Juan Aldama was a military officer and one of the early conspirators in the movement for Mexican independence. He was connected to the meetings in Querétaro that helped prepare the uprising of 1810.

Aldama is remembered alongside Hidalgo and Allende as part of the first generation of independence heroes. For citizenship learners, he is useful because he represents the organized network behind the Grito de Dolores and the beginning of the independence struggle.