Napoleon III did not give up his dream of empire however and invaded again in 1864 with a force of 30,000, drove Juarez from power and installed his cousin as Maximilian I Emperor of Mexico.  This empire did not last as the US Civil War ended the next year and the US aided Juarez in defeating the French army.  President Andrew Johnson (who succeeded Abraham Lincoln thanks to John Wilkes Booth) would not let this violation of the Monroe Doctrine stand and supported Juarez with weapons.  Napoleon III could not help because of the uprisings in Germany and Italy.  Maximilian I was executed in 1867.  By 1870 Napoleon III and President Johnson would be out of office and France would never have a monarch again.  A period of instability and dictatorship did follow in Mexico which also lead to a period of immigration to the US in the next century,

I considered adding this story to the Civil War post but thought there was enough for it’s own post as I, like many other Americans overlooked cultural issues beyond a narrow view.  I wrote the first post to expand viewpoints but realized I needed to expand myself.  Hopefully Cinco de Mayo can be recognized as more than an opportunity to sell tequila and cerveza.

There are efforts in the State of Arizona which has passed a law banning ethnic studies.  The Tucson school district was forced to cancel it’s acclaimed Mexican-American ethnic studies program.  Here is a discussion of the controversy on Democracy Now! followed by a follow up on a teacher being fired who refused to follow the policy.