Looking through my grandmothers closet clearing, I was tasked with clearing out unwanted belongings. After hours of cleaning, I found a peculiar tan box. Opening it, I gasped as I saw pictures being filled to the brim. The pictures were old, worn out, blurred, having to squint to make out the picture. Looking through the photos, I come across a man I’ve never seen before. The picture looked older than the rest of the photos in the box. A man, with a full beard, and serious expression staring at me. The military uniform looked strange, it didn't look normal. I couldn't place my finger on it, but his demeanor looked alluring and commanding. Still looking at the photo, I glanced at my mother who was beside me throwing papers away. Finally having …show more content…
Outrage, Juan gather men, training them and willing them to fight for justice due to the mistreatment of Mexicans. Successfully, after a couple of months of training and gathering up forces, Cortina was ready to embark on the journey and fight for equality. While on Texas soil, he released Mexican men, who were unfairly imprisoned. Once freed many Mexicans, terrorized the city and chanted “Death to the gringos!” and “Viva Mexico!”, however Juan didn't participate. Instead he wrote a proclamation demanding justice for the oppressed and abused Mexican residents in the Rio GrandeValley and called for “sacred right of self preservation”. He wrote that they were robbed, abused, and imprisoned due to the fact that they were Mexicans. Cortina continued with his raids stealing cattle, help free imprisoned Mexicans, and stopping the abuse. However feeling like times were about to change, Cortina was wrong, it was brought back full force. Anglos imprisoned any Hispanic in the Rio Grande Valley and began a search party for Juan Cortina. Juan realized that his small army was no match against the army of the United States and was quickly defeated on December 27, 1859. This didn't stop Juan as he continued with the stealing and giving to the poor and helping Mexicans as much as possible. He wanted social justice and he fought for it with the help of