Question

In 1821, …

This year is important because…

Also, …

Finally, …

This is what happened and my reasons for why we should remember it.

Beginning on September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Catholic priest, launched the Mexican War of Independence with the issuing of his Grito de Dolores. Father Hidalgo called for the end of Spanish rule in Mexico, redistribution of land, and racial equality. This began Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain.
After years of fighting, Agustín de Iturbide negotiated the Plan of Iguala in early 1821. Under the plan, Mexico would be established as an independent constitutional monarchy. Additionally, the privileged position of the Catholic Church would be maintained, and Mexicans of Spanish descent would be regarded as equals to pure Spaniards. Mexicans of mixed or pure Indian blood would have lesser rights.
Finally, on August 24, 1821, the Treaty of Córdoba was signed, which approved a plan to make Mexico an independent constitutional monarchy. The Treaty of Córdoba was signed and finally ended Spain’s control over Mexico. Mexico officially became an independent nation.
Mexico’s independence ushered in an era of Anglo settlement. Thousands of Americans began to move to Texas to take advantage of affordable land. The era of Mexican Independence was about the change the course of Texas history.

Answer 1

In 1821, Mexico achieved de facto independence from Spain after more than a decade of revolutionary struggle that began with Father Miguel Hidalgo’s Grito de Dolores on September 16, 1810.

This year is important because the Plan of Iguala (February 24, 1821), negotiated by Agustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero, and the Treaty of Córdoba (signed August 24, 1821) brought an end to Spanish rule and established the political framework for an independent Mexico—a constitutional monarchy in theory, with the Catholic Church retained as the state religion and civil equality granted to peninsulares (Spaniards born in Spain) and criollos (Mexicans of Spanish descent).

Also, the Plan of Iguala and the subsequent Treaty preserved important social hierarchies (limiting full equality for people of mixed or indigenous ancestry) and set in motion political choices—like Iturbide’s short-lived emperorship—that contributed to decades of instability as Mexico defined itself as a nation.

Finally, independence opened Mexico’s northern provinces to new settlement policies. The Mexican government invited Anglo-American immigrants into Texas, which led to rapid Anglo settlement under empresarios such as Stephen F. Austin and helped create the tensions that would result in the Texas Revolution and the eventual loss of Texas to the United States.

This is what happened and my reasons for why we should remember it: 1821 marks the end of colonial rule and the birth of Mexican sovereignty, but also the start of major social and political challenges—continuing inequality, internal power struggles, and territorial pressures—that shaped Mexico’s 19th-century trajectory and had lasting effects on Mexico–U.S. relations and the map of North America. Remembering 1821 helps us understand the foundations of modern Mexico and the origins of later conflicts and migrations.