The Life of Benito Juarez essays

The Life of Benito Juarez essays For the pass couple of weeks I had read about a president of Mexico. His named is Benito Pablo Juarez Garcia. He was born in the village of San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca. Both his parents die before he turn four. He worked in the corn field and as shepherd until the age of 12 then on December 17, 1818, he walk to the city of Oaxaca with a wish to educate himself and find a better life. At the time he was illiterate and could not speak Spanish, only Zapotec. In the city he took a job as a domestic servant, and eagerly made up for his previous lack of education. He work in a church and meet a lay Franciscan named Antonio Salanueva was impressed with young Benitos intelligence an thirst for learning, and helped arrange for him to be accepted at the city seminary. Salanueva, who was to employ Benito as a servant from 1819 to 1821, was a devout Catholic whose liberal views on politics and education profoundly influence the young man. He knows that if he work in a church, there a chance that he could learn read and write. At the time the Roman Catholic church controlled most of the country s school, owned huge amounts of property, and had an income estimated to be five times greater than the governments. Benito was accepted to the Holy Cross Seminary. It was the largest and best school in the area. As a Church they did not discriminate between rich and poor, everyone was equal there and all were taken seriously. The world in which Benito grew to manhood was changing at a rapid pace. After 11 bloody years of the Mexico war for Independence against its Spanish rulers drew to a close. At the age of 15-year old seminarian Benito was almost untouched by the political storms raging in Mexico. He was still too busy establishing his own independence and equality to be much troubled by the nation difficulties. Later he studied there but decided to pursue the law rather than the priesthood. He work hard as a student and stu...