As per Tamu.edu, independence in Mexico was ignited by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a well-educated liberal priest who questioned policies of the church including clerical celibacy, banning certain literature, infallibility of the pope and the virgin birth of Christ.
In 1810, Hidalgo and his Creole officers were able to assemble an army of 80,000 by payment with looted Peninsulare gold and assets. Viceroy Francisco Javier Venegas, and his soon to be successor Gen. Félix María Calleja del Rey responded to the insurgency with a vengeance and in January 1811 Hidalgo suffered a serious defeat outside Guadalajara where rebel forces were routed at Calderon Bridge.
Bloody retaliation followed by mass executions of suspected rebel sympathizers by Spanish crown forces under Viceroy Calleja del Rey. Hidalgo and associates turned toward the northern provinces Nuevo Santander, Nuevo León, Coahuila and Texas for refuge where local sympathy for the rebellion and independence continued.
On 21 March 1811, a periodic rebel turned loyalist, Ignacio Elizondo, ambushed Ignacio Allende, Father Hidalgo and associates at the Wells of Baján on the road to Monclova in Coahuila. Hidalgo and associates were captured and executed in Chihuahua.
Learn more about Mexico's Independence Day by checking these 10 fun facts shared by Latintimes.com.