Challenge Quiz
Take the quiz – Just for fun!
Test your knowledge
If you’re a Spanish or History teacher, you should get at least 80%. Others, such as librarians, music teachers, etc., should be able to get at least 60%. If you score less than 50%, you really need this book.
1. Why did the French say they were in Mexico in the first place?
The new Mexican government could not pay its foreign debts after winning Mexico’s “War of the Reform” in the late 1850’s. The French claimed they were only there to collect those debts.
2. Which other countries sent military forces?
Britain sent a small group of marines, and Spain sent several shiploads of army troops. They settled with the Mexicans and left after discovering that France had a “hidden agenda” to take over Mexico.
3. What did the French forces do in the weeks after losing the Battle of Puebla?
They spent three days waiting for a “re-match!” When it didn’t happen, they retreated to Orizaba and waited six months for reinforcements to arrive.
4. How long did it take to get the French army out of Mexico?
French troops did not withdraw until February of 1867 – about five years after their arrival. The emperor they left behind – Maximilian – was captured and executed a few months later.
5. The American Civil War was going on at the same time. If the French were to take over Mexico, whom would they back – the Yankees or the Confederates? Why?
The plan was to first take over Mexico, and then use it as a base to help the Confederates. France’s Napoleon III wanted to block expansion of the United States.
6. What about the plan to take Texas back as part of Mexico? Whose plan was it, and how was it discovered?
French consuls assigned to the Confederate states of Texas and Virginia began asking identical questions as to whether Texas ought to be returned to Mexico. U.S. officials became aware of the Confederates’ plight, and checked with their agents overseas. The answers came back to both Yankees and Confederates: “Yes, that’s Napoleon III’s long-range plan.”
7. Why did several hundred Confederate cavalrymen get into a chase and gunfight in Austin, Texas, on their way to Mexico after the Civil War?
General Jo Shelby and his Missouri Confederate Cavalry were on their way to seek work in Mexico after the Civil War ended. They happened to arrive in Austin on the very night that some bandits had decided to raid the treasury vaults at the Texas state capitol. Some of the bandits were shot. Others escaped empty-handed.
8. Whose side would the Confederates fight on when they got to Mexico? Why?
Shelby’s group had not decided for whom they would fight. It was not until after they had crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico that they voted to back the French and Emperor Maximilian.
9. How did 1,500 Mexicans die in a tragic accident in March of 1862, before the French had fired their first shot?
In the Mexican Eastern Army camp at San Andrés Chalchicomula (“chal-chee-koh-MOO’-lah,”) the soldaderas (women who accompanied the Mexican army) were lighting their cooking fires for the evening. It was windy, and some sparks blew into a nearby barn where 23 tons of gunpowder were stored. More than 1,000 soldiers died, along with over 500 women and food vendors.
10. Children reacted to the presence of soldiers in various ways. In Orizaba, little boys raised imaginary “bugles” to their lips and held “drills” on the parade ground. However, in remote Indian villages, what would both boys and girls do when asked their names? Why?
After centuries under the harsh rule of Spain, the indigenous tribes had taught all of the little boys in their villages to say that their name was “José” and the little girls to insist that each of their names was “María.”