page_title: Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
section_title: Parish priest in Dolores
hierarchical_section_title: Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla / Parish priest in Dolores
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo taken March 2004 by Paige Morrison. (That's me.)
context_page_description: Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Francisco Ignacio Hidalgo-Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor, more commonly known as Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo, was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest, a leader of the Mexican War of Independence, and recognized as the Father of the Nation.
  He was a professor at the Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo in Valladolid and was ousted in 1792. He served in a church in Colima and then in Dolores. After his arrival, he was shocked by the rich soil he had found. He tried to help the poor by showing them how to grow olives and grapes, but in New Spain growing these crops was discouraged or prohibited by the authorities so as to avoid competition with imports from Spain. In 1810 he gave the famous speech, "Cry of Dolores", calling upon the people to protect the interest of their King Fernando VII by revolting against the European-born Spaniards who had overthrown the Spanish Viceroy.
  He marched across Mexico and gathered an army of nearly 90,000 poor farmers and Mexican civilians who attacked and killed both Spanish Peninsulares and Criollo elites, even though Hidalgo's troops lacked training and were poorly armed.
context_section_description: In 1803, aged 50, he arrived in Dolores accompanied by his family that included a younger brother, a cousin, two half sisters, as well as María and their two children. He obtained this parish in spite of his hearing before the Inquisition, which did not stop his secular practices.
  After Hidalgo settled in Dolores, he turned over most of the clerical duties to one of his vicars, Fr. Francisco Iglesias, and devoted himself almost exclusively to commerce, intellectual pursuits and humanitarian activity. He spent much of his time studying literature, scientific works, grape cultivation, and the raising of silkworms. He used the knowledge that he gained to promote economic activities for the poor and rural people in his area. He established factories to make bricks and pottery and trained indigenous people in the making of leather. He promoted beekeeping. He was interested in promoting activities of commercial value to use the natural resources of the area to help the poor. His goal was to make the Indians and mestizos more self-reliant and less dependent on Spanish economic policies. However, these activities violated policies designed to protect agriculture and industry in Spain, and Hidalgo was ordered to stop them. These policies as well as exploitation of mixed race castas fostered resentment in Hidalgo toward the Peninsular-born Spaniards in Mexico.
  In addition to restricting economic activities in Mexico, Spanish mercantile practices caused misery for the native peoples. A drought in 1807–1808 caused a famine in the Dolores area, and, rather than releasing stored grain to market, Spanish merchants chose instead to block its release, speculating on yet higher prices. Hidalgo lobbied against these practices.
caption: Statue of Hidalgo in front of his church at Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato
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