José María Morelos
An independence movement leader and mixed-race priest who issued the Sentiments of the Nation.
Life
Muleteer and priest
Morelos was a mestizo of Indigenous and African descent. As a young man he worked as a mule driver, later became a village priest, and had been a student of Hidalgo.
Insurgent army of the South
After Hidalgo's uprising in 1810, he was ordered to organize rebel forces in the South. His army was small but well disciplined and skilled at guerrilla warfare; in 1812 he held out at Cuautla for more than seventy days before breaking out. In 1813 he convened the Congress of Chilpancingo and issued the Sentiments of the Nation, calling for independence, popular sovereignty, and the abolition of slavery and the caste system.
Sentiments of the Nation
After that the rebels suffered repeated defeats. In 1815, while covering the Congress's withdrawal, he was captured and executed on charges of treason and heresy.
Legacy
Morelos was one of the most important leaders of the movement for Mexico's independence; his birthplace was later renamed Morelia, and the state of Morelos is also named after him.
Major works & achievements
- Sentiments of the Nation
Did you know? His portrait once appeared on the Mexican 50-peso banknote.
Key dates
- 1810Rises in revolt in the South on Hidalgo's orders
- 1812Holds out at Cuautla
- 1813Congress of Chilpancingo; issues the Sentiments of the Nation
- 1815Captured and executed