by Argon, the kings guards turn to take Tartuffe to prison and notify him that the king does not adhere well to imposter; also that good deeds are remembered more favorably than bad. Apparently Tartuffe has prior deceits that were not Justified and after he had gone to the king they were remembered. The deed to Argons estate is then given back to its rightful owner, and the hypocrite is sent to prison. The underlying factors involved in Tartuffe are human values, gullibility, sensuality, as well as arrant hypocrisy. [21] The overall theme is to show the modest values of human decency threatened in the name of piety. This can be connected to the way that Hidalgo felt when the inquisition began to take note of his reading material, and the unorthodox ideas he was accused of teaching. It connects to how the Holy Office, and Spanish authorities, took control over Mexico and other colonies furthering their gain while the indigenous people, mixed races, and creoles did not advance in the same way. While Hidalgo spent two years traveling the provincial internal, it can be thought that Tartuffe came to mind every time Hidalgo saw a family that was enslaved or living in poverty. This would have opened his eyes to the governments hypocrisy towards the people of Mexico. The Holy Office, government, and Inquisition claimed that they were bettering the country, and colonies of Spain. In reality, they were repressing the Mexican people by not allowing them to obtain an education or access to occupations with dignified titles, thus driving them into poverty . In Hidalgo mind it can be assumed that he saw the government as Tartuffe, the people of Mexico as the other characters in Tartuffe, and those with the control to revolutionize Mexico, yet allowing the injustices to keep occurring, as Argon and Madame Personnel. Another famous play studied and translated by Hidalgo was Raciness Thales. This has been claimed as Raciness most original work because he was able to express his elisions convictions and piety. Racine took the base of Thales from the Old Testament story of Josh, which tells how Josh was brought to the throne as descendent of David (2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 22-23). The background to this leads one to the murder of Thalamis son Isaiah by Juju, who was appointed by God to exterminate all the followers of Ball. To avenge this murder, Tallish killed all her grandchildren in order to discontinue the race of David. Her stepdaughter Jehovah, however, managed to save Josh and raise him under a different name with her husband, the high priest Jihad. They were successful in raising Josh and teaching him everything about religion and royalty, knowing that someday they would reveal his true identity so he could take the throne. When news surfaces that Tallish wants to destroy the temple, Jihad receives help from the Levities to declare Josh king and remove Tallish from the throne. This is where Thales begins. In short, Thales is a play that removes one ruler from the throne (Tallish) to place ten relating Klan (Joann) In power. I Nils Is done In order to stop a catastrophe from happening (the destruction of the temple). The Levities are convinced to help make this shift of power executed, and in the end execute Tallish. The theme of this play is revolution and can connect to Hidalgo Grit De Dolores. On September 15, 1810, Hidalgo called the townspeople into the church and from the pulpit led a speech about how the Spaniards stole the lands belonging their forefathers three hundred years prior. Then he continued to proclaim that control over Mexico was going to be handed to Napoleon in France. He spoke of danger threatening their religion, as well as oppression. In response to Hidalgo speech the embers of th e community recited in unison, Viva nesters Senora De Guadalupe! Mummer Los sappiness! translated as, Long live our lady of Guadalupe! Perish the bad government, perish the Spaniards! [22] These reactions to major changes that can be thought of as catastrophes, in Thales and in Hidalgo speech, although different in time and place are similar in substance. Ultimately, if Hidalgo was studying and translating the tragedies of Racine, revolution was a concept that he was familiar with, at least in terms of French tragedies. In La Fountains A Hundred Fables there are many lessons to be learned. About one hundred of them at that. These lessons range from how there is honor in telling the truth even though by lying you may get what you want, to how setting a pace will win you the race. These are all good life lessons that are taught through Jovial, anecdotal fables. One example a lesson taught from the fable entitled The Ass Who Bore Relics. The ass had a martyrs bone and when he walked past the people he accepted the pomp and circumstance that was being presented because of the relic. Eventually, someone pointed out that it was not he who they bowed to, but the relic. The last line was, So with an ignorant magistrate or mayor: The mans a dolt, but we salute his gown. [23] Another fable entitled, The Old Man and His Sons, teaches a lesson of strength in numbers. Based upon Hidalgo actions, one may think that he enjoyed reading these short fables because they teach valuable lessons. One could learn how to live a happier life by gaining understanding of them. As Hidalgo may be a man described as valuing equality, and giving credit where credit is due, these fables may have helped to influence his notice of the injustices being performed by the Spaniards, as well as he Holy Office. La Fountains Bawdy: Of Libertines Louts and Lechers is another collection of fables that teach valuable lessons. These lessons are a bit more sensual and deal mostly with adultery, incest, fornication to every degree of wrongness, lying and deceit. These fables may have had more of an influence on Hidalgo private life. He was known as a man being free in his treatment of women, he also enjoyed gambling and continual amusement, so much so one complained that in the house of this Hidalgo there has been enough riotous celebration to turn it into a little Finally we come to Jacques-B ©engine Bouquets Discourse on Universal History. Bouquets included in this discourse three different sections. The first section dealt with certain time periods dealing with Christian or religious events such as the Creation, the Flood, the birth of Jesus Christ, and Charlemagne. Part two focused on spectral people Ana rulers sun as Dramas, David, Solomon, Laurelled, as well as religious themes. Part three focused on the empires throughout history including the Egyptians, Assyrian, Persians, Greeks, and the Roman Empire. This discourse is Bouquets personal view on history and Christianity. As Bouquets analyzes the different stories of the bible and major events in a vast amount of history, he puts his own spin on events that took place and how they evolved. Divine Providence is used throughout the discourse to prove that religion (Christianity) will prevail, also that God alone can subject everything to his This idea of Divine Providence also shows that when people start something revolutionary, unforeseen things happen. This is all under Gods control, but God needs someone to get the ball rolling before the revolution can be completed. Since Bouquets was Hidalgo favorite historian, one should easily realize that Hidalgo enjoyed Christianizes history and was a true believer in God and his will being done on earth. [26] Since Bouquets focused much of his writings on the rise and fall of empires it would only be natural for Hidalgo to obtain some ideas of how to stir up a revolution in Mexico. Hidalgo always exhibited a strong will in things that he accomplished throughout his life in his education, and occupation as clergy. He never had a hard time gathering followers, and with this factor on his side he knew that all he had to do was lead them at the right place at the right time to go against he forces he deemed repressive. He used the will of God to persuade them, along with facts that were prevalent at the time, and proved very successful. If Bouquets was alive today he would have most likely included Hidalgo rebellion in his subsequent Discourse on Universal History, The Fall of the Spanish Colonies. In January of 1803 Hidalgo brother Joaquin died and Miguel inherited the position as curate of the church of Dolores. The Cure De Dolores is the position that Hidalgo is best known for in history. [27] As the curate, Hidalgo did many things to help the Indians of the neighboring haciendas. He used his knowledge to establish lucrative business opportunities for them in order to assist with their finances. Mulberry trees were planted to cultivate silkworm, with the intention to eventually manufacture the silk produced. Hidalgo taught the Indians to tan hides and produce quality leather goods. A factory was established to produce substantial earthenware, and he also taught the Indians how to make better bricks than the sun dried adobes to which they were accustomed. In the process of teaching the Indians these new trades he was breaking them from the tradition of pursuing occupations as slaves, ND promoting them to search for occupations traditionally held by free people. [28] These acts of charity and educating others worked to his benefit in winning the hearts of his parishioners. These acts of advancement in Dolores did not go unnoticed, however. The government dispatched special agents to go and destroy the business Hidalgo had created, because they had not sanctioned the commerce created by his ingenuity. They chopped down the mulberry trees and sabotaged the other advancements Hidalgo worked so hard to establish. Hidalgo, now in his fifties, still continued to expand his studies. He read more French philosophical works, as well as studied the sciences and political economy. In 1805 Hidalgo traveled to the City of Mexico and learned more of the political difficulties the government was running into concerning expropriations of church llanos Issued In 1804. It was rater tons vaults to ten C TTY AT Mexico Tanat Hidalgo acacia he would be ultimately forced to wage a war for independence against the government, in order to stop the injustices the politicians were performing against the Mexican people. On May 4, 1808, the inquisition reopened its case against Hidalgo, this time with a ore serious accusation. A woman who had lived with Hidalgo claimed that he had told her that someone other than Christ was who had died on the cross, and that no hell existed. The reason for telling her there was no hell was because they were to provide each other with sex partners he provide her with men, and she provide him with women and this was supposed to Justify that agreement. [29] Since there seemed to be a lack of evidence supporting these accusations, the charges were not pursued. Less than one year later, however, Hidalgo was accused of being in possession of orbited books that would have profoundly influenced him in French thought. These charges declared that Hidalgo had read and studied works of Cicero, Series, Calmest, El natal Alexandra, Rolling, Bouquets and Buffoon, also having translated the tragedies of Racine and the comedies of Moil ©re. [30] In 1810 additional charges were then brought against Hidalgo, claiming that he committed blasphemy, heresy, and made professions of Lathers doctrines. With the authorities closing in on Hidalgo, and people all throughout Mexico beginning to stir at the idea of independence, Hidalgo knew that the revolution had to start immediately. On September 15, 1810, Hidalgo called his congregation to the church of Dolores in the early hours of the morning. It was here he issued his Grit De Dolores calling his countrymen to fight for independence against bad government in the name of the lady of Guadalupe. [31] Thus the Mexican revolution of 1810 began, with Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo leading his fellow Mexicans in a fight for independence. Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo had a comprehensive education. As aforementioned, he attended to two excellent schools, the College of San Nicolas as well as the University f Mexico. He dominated in his studies and sagacity earning him the nickname el Zero, one that continued with him all his life. [32] The works he enjoyed studying most were those of French writers which influenced him with French thought. Many were fictional works with underlying meanings, themes, and valuable lessons, that shone through and influenced Hidalgo in his opinions and actions throughout his life. From these works, as well as the education he received, he obtained ideas of equality, Justice, rightful leadership, and most importantly rebellion.