Mexican War of Independence who then made his elder brother Joseph king. The same year, the ayuntamiento (city council) of Mexico City, supported by viceroy José de Iturrigaray, claimed sovereignty in the absence of the legitimate king. That led to a coup against the viceroy; when it was suppressed, the leaders of the movement were jailed. Despite the defeat in Mexico City, small groups of rebels met in other cities of New Spain to raise movements against colonial rule. In 1810, after being discovered, Querétaro conspirators chose to take up arms on September 16 in the company of peasants and indigenous inhabitants of Dolores
Afro-Mexicans in the Mexican War of Independence Afro-Mexicans in the Mexican War of Independence The history of Africans in Mexico has not been well documented or recognized by the government and society. The Spanish relied upon slavery to expand their empire and to increase their wealth, and during the 16th and 17th centuries, African slaves were brought to Mexico to toil in sugar fields and work in underground mines. Estimates vary, but somewhere between 200,000 and 500,000 slaves were brought to Mexico during the colonial expansion. Over the years this bloodline has been absorbed into the population and the contribution of Afro-Mexicans has largely been forgotten. During