Minibiografía: José María Morelos y Pavón

José María Morelos y Pavón was born on September 30, 1765, a descendant of Creoles, mestizos, and probably Black people. His father was a carpenter whose alcoholism estranged him from the family, forcing young Morelos to help support his siblings. From a young age, Morelos was passionate about his studies and became a self-taught grammarian. His knowledge

allowed him to keep the accounts for the Tahuejo hacienda. He also ventured into commerce and muleteering. In 1789, he enrolled in the College of San Nicolás in Valladolid, where Miguel Hidalgo was rector, to pursue a religious career. In 1797, Morelos was ordained a priest and assigned to serve in parishes in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán, a

rugged and difficult area that other priests, like Miguel Hidalgo himself, tried to avoid. Morelos was a parish priest close to his parishioners, whom he tried to help with their material and spiritual needs. He built churches and cemeteries. He also detested that the indigenous people rented their lands instead of working them themselves, so he

sometimes reprimanded them harshly. A sincere and devoted priest of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Morelos was also a man of flesh and blood. He had his loves, from which a daughter and a son were born, whom he named Juan Nepomuceno. Since the mid-17th century, signs of discontent had begun to appear in New Spain towards the

crown, and the capture of King Ferdinand VI in 1808 by Napoleon added instability to these frictions. Thus, when on September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo called for rebellion against the Spaniards, whom he accused of wanting to hand the country over to Napoleon, Morelos decided to present himself to his former teacher. On October 20,