ABSTRACT
By examining Francisco I. Madero’s manifesto along with the Plan de Ayala, readers may be able to discern why the Zapatistas might have initially supported Madero as well as the source of the tensions that would emerge. When Madero declared the Plan de San Luis Potosi, diverse groups whose grievances dated back decades, if not longer, took up arms in support of Madero and the Revolution. Upon taking the presidency, Madero called upon the Zapatistas to disarm themselves before he would consider attending to their demands. The armed peasants lost patience with him and in November 1911 convened in a small town in southern Puebla to draw up and proclaim the Plan de Ayala, which was signed by more than sixty Zapatista generals, captains, corporals, and lieutenants. The Plan de Ayala reveals the ways the people of Morelos, over time, engaged with national political leaders.
