was on the continuing presence of French
troops, Maximilian’s empire was short-
lived. As soon as the Civil War was over,
the United States, which had never rec-
ognized the empire, pressured France to
withdraw from Mexico and permitted
surplus U.S. munitions to flow to
Mexican rebels. France bowed to U.S.
pressure and to other considerations
(such as the looming threat from its rising
European neighbor Prussia) and with-
drew its forces in 1866–1867.
As the French withdrew, the forces of
president-in-exile Juárez reconquered the
country, aided by 3,000 discharged Union
veterans. The imperial side was aided by
2,000 Confederate veterans, but their
support was not enough. In 1867
Maximilian was court-martialed and shot,
and Juárez was reelected president. He
died in 1872 during an uprising by the
hero of Cinco de Mayo, Díaz, who went
on to rule Mexico as a virtual dictator for
much of the period 1876–1911.
Cinco de Mayo remains a major hol-
iday for people of Mexican descent, cele-
brated as a festival in Los Angeles and
other cities with large Mexican-American
populations.
NEW FACES,
OLD CONFLICTSThe 19th century saw a great tide of
immigration to the United States, and
Hispanics were part of that tide. They
came from Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and
Mexico, among other points of origin.
Their numbers at this time were small in
comparison with the flood of non-
Hispanic immigrants. Immigrants from
Spain numbered in the tens of thousands,
while immigrants from Germany, Ireland,A TIME OF TRANSITION 111A Cinco de Mayo parade in Mogollon, New Mexico, in 1914. (Library of Congress)Contemporary Basque Settlement in the United States
The map above highlights major Basque settlement in the United States. The vast
majority of Basque Americans live in the western United States. Miami and New York
City, neither of which is shown above, are the only cities in the eastern United States
with Basque populations numbering as many as 50 persons.