Emiliano Zapata Facts & Worksheets

Emiliano Zapata, also known as “El Caudillo del Sur” was a peasant leader and icon of the Mexican Revolution.

See the fact file below for more information on Emiliano Zapata or alternatively, you can download our 29-page Emiliano Zapata worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

• He was born on August 8, 1879, in San Miguel Anenecuilco, in Morelos Mexico.
• Emiliano Zapata’s parents were Doña Cleofas Salazar and Don Gabriel Zapata. They were indigenous peasants.
• Since he was a child, Emiliano dedicated himself to farming.
• In his youth, he became a well-known horse tamer at the haciendas in his native region. 
• He was elected President of the Anenecuilco Land Defense Board.

LIFE IN ANENECUILCO

• Only 400 families were living in Anenecuilco at the time. 
• Almost all of them were poor peasants who worked at the nearby haciendas. 
• They did things like planting, burning, and cutting sugar cane. 
• Later, the muleteers would take it to the mills to extract juice from the cane and turn it into sugar.
• They worked long hours for little pay. Their day began at 6:00 in the morning, and they stopped working at 8:00  at night. 
• They only earned three or four coins, which was not enough to live on. 
• The Zapata family did not have to work on the neighboring farms because they had their own land to plant crops on. 
• They also raised cattle, which they sold in nearby villages. 
• Emiliano and his brother were in charge of selling the cattle, so they learned the paths, caves, and ravines in the whole region very well. 

MADERO AND THE REVOLUTION

• In 1910, Francisco I. Madero started a revolution against dictator Porfirio Díaz.
• The news of the revolution spread to Morelos.
• Many peasants supported Madero because he promised to give their land back to them. 
• Emiliano Zapata then became a major Maderista chief.
• People who decided to fight in the revolution went to Zapata for help.
• People used machetes to cut sugar cane as their first weapons. Everyone joined the revolution with what they had.

THE PLAN OF AYALA

• Francisco I. Madero won and was elected president of Mexico. 
• He proposed that Zapata and his people lay down their arms and wait for the land to be legally returned to them. 
• Zapata, on behalf of the peasants, did not accept this, because they wanted to be treated fairly and not as bandits.
• Zapata and some of his men went to the town of Ayoxustla to write a program that would help them get their land back. 
• He told Mexico that he and the revolutionaries under his command would continue fighting because the promise to get their lands back had not been kept.
• Emiliano Zapata completed the document he called the Plan of Ayala. 
• This would legalize their disagreement against the government and unite the peasant revolutionaries under the motto “Land and Freedom.”
• The men and women in the revolutionary army of the south were called Zapatistas in honor of their leader. 
• They fought together with him for nine years.

THE ZAPATISTAS AND THEIR FIGHTS

• General Zapata took the city of Chilpancingo in 1914.
• He knew that he didn’t have artillery like the federal troops, but he also knew that he had more fighters.
• The Zapatista horsemen were very good at using lassoes. Some people say they used them to disarm the enemy of their machine guns.
• The long years of fighting changed the landscape of Morelos. 
• Entire towns were abandoned and overgrown with weeds. The mill machinery was left to rust, and the roads destroyed.
• For the first time in history, Zapata and his army, along with the townspeople, set up their own government. 
• In 1915, Zapata formed a revolutionary government after the military and political victories he and his people had achieved.

A ZAPATISTA GOVERNMENT

• The Zapatista General Headquarters organized the daily life of the towns they controlled. 
• They fixed the prices of goods to prevent merchants from taking advantage of people.
• They also made sure that sugar cane continued to be planted in fields so the mills would not stop producing sugar.
• Zapatista currency was also issued.
• People elected their municipal authorities and the governor. 
• The troops, along with Zapata, appointed the generals of the revolutionary army.
• The Zapatista zone had limits that were guarded by their own army to avoid an attack by Venustiano Carranza.
• In 1917, Venustiano Carranza was elected the constitutional president. 
• Zapata was regarded by the Carranza government as a rebel leader of outlaws who opposed national integration.

TREASON AND DEATH

• The Zapatistas lost ground to Carranza’s government until they retreated to the highest and most distant hills. 
• There they were cold, hungry, and thirsty.
• Emiliano Zapata told his people that he would have to move in small groups. 
• Each small group would follow the general who represented their people.
• This way of fighting is called guerrilla warfare.
• In 1919, the Carranza government convinced Colonel Jesús Guajardo to pretend that he wanted to join Zapata’s forces. 
• Guajardo wrote to Zapata saying that he wanted to fight alongside him and could provide a lot of weapons.
• Zapata was not sure if Guajardo was being truthful. But, he agreed to work with Guajardo when he found out that he could get help and weapons.
• After several talks, Guajardo invited General Zapata to eat at hacienda de Chinameca. 
• Zapata arrived on a chestnut horse on April 10, 1919. 
• When Zapata arrived, the guard was ready in the backyard to greet him.
• Emiliano Zapata was killed by the soldiers who shot him twice at close range. 
• The news of his death spread quickly. People in the villages wanted to see his body, even though they did not believe he was really dead.
• People started telling stories about how General Zapata had escaped. 
• Many said he went to Hungary or Arabia. But the sad truth was that he was dead.

Emiliano Zapata Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Emiliano Zapata across 29 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching about Emiliano Zapata who was also known as “El Caudillo del Sur” was a peasant leader and icon of the Mexican Revolution.

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Complete List Of Included Worksheets

• Emiliano Zapata Facts
• A Charro Suit
• Zapata Corridos
• Where Does Sugar Come From?
• Timeline of Zapatistas
• The Soldaderas
• New Family Laws
• A Letter to the U.S. President
• The New Zapatistas
• Spanish Words in English
• Pancho Villa and Zapata

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