Mexican Revolution · 1910-1914

The Mexican Revolution begins

After about 30 years of rule by Porfirio Díaz, Mexico explodes. Madero, Zapata, Villa and Huerta fight over power and land. Students follow the first years of the revolution and ask why its leaders turned on each other.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1910 to AD 1914
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

After about 30 years of rule by Porfirio Díaz, Mexico explodes. Madero, Zapata, Villa and Huerta fight over power and land. Students follow the first years of the revolution and ask why its leaders turned on each other.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why many Mexicans were angry with the rule of Porfirio Díaz by 1910.
  • Describe the aims of Francisco Madero, Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa.
  • Explain why the leaders of the revolution soon fought each other.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1910

Mexico in 1910

Open the map in 1910 and zoom in on Mexico. Follow its long border with the United States, then find Mexico City. Which parts of the country are closest to the US?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1911

The north

Zoom in on the north and find Ciudad Juárez on the Rio Grande. Pancho Villa's horsemen came from the state of Chihuahua. Why was the border important for rebels who needed guns?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1914

The world watches

Type "Why did the United States occupy Veracruz in 1914?" in Ask the atlas and watch where the map goes. How would Mexicans on every side react?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Díaz brought railways and foreign investment, but held fake elections. Can a country grow richer and less free at the same time?
  2. Most farmland belonged to a small group of big landowners, and most rural families owned none. Why does land matter so much in a revolution?
  3. Madero wanted fair elections; Zapata wanted land. Why could these goals clash?
  4. Thousands of women, the soldaderas, cooked, nursed and fought in the armies. Why are they often forgotten?
  5. Why do revolutions often split the people who started them?
4

Game round

10 min

No Rule History ruler comes from this time and place. Play Abraham Lincoln, who also had to hold a divided country together. Compare his choices with those of Francisco Madero in 1911-1913: what did Madero face that Lincoln did not?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.