Rewriting Zapata: Generational Conflict on the Eve of the Mexican Revolution

In this article I challenge John Womack's opening premise and subsequent interpretations about the origins of the 1910 Zapatista rebellion. Using newly discovered documents from Mexican archives, I argue that a 1907 proposal to move from Anenecuilco fundamentally alters Womack's claim that these people revolted because they refused to move. The proposal to move bore the signatures of more men from Anenecuilco and Ayala than any previous or subsequent letter, including Emiliano Zapata's. To fully understand the implications of the offer to leave Anenecuilco I analyze generational differences of opinion on liberal constitutionalism and land tenure. Ultimately, Anenecuilco faced greater internal disagreements than historians have acknowledged.