March 21st: Explanation for children

You are in the middle of the week, counting the days until Friday to enjoy the days off. Forgetting to take the kids to school, leaving work pending for a while, getting up late… just thinking about it makes you smile. But do you know why March 21^st is a holiday? We tell you to explain it to your naughty ones.

On this date, the birth of Benito Juárez (who was born on March 21^st, 1806) is commemorated, so the following Monday, there will be no classes, and the banks will be closed. The Federal Labor Law establishes that this day will be an official holiday.

Who was Benito Juarez?

Surely you have heard this name in streets, buildings, monuments, and neighborhoods. He was president of Mexico during the French intervention. He is a very important character in the history of our country because many of the freedoms that we have today and that are in the Constitution are because of Benito Juárez.

He was born in San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca. His parents died when he was a child, but that did not prevent him from continuing his studies to become a lawyer. In 1846 he became a deputy and governor of his home state a year later.

He participated in the Plan de Ayutla, a document with which several politicians removed President Antonio López de Santa Anna from power, who had sold a large part of Mexico to the United States. Once the term of this controversial president ended, the Constituent Congress was formed and drafted the 1857 Constitution, a version prior to the current Constitution and was published in 1917.

After several struggles between the political groups of that time (conservatives vs. liberals), Juárez became president in 1857; he promulgated the Constitution of that year, which established human rights (such as freedom of religion and expression), sovereignty (no country can intervene in the government of Mexico), and the division of powers: executive, legislative, and judicial.

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Reform Laws

One of the moments that marked history was the promulgation of the Reform Laws, which Benito Juárez did when he was president in 1860. These laws kept a before and after in the way of governing; they established several principles that continue in force:

• The separation between Church and State
• The properties of the Church passed into the hands of the Mexican government
• Cemeteries ceased to be administered by the Church
• Freedom of religion

The Reform Laws sought to separate the functions of the government from the Church since this institution had had a lot of power in Mexico since the Colony. For María del Refugio González Domínguez, a researcher at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), the Reform Laws and the 1857 Constitution motivated Mexico to be a modern country.

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Legacy of Benito Juarez

Does this phrase sound familiar to you? “The respect for the rights of others is peace.” It is one of the most popular by Benito Juárez and refers to the fact that nations must respect the right of other countries to make their own decisions and choose the government they consider best. You must remember that our country has a long history of foreign invasions. Once it achieved its independence from Spain, countries like the United States and even France wanted to rule it.

After defeating the French after they invaded Mexico and imposed Maximilian of Habsburg as emperor, Juárez defended the principle of sovereignty, which prevails to this day, and is reflected in Article 1 of the Constitution.

In addition to this concept, Benito Juárez is owed:

• The form of government organization, in which the country is divided into 32 states.
• Vote for all: Citizens can vote to elect their rulers.
• Freedom of belief: The Catholic ceased to be the only religion.
• Human rights: Such as the freedom of expression, to meet, and even to work at what you want.

Benito Juárez laid the bases for many of our rights and how the country is governed. Get together with your naughty kids and tell them who this character was.

Translated by: Ligia M. Oliver

Spanish version