Miguel Hidalgo Miguel Hidalgo, was a Mexican Catholic priest and a leader of the Mexican war for Independence.

He was a professor at the College of San Nicholas. He served in a church in Colima and then in Dolores, Mexico. After his arrival, he was shocked by the poverty he found. He tried to help the poor by showing them how to grow olives and grapes, but in Mexico, growing these crops was discouraged or prohibited by the authorities due to Spanish imports of the items. He completed his preparatory education in 1770. He earned his degree in philosophy and theology. He also studied Italian and French, which were not commonly studied in Mexico at this time. He earned the nickname "El Zorro" ("The Fox") for his reputation for cleverness at school. Hidalgo's study of French allowed him to read and study works of the Enlightenment current in Europe but, at the same time, forbidden by the Catholic Church in Mexico. In his personal life, he did not advocate or live the way expected of 18th-century Mexican priests. Instead, his studies of Enlightenment-era ideas caused him to challenge traditional political and religious views. He questioned the absolute authority of the Spanish king and challenged numerous ideas presented by the Church, including the power of the popes. As a secular cleric, he was not bound by a vow of poverty, so he, like many other secular priests, pursued business activities.

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After Hidalgo settled in Dolores, he devoted himself almost exclusively to commerce, intellectual pursuits and humanitarian activity. He used the knowledge that he gained to promote economic activities for the poor and rural people in his area. He established factories to make bricks and pottery and trained people in the making of leather. He promoted beekeeping. He was interested in promoting activities of commercial value to use the natural resources of the area to help the poor. His goal was to make the Indians and mestizos more self-reliant and less dependent on Spanish economic policies. However, these activities violated policies designed to protect agriculture and industry in Spain, and Hidalgo was ordered to stop them. In 1810 he gave the famous speech, "The City of Delores", calling upon the people to protect the interest of their King Fernando VII (held captive by Napoleon) by revolting against the European-born Spaniards who had overthrown the Spanish Viceroy. He marched across Mexico and gathered an army of nearly 90,000 poor farmers and Mexican civilians who attacked and killed both Spanish Peninsulares and Criollo elites, even though Hidalgo's troops lacked training and were poorly armed. Hidalgo had no military training at all. The people

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who followed Hidalgo also had no military training, experience or equipment. Many of these people were poor who were angry after many years of hunger and oppression. Consequently, Hidalgo was the leader of undisciplined rebels. Through sheer numbers, Hidalgo's army had some early victories. He inscribed the following slogans to his troops’ flags: "Long live religion! Long live our most Holy Mother of Guadalupe! Long live America and death to bad government!" These troops ran into a clan of 6,000 well trained and armed Spanish troops, and most fled or were killed at the Battle of Calderon Bridge on 17 January 1811. Hidalgo was captured, then found guilty of treason by a military court and executed. There are many theories about how he was executed, the most famous that he was killed by firing squad and then decapitated on 30 July at 7:00 in the morning. At his execution, Hidalgo stated "Though I may die, I shall be remembered forever; you all will soon be forgotten." Fighting evolved into guerrilla warfare, and eventually the next major leader, Jose Merelos who had led rebel movements with Hidalgo, became in charge. Though Hidalgo did not achieve Mexican Independence, it was because of him and his actions that Mexico became independent.