emiliano zapata

EMILIANO ZAPATA, the famous Mexican REVOLUTIONARY and rebel leader, who led the Mexican Revolution, was called "THE ATTILA OF THE SOUTH", was AMBUSHED and ASSASSINATED at the age of 40 and believed"IT IS BETTER TO DIE ON YOUR FEET THAN LIVE ON YOUR KNEES."

Emiliano Zapata was born on Aug. 8, 1879 in Anenecuilco, Mexico to a peasant family. Zapata was an orphan by the age of 17 and begantaking care of his brothers and sisters. He grew furious at the INJUSTICES suffered by his neighbors when a nearby hacienda owner stole land from the peasants. Zapata began leading battles to get thepeasants land back to them.
In 1897, Zapata was arrested for protesting that large plantations, haciendas, were taking over the peasants land. In 1910, Zapata organized a small force to help FranciscoMadero overthrow dictator Porfirio Diaz from office. This was the beginning of the MEXICAN REVOLUTION, which lasted until 1917. Zapata took up arms with the cry "LAND AND LIBERTY" and refused to laydown his arms until Madero, who overthrew Diaz, distributed land to the peasants. In 1911, Zapata met with Madero to draw up a plan of land reform. Unhappy with Madero's slow progress, Zapata wrote aprogram of land reform, known as the "Plan of Ayala" in November, 1911. The plan called for the hacienda owners to return the land to the Indian communal farmers.
In 1914, Venustiano Carranza, cameinto power. Zapata led a 25,000 person Liberation Army in the South of Mexico, which occupied Mexico City. Zapata then began a partnership with Pancho Villa to work together for a new president.Zapata created a commission to distribute land and formed the Rural Loan Bank, which was Mexico's first organization to give credit to farmers.
In 1917, Carranza's army defeated Pancho Villa, which leftZapata isolated. Carranza was elected president and maliciously set up Zapata to be ambushed. Colonel Jesus Guajardo, an emissary of Carranza, invited Zapata to meet, pretending to join Zapata's...