Once many communities had adopted and began using the Plan de Ayala, we see how Zapata’s childhood experiences influenced many of his changes throughout Mexican society. For example, Zapata having to work on Pueblas and communal land as a child and into most of his adult life he came up with plan for national factories to work with landholding villages which had never been done before not only in Mexico but in the entire Western Hemisphere challenging the dependent capitalism that was seen in most of the underdeveloped world.

 

“The main purpose of the national sugar factories was two-fold. The restored ejidos would create a self-sufficient rural populace, and the rural factories would provide jobs and participation in an expanded cash economy. That would help stimulate other local and regional industry by creating an internal market, previously hindered by low wages, unpaid work, scrip money instead of cash, and the hacienda’s company store. Most immediately, the profits from the state-run mills were to be used to support the revolution’s many widows and orphans, for maintaining a hospital and ambulances, and for supplying the troops.”

 

This idea was evolutionary in the Mexican economy because it provided a way for industry and agriculture to feed off one another improving economy a great deal. Another great influence Zapata incorporated in reforms for Morelos that came from experiences as a child was giving the people a voice. Implementing democratic policies Zapata knew that letting workers have a say in politics was the best option in improving society. They would keep their previous ways of self-governing and independence but would rid society of the dependent hacienda system, undemocratic policies, and the oligarchy. Giving the people a voice and using a democratic system allow for the majority to decide how they would rule instead of Zapata seeing the same authoritarian government as seen in his past. This also included how his military acted, Zapata did not want his military to behave or act as Diaz’s Rurales had in the past, so he held them accountable for their actions.

 

“He frequently had to intervene with officers in the field who overstepped their bounds and make it clear that pueblo autonomy and civilian authority came above military authority in the communities they were defending. His letter to a colonel operating in the far-off state of Jalisco, in February of 1916, demonstrated the procedures Zapata intended his adherents to follow. He instructed the colonel to proceed with “the distribution of lands, forests, and waters” in his zone according to the Plan de Ayala and told him that “in the places under the control of the Revolution, you must assure the operation of the municipal authorities, wholly independently from the military.” 

 

He did this in a way that was the exact opposite of the previous dictators of Mexico. Zapata used reason and following the law to tell people that they needed to follow the rules, or they would be at the will of the law. He used more persuasion, dignity of the cause, and as a last resort threats but only in extreme cases did he ever actually give out punishment to those who had done wrong. Zapata observed from a young age that violence is only responded to with violence, so with his wits he implemented a reasoning system that allowed people to redeem themselves by persuading them to think about the consequences to their actions instead of forcibly punishing them like Diaz, De la Barra, or Madero would have.

            One of the biggest reforms that Zapata tried to implement was the need for children to have a proper education. Although Zapata had a limited education as a child because he had to work in the fields, he believed in education making the future of Mexico so much better. However, forcing children to attend school for most of the day was a challenge, because many of the communities in Morelos and the surrounding areas were extremely poor currently in 1917. Children were a main source of labor in the fields, and they made more money for their families as well so when Zapata implemented mandatory education many of his followers were upset. They needed their children to make money to improve their lives and the economy, yet children needed to go get an education as well. Zapata kept pushing for more schools to be opened even though pueblos were poor and needed their children to work. He expected each pueblo to support their school and by August of 1917 there were schools in places that had never had schools before as well as some areas opening night schools so that adults would have a time to learn as well. Education was also inclusive when it came to boys and girls, each were expected to attend school and get an education which at the time was far ahead of its time because even in places like the United States woman attending schools was far-fetched and frowned upon. So, even in the middle of a revolution Zapata was able to use his past misfortunes to learn and begin major change in Morelos and all of Mexico during the early 1900s. 

      Sadly, Emiliano Zapata was assassinated on April 10, 1919 in Morelos. This was a devastating blow to his Zapatista followers, but even though he was gone the revolution was continuing to make change throughout Mexico. Even to this day the influence of Emiliano Zapata lives on in the hearts of Mexican citizens as well as his devoted Zapatistas.