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120-691: The Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge was named in honor of the Mexican President Benito Juárez and U.S. President Abraham Lincoln . It was built in 1976 to alleviate traffic on the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge and to accommodate the fast-growing cities of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo. The Juárez–Lincoln International Bridge is an eight-lane bridge with and is 1,008 feet (307 m) long and 72 feet (22 m) wide. The international bridge

240-615: A Conservative coup overthrew Arista, and brought back Santa Anna for what would end up being his final dictatorship. Juárez fell victim to the restored Santa Anna, and the authorities confined him to the fortress of San Juan de Ullua. He was eventually released and exiled to Havana, from which he then traveled to New Orleans . There he found a day job as a cigar maker in one of the city's factories, while his wife remained in Mexico with their children, and were looked after by Liberal partisans. His time as governor of Oaxaca had not left him with

360-526: A Liberal body of troops under Miguel Cruz de Aedo arrived in order to negotiate. Landa was allowed to leave Guadalajara, and the Liberal prisoners were released as well. Juárez and his cabinet now made their way to the port of Manzanillo from which they embarked for the Liberal stronghold of Veracruz by way of Panama. On 4 May 1858, Juárez arrived in Veracruz where the government of Manuel Gutiérrez Zamora

480-587: A client state. Seeing this as an opportunity to undo the Reform, conservative generals and statesmen joined the French and invited Habsburg archduke Maximilian to become Emperor of Mexico. Emperor Maximilian however proved to be of liberal inclination, he ratified the Reform Laws with religious freedom being maintained and sales of church property continuing. Nonetheless, he still was willing to declare Catholicism

600-491: A compromise between radical liberals and conservatives. When that failed, and the country began to plunge into civil war, he resigned, and the constitutional line of succession handed the presidency over to Benito Juárez, president of the Supreme Court . The War of the Reform broke out, lasting three years, between the liberal government under Benito Juárez and the conservative government under Zuloaga and others. During

720-616: A cook. In 1818, while the Mexican War of Independence was ongoing, a twelve year old Juárez entered domestic service under the lay Franciscan and bookbinder Antonio Salanueva. The young boy showed potential at primary school, upon which Salanueva sought to sponsor Juárez to enter a seminary to study for the priesthood. Juárez entered the seminary in Spring of 1821, only a few months before Mexico won its independence in September of

840-713: A decisive victory, and the Constitution of 1857 would remain in force all throughout the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz until he was overthrown by the Mexican Revolution , when the Constitution was replaced by the Constitution of 1917 , which remains in force to this day. The types of government reforms that would go on to characterize La Reforma were first attempted under the liberal presidency of Valentín Gómez Farías who assumed power in April 1833. Among

960-436: A decree on 6 November 1860, fixing the date of presidential and congressional elections for the following January, with the newly elected congress scheduled to meet on 19 February. After Guadalajara was captured on 20 December 1860, the Liberal armies had an unrestricted path back towards Mexico City. Liberal troops entered the capital on Christmas Day 1860 without encountering any military Conservative resistance. Juárez won

1080-493: A democracy with protections for individual rights, they instead established a constitutional dictatorship under Juárez, Lerdo, and Díaz, who established political machines to ensure their continuance in power. Historical memory in Mexico created new national heroes, but prominently Benito Juárez. Others were Melchor Ocampo , General Ignacio Zaragoza , and Miguel and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Guillermo Prieto , and Vicente Riva Palacio . The Constitutionalists , winning faction of

1200-455: A dynamic real estate market, creating a class of yeoman farmers owning their own land, and raising revenue for the state. The measure was intended to strip the Church of most of its property, as well as to break indigenous communities' collective ownership of land. Both of these laws were later integrated into the Constitution of 1857, which also contained many other liberal reform measures. It

1320-420: A few rich individuals, argued that the church had previously lent to the government during crises, and defended the church's record of treating tenants more generously than private owners. Minister of Justice Ezequiel Montes received him courteously, but the protests resulted in no change in government policy José Julián Tornel wrote a pamphlet defending the church's role as both lender and landlord, warning that

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1440-537: A modern nation-state that undermined the institutional power of the Roman Catholic Church. The liberals destroyed the charitable functions of the Church, such as aid to the poor and hospitals. The state assumed no charitable functions at the time, abandoning the social welfare of the poor to the forces of exploitation. The Reform also destroyed the material basis of indigenous communities so that members no longer had access to cultivable lands and undermined

1560-747: A number of controversial measures, including his negotiation of the McLane–Ocampo Treaty , which would have granted the United States perpetual extraterritorial rights across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec ; a decree extending his presidential term for the duration of French Intervention; his proposal to revise the liberal Constitution of 1857 to strengthen the power of the federal government; and his decision to run for reelection in 1871. His opponent, liberal general, and fellow Oaxacan Porfirio Díaz opposed his re-election and rebelled against Juárez in

1680-402: A people; at the same time, it is the most effective way to make abuses of power impossible." They considered it the most effective way to better Mexico was to have an educated and informed citizenry that would strengthen Mexican democracy and provide a path to upward mobility for Mexicans. Benito Juárez's story of being an orphaned illiterate indigenous person rising to the presidency of Mexico was

1800-541: A period of unprecedented constitutional change for Mexico, and Juárez was to be a key figure throughout this era. Prior to La Reforma , and dating back to the legal system of New Spain , neither clerics nor soldiers were under the jurisdiction of the civil judiciary, and could only be tried for all offenses under their own respective, independent court systems. It was the aim of the Liberal Party to abolish all such sovereign court systems and bring all offenses under

1920-446: A priest, whom they accused of abuses. He did not win the case, and was thrown into jail along with community members, "thanks to the collusion between Church and the state," writing later that it "strengthened in me the goal of working constantly to destroy the pernicious power of the privileged classes." Juárez gained the goal of fighting for equality before the law in the face of the lingering legal privileges that remained in Mexico from

2040-593: A series of rebellions culminating in his own vice-president, Santa Anna joining the rebels after which in April 1835, Valentin Gomez Farias fell from power through a military coup like many of his predecessors in the tumultuous era of the First Republic. The question of nationalizing church properties would hence remain mostly dormant until La Reforma. On 1 March 1854, the Plan of Ayutla was proclaimed against

2160-627: A time of a "second struggle for independence, a second defeat for the European powers, and a second reversal of the Conquest". After his death, the city of Oaxaca added "de Juárez" to its name in his honor, and numerous other places and institutions have been named after him. He is the only individual whose birthday (21 March) is celebrated as a national public and patriotic holiday in Mexico. Many cities (most notably Ciudad Juárez ), streets, institutions, and other locations are named after him. He

2280-601: A vast fortune, and he survived off of his cigar rolling job and funds sent to him from Mexico by his wife. Juárez met other Liberal exiles in New Orleans including the anti-clerical former governor of Michoacan Melchor Ocampo , and the Cuban separatist exile, Pedro Santacicilia , who later married Juárez's oldest daughter, and served as a valuable ally during the Reform War and the second French intervention As

2400-578: A wider program of economic and social reform, the government closed church schools, assumed the right to make clerical appointments to the church, and closed monasteries. It was a time of great anti-clerical agitation led by men such as Lorenzo de Zavala and Jose Luis Mora . The measure to assume the patronato , or the right to make appointments to the Catholic Church was actually passed over Gómez Farías' opposition. Opposition to Gomez Farias’ anticlerical measures and his wider policies resulted in

2520-539: Is considered the most popular Mexican president of the 19th century. Benito Juárez was born on 21 March 1806, in the village of San Pablo Guelatao , Oaxaca , located in the mountain range since named for him, the Sierra Juárez . It was a small settlement of about two hundred inhabitants, made up of straw huts, and a small church, the village being located at the edge of a mountain pond known for its picturesque transparent waters, and called La Laguna Encantada ,

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2640-435: Is for buses and non-commercial traffic only. The bridge is also known as Bridge Number Two, Laredo-Nuevo Laredo Bridge 2, New Bridge, Puente Juárez-Lincoln, Laredo II and Puente Nuevo. It had a dedicated lane for SENTRI program users until 2018. SENTRI users now have to cross through the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge . The change was made to accommodate SENTRI users from long lines and long waiting. This bridge

2760-572: Is located in the southern terminus of Interstate 35 east of downtown Laredo, Texas and on the northern terminus of Luis Donaldo Colosio Loop in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas . It operates 24 hours a day. The Laredo Juarez-Lincoln Port of Entry is the international port of entry inspection station at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge. The station was built in 1976, primarily to divert truck traffic from

2880-523: The Ley Lerdo , which with the aim of selling them off to stimulate economic development, had nationalized most of the Catholic Church's properties, along with the communal properties of Mexico's Indigenous communities. The new constitution which would come to be known as the Constitution of 1857 , was promulgated on 5 February 1857, with the aim of coming into effect on Mexican Independence Day, 16 September of that year. It had abandoned Roman Catholicism as

3000-470: The Centralist Republic of Mexico in which the states of the nation were replaced by departments directly administered by Mexico City. For this, Juárez was briefly imprisoned, but he was shortly released. Juárez then returned to private practice. After practicing law for several years. In 1842 Liberal governor of Oaxaca Antonio León , appointed Juárez to serve as a Civil and Revenue Judge for

3120-532: The Plan de la Noria . Juárez came to be seen as "a preeminent symbol of Mexican nationalism and resistance to foreign intervention". His policies advocated civil liberties , equality before the law , the sovereignty of civilian power over the Catholic Church and the military , the strengthening of the Mexican federal government , and the depersonalization of political life. For Juárez's success in ousting French invasion, Mexicans considered Juárez's tenure as

3240-479: The Plan of Ayutla . The plan had a provision for drafting a new constitution. A government led by the liberal Juan Álvarez assumed power in November 1855. His cabinet was radical and included prominent liberals Benito Juárez , Miguel Lerdo de Tejada , Melchor Ocampo , and Guillermo Prieto , as well as the more moderate Ignacio Comonfort . Clashes in the cabinet led to the resignation of the radical Ocampo, but

3360-585: The 1850s after the Plan of Ayutla overthrew the dictatorship of Santa Anna . They were intended as modernizing measures: social, political, and economic, aimed at undermining the traditional power of the Catholic Church and the army. The reforms sought separation of church and state , equality before the law, and economic development . These anticlerical laws were enacted in the Second Mexican Republic between 1855 and 1863, during

3480-615: The British government aimed to respect Mexican sovereignty and maintain cordial relations between both countries. On 27 May, Wyke met with the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs Zarco, with the latter attempting to convince Wyke of the impossibility for Mexico to meet its current foreign debts. On 3 June, President Juárez issued a decree, under the authority of congress postponing all payments to foreign creditors for one year. Events were now set in motion which would culminate in

3600-740: The Civil War could now once again enforce the Monroe Doctrine. The French eventually withdrew, leading the monarchy to collapse in 1867. The liberals returned to power, in a period known as the Restored Republic (1867-1876), often considered the end date of the Reform Era. Through the issuance of these laws and decrees Mexico achieved the separation of church and state. The new constitution polarized society, in December 1857

3720-554: The Conservatives ignored the government and the new constitution by the Plan of Tacubaya , which began the War of the Reform or Three Years' War. Liberals achieved victory, on 1 January 1861, President Juárez returned to Mexico City. It is for this reason that several of the decrees and laws were issued in the port of Veracruz. But the country's stability was again interrupted, the government had to suspend payments on foreign debt. By

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3840-462: The Constitution of 1857 as not in accord with the customs of the Mexican nation, and which offered to give supreme power to President Comonfort, who was to convoke a new constituent congress to produce a new constitution that was to be approved by a national plebiscite before coming into effect. The same day, congress condemned the plan and deposed Comonfort from the presidency. Zuloaga's troops entered

3960-434: The French and invited Habsburg archduke Maximilian to become Emperor of Mexico. Emperor Maximilian however, proved to be ideologically a liberal and actually ratified the Reform laws. Regardless, the government of Benito Juárez resisted, and fought the French and Mexican Imperial forces with the material and financial aid of the United States. The French withdrew, leading the monarchy to collapse in 1867. The liberals achieved

4080-542: The Ley Lerdo was also excommunicated. Civil servants swearing fealty were to resign. A public retraction of fealty would restore their standing. Most government employees did take the oath; a few were fired for refusing. In the Church's view, if a Catholic "persisted in following civil authority, he was doomed to hell." The Franco-Mexican and liberal paper Trait d'Union now proclaimed that war had been declared between church and state and featured stories on who had refused

4200-656: The Liberal Plan of Ayutla broke out against Santa Anna in March, 1855, Juárez sought to return to Mexico. He arrived at the port of Acapulco near the Southern center of the revolt in the summer of 1855. Santa Anna fled the nation and a subsequent Liberal assembly elected Juan Alvarez as the new president. Juárez, who had been secretary to the assembly was made Minister of Justice and Religion. The Plan of Ayutla had inaugurated what would come to be known as La Reforma ,

4320-643: The Liberal armies were making advances upon Mexico City. General Degollado occupied the suburbs of Mexico City throughout February and March, 1859, only to be repulsed by the efforts of the Conservative General Marquez, who then gained infamy for shooting all of his prisoners of war in the suburb of Tacubaya. Juárez remained entrenched in Vera Cruz. In the course of the war through 1859, the Liberals captured Mazatlan and Colima. By April,

4440-488: The Liberals during the Reform War and returned to banditry after the war's end. The reconstruction of the country also involved a reorganization of finances, but for the time being the Mexican government found it impossible to meet its domestic and its foreign obligations. A British Minister Plenipotentiary, Sir Charles Wyke , was commissioned on 30 March 1861, to negotiate British claims while providing reassurance that

4560-624: The London Convention, the governments of France, Britain and Spain decided to intervene in Mexico. an agreement with the British and the Spanish, but not with the French, who with this pretext and with the help of conservatives began armed intervention and shortly after the Second Mexican Empire was achieved. Juarez was forced to flee the capital holding his itinerant government. Liberals sought economic development under

4680-415: The Mexican state's commitment to free, mandatory, public, secular education. Schooling had been in the hands of the Catholic Church and targeted male elites for training as doctors, priests, and lawyers. Liberals saw education as the way to transform the lives of Mexicans by stressing literacy and numeracy for all as a means to create better citizens. Juárez viewed education as "the cornerstone of prosperity of

4800-585: The Pacific Ocean, and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec was the narrowest crossing in Mexico between the bodies of water. Juárez needing allies against the Conservatives, and his government proceeded to negotiate and ratify the McLane-Ocampo Treaty by December 1859. The treaty would have granted the United States perpetual extraterritorial rights for its citizens and its military through key strategic routes in Mexico. The treaty however, ultimately

4920-607: The Reform War as it would come to be known, was marked by repeated Conservative victories, albeit indecisive ones. On 10 March 1858, the Liberals lost the Battle of Salamanca , near Juárez’ base in Guanajuato City , upon which he and his government retreated to Guadalajara . While the Liberal government was ensconced there, the garrison mutinied against them, and Juárez along with his ministers which included Melchor Ocampo and Guillermo Prieto were imprisoned. The commander of

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5040-570: The Reform War. When the government of Juárez refused to honor the debts contracted by the Conservative government, Jecker took his complaints to the government of France. La Reforma In the history of Mexico , La Reforma (from Spanish : " The Reform "), or reform laws , refers to a pivotal set of laws, including a new constitution , that were enacted in the Second Federal Republic of Mexico during

5160-709: The Second French Intervention in Mexico, and the failed efforts of the Second French Empire to overthrow the government of the Mexican Republic and impose a monarchy upon the nation. The main French pretext for subsequently invading Mexico had been specifically the issue of the Jecker Bonds, a series of high interest loans which had been contracted through a Swiss banker named Jecker, by the Conservative government during

5280-567: The Supreme Court, he succeeded to the presidency upon the resignation of the Liberal president Ignacio Comonfort in the early weeks of the Reform War between the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party , and led the Liberal Party to victory after three years of warfare. Almost immediately after the Reform War had ended, President Juárez was faced with a French invasion , the Second French Intervention aimed at overthrowing

5400-659: The United States from annexing that territory. He defended Deputy Mata's claims on German immigration and added his own experience in working with the Prussian minister to highlight the importance of religious toleration to the immigration question. The issue of religious toleration was referred back to a committee in August 1855, and the question was ultimately shelved by January 1856. The new constitution would ultimately not explicitly promise freedom of religion, yet in contrast to previous constitutions, it did not declare Catholicism

5520-445: The United States had recognized the Liberal government as the legitimate government of Mexico and sent Robert Milligan McLane as its official representative. On 7 July 1859, Juárez laid out an agenda of legislation decreeing the de jure separation of church and state, the greater independence of the judiciary, the expansion of affordable education, a program of road construction, a program of railroad construction, financial reform,

5640-563: The United States, was promulgated in June. In June 1856, another major controversy emerged over the promulgation of the Ley Lerdo , named after the secretary of the treasury, Miguel Lerdo de Tejada , brother of fellow Liberal, and future President of Mexico, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada . The law was aimed at the collective or corporate ownership of real estate. It forced 'civil or ecclesiastical institutions' to sell any land that they owned, with

5760-512: The administration was still determined to pass significant reforms. On 23 November 1855, the Ley Juárez  [ es ] , named after the Minister of Justice Benito Juárez, abolished the jurisdiction that military and ecclesiastical courts previously had over purely civil cases. Liberals criticized the existence of both courts for being biased towards their defendants. In the case of

5880-587: The assumption that the economy would flourish if the structure of landholding would re-ordered. For this reason, they targeted the corporate holdings of the Catholic Church and indigenous communities that held ownership in common. Liberals saw both as stumbling blocks to economic development, which they envisioned as the creation of a class of small-scale yeoman farmers. They targeted indigenous communities' material support since they sought to transform indigenous from being ethnically, socially, and economically separate from Mexico, seeking to make them individual citizens of

6000-409: The capital on 18 December and dissolved congress. The following day, Comonfort accepted the role as proposed by Plan of Tacubaya , and released a manifesto making the case that more moderate reforms were needed under the current circumstances. The Plan of Tacubaya did not lead to a national reconciliation. Comonfort realized that he had helped trigger a civil war he began to back away from Zuloaga and

6120-596: The colonial legal system, as were accorded to the Mexican Catholic Church, the army, and Indigenous communities. He became a prosecutor for the State of Oaxaca and was soon elected to the Oaxaca state legislature in 1832, serving for two years during the Liberal presidency of Valentin Gomez Farias . A Conservative Party coup led by Santa Anna overthrew the presidency of Gomez Farias in 1834. As part of

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6240-449: The communities as functioning social entities. The Church and indigenous communities continued to exist, but their power was much curtailed by the ascendancy of the liberal nation-state. The liberals were successful in creating a lasting legal framework for reforms in the Constitution of 1857. The unsuccessful conservative challenges to the Reform meant that after 1867, liberals were entirely in control. Although liberals had hoped to create

6360-440: The conflict there would be more measures from the liberal authorities aimed at the church, against opponents of the constitution, and attempts to build upon the reforms that had been attempted throughout the Constitution of 1857. On 16 June 1859, governor of Zacatecas, Jesús González Ortega passed severe decrees aimed at any priest agitating against the Constitution of 1857, prescribing the death penalty for acts including denying

6480-412: The congested Gateway to the Americas International Bridge . However, it too was soon overwhelmed with traffic. Currently, all trucks are inspected at the other bridge crossings, leaving only passenger vehicles and buses crossing at this location. Benito Ju%C3%A1rez Benito Pablo Juárez García ( Spanish: [beˈnito ˈpaβlo ˈxwaɾes ɣaɾˈsi.a] ; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872)

6600-569: The conservatives. He resigned the presidency and left the country in January 1858, after which the constitutional presidency passed to the President of the Supreme Court, Benito Juárez . The Conservative government in the capital summoned a council of representatives that elected Zuloaga as president, and the states of Mexico proclaimed their loyalties to either Zuloaga or Juárez. The subsequent civil war would rage until December, 1860. Throughout

6720-496: The constituent Congress that drafted the liberal Constitution of 1857 . Although the laws had a major impact on the Catholic Church in Mexico, liberal proponents were not opposed to the church as a spiritual institution, but rather sought a secular state and a society not dominated by religion. The Juárez Law reduced the power that military and ecclesiastical courts held. The Lerdo Law forced land held in collective ownership to be sold to individual owners. It aimed at creating

6840-480: The constitution. In Aguascalientes , vice-governor Lopez de Nava also cracked down on those refusing to take the oath by depriving them of political rights. Governor Miguel Cástulo Alatriste  [ es ] of Puebla outright ordered public prayers for the success of the constitutional authorities. Amidst armed uprisings and rumors of conspiracy, on 3 November, Congress granted president Comonfort autocratic powers to maintain order, and suspended among others

6960-402: The constitutional clauses on freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to bear arms and the suspensions to remain in effect until 30 April 1858. Comonfort meanwhile had won the 1857 presidential election, and assumed his term as constitutional president on 1 December. On 17 December, General Felix Zuloaga , from the outskirts of Mexico City proclaimed the Plan of Tacubaya , declaring

7080-474: The constitutional reorganization involved in the subsequent transition from the First Mexican Republic to the Centralist Republic of Mexico , Oaxaca became a department controlled by Mexico City and the state legislature of Oaxaca was dissolved. Juárez protested the dissolution of local government that was being imposed upon Oaxaca, and in fact, the rest of Mexico, as part of the transition to

7200-413: The cornfields and as a shepherd until the age of 12. Up until then Juárez had also been illiterate and could not speak Spanish knowing then only his native Zapotec language. However, his sister had previously moved to the city of Oaxaca for work, and that year Juárez moved to the city to attend school. There he took a job as a domestic servant in the household of Antonio Maza, where his sister worked as

7320-446: The country had begun to fragment into civil war. This was much more than he had intended, and he began to back away from the Conservatives. Juárez was released from prison on 11 January 1858, shortly before Comonfort himself left the country, the presidency thus passing over to Juárez who as Chief Justice was next in line to succeed the presidency. Meanwhile, the Conservatives elected Zuloaga as their president. As Mexico City fell into

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7440-463: The country under the ideals of liberalism, as the Juárez Law, and the provision of Melchor Ocampo depriving the right to vote the clergy. For personal reasons Juan Alvarez resigned in December 1855 and left Ignacio Comonfort as responsible for the country's presidency. Santa Anna's conservative dictatorship of the early 1850s was overthrown by a liberal insurgency, whose principles were laid out in

7560-590: The dictatorship of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna , indicting him for his sale of the Mesilla Valley to the United States, the Gadsden Purchase ; acting as a repressive dictator, and eliminating democratic institutions. The revolution was led by colonel Florencio Villarreal, Juan Alvarez and Ignacio Comonfort spread to many parts of the country, achieving success in October 1855. Juan Alvarez assumed

7680-437: The document as not progressive enough. According to Mexican historian Ignacio Manuel Altamirano , President Comonfort "did not accept the Constitution in his heart." Conservatives continued to decry the Ley Lerdo. On 5 February 1857, the deputies of the constituent congress and the president proclaimed the constitution, and swore an oath to it, though the document was not meant to take force until 16 September. Among those present

7800-464: The ecclesiastical courts, their jurisdiction extended even to tenants living on extensive church-owned land, and creditors could not sue such tenants in civil court. Conservatives accused the government of hypocrisy for acting on the pretext of establishing legal equality for all, while maintaining the legal immunity that existed for members of the government. Further dissension within liberal ranks led to Álvarez resigning in December 1856, and handing

7920-549: The elections of 1861 with a large majority over his only rival General Jesús González Ortega . Juárez passed an amnesty towards the Conservatives who had fought against him during the Reform War with certain exceptions including leading generals and clergy. The former Conservative president Miramon had fled the country, but certain Conservative Generals remained at large in the countryside including Leonardo Marquez and Tomás Mejía Camacho . Melchor Ocampo, one of

8040-578: The embodiment of the power of education. When the liberals came to power, schools of any kind were few and concentrated in urban centers. The importance of education to the liberal project is indicated in Article 3 of the Constitution of 1857 embedding education as a top goal. Only after the turmoil of the Reform War and then the French Intervention were liberals able to begin implementing the expansion of public education. The Reform created

8160-437: The enchanted pond. His parents, Brígida García and Marcelino Juárez were Zapotec peasants. He described his parents as " indios de la raza primitiva del país " ( Spanish : " Indians from the primitive race of the country" ). He had two older sisters, Josefa and Rosa. Juárez became an orphan at the age of 3. His grandparents also died shortly after, and Juárez was raised by his uncle Bernardino Juárez. Juárez worked in

8280-478: The exclusivity of Catholicism were an important theme during the debates on the topic. A notable issue being brought up by proponents of religious toleration was that it would promote European immigration . LaFragua assured the congress that he was a proponent of immigration, but he made the case that it was not the lack of religious toleration that impeded immigration but rather the lack of security and good roads. Liberal Deputy Mata argued that religious intolerance

8400-480: The extremists on both sides in check and pursue a middle course, always his object. It soon became obvious that such an assumption was merely wishful thinking." Comonfort accepted and had Juárez imprisoned in the capital. Comonfort however had blundered in overestimating the support he could expect among the state governors. The strategic port state of Veracruz disowned the Plan of Tacubaya, and Comonfort realized that

8520-462: The garrison, Colonel Landa, was far from having effective control over the entire city. Landa offered Juárez his liberty if he would order the remaining Liberal troops in Guadalajara to surrender. Juárez refused and Landa responded by ordering his troops to shoot the prisoners. Guillermo Prieto intervened, and the soldiers hesitated. Landa did not repeat his orders, and it was at this point that

8640-628: The government intended to interfere in Catholic worship. The constitution also made itself inviolable, asserting itself binding even amidst an armed insurrection, as Mexico had experienced multiple times before. The constitution also codified the Ley Juarez and the Ley Lerdo. As an effort to radically change the nation while still attempting to be a compromise, the constitution managed to alienate both liberals and conservatives. Melchor Ocampo, and Ignacio Ramirez both expressed dissatisfaction with

8760-622: The government of the Mexican Republic and replacing it with a French-aligned monarchy, the Second Mexican Empire . The French soon gained the collaboration of the Conservative Party who aimed at returning themselves to power after their defeat in the Reform War, but Juárez continued to lead the government and armed forces of the Mexican Republic, even as he was forced by the advances of the French to flee to

8880-490: The governments of Juan Álvarez , Ignacio Comonfort and Benito Juárez . The laws also limited the ability of Catholic Church and indigenous communities from collectively holding land. The liberal government sought the revenues from the disentailment of church property, which could fund the civil war against Mexican conservatives and to broaden the base of property ownership in Mexico and encouraging private enterprise . Several of them were raised to constitutional status by

9000-547: The guerrillas on 15 June, and his command was handed over to González Ortega. Conservative General Leonardo Márquez took refuge in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro . In the wake of the Reform War and the demobilization of combatants, Juárez established the Rural Guard or Rurales , aimed at enforcing public security, particularly as banditry and rural unrest grew. Many brigands and bandits had allied themselves with

9120-454: The hands of the Conservatives, President Juárez transferred himself to Guanajuato City , where on 19 January, he assembled his cabinet and vowed to defend the Constitution through war if necessary. The states of Tamaulipas , Sinaloa , Durango , Jalisco , Tabasco , San Luis Potosi , Oaxaca , Guanajuato , and Veracruz proclaimed their loyalty to the Juárez government. The first year of

9240-422: The interior furnishings. Legal pretexts were sought in the old Spanish system of law by which church property had been held in trust for the crown, whose authority over such church wealth the government argued, had now passed down to the Mexican Republic. Cemeteries were nationalized and civil marriage was instituted. Liberal generals now stripped churches of all valuables such as precious metals and gems to sell for

9360-552: The jurisdiction of the state. This was done through the Ley Juárez , named for the Minister of Justice, and promulgated under the presidency of Alvarez. The law would remain on the books, but President Alvarez resigned in December 1855, amid increasing opposition to his administration, passing over the presidency to the more moderate Liberal Ignacio Comonfort , whom it was hoped could more effectively pass progressive reforms. Juárez did not continue as Minister of Justice, and spent

9480-406: The leading Liberals during the Reform War was assassinated by Marquez on 17 June 1861. Ocampo's assassination led to severe outrage in the capital. Many Conservatives were arrested and faced deadly retaliation, but Juárez intervened on their behalf. Santos Degollado , who had been dismissed from his military command, requested permission from congress to pursue Ocampo's killers. He too was killed by

9600-517: The legitimacy of the claims. The Conservatives meanwhile were suffering infighting, and after a series of victories, General Miguel Miramon became the new Conservative president in December 1858. President Miramon gathered an army and prepared a siege of Veracruz. On 29 December 1858, President Juárez called upon the inhabitants of Veracruz to prepare for an attack by collecting arms, provisions, and organizing fortifications. The first Conservative siege of Veracruz failed in March, 1859. Meanwhile,

9720-866: The market. Many buyers were large estate owners who could expand the holdings, but a number were liberals. Although liberals sought to undermine the economic power of the Church by the forced sale of property, much of their property was urban and not rural. Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, author of the Lerdo Law, purchased disentailed Church property in Veracruz for 33,000 pesos, a significant sum. Other liberals also acquired disentailed property worth over 20,000 pesos, including Ignacio Comonfort , José María Iglesias , Juan Antonio de la Fuente  [ es ] , and Manuel Payno . The land reform did not stimulate industrial development with capital now freed from investment in real estate; and it did not result in improvements in rural property since many buyers exhausted their capital on

9840-534: The municipal council of Oaxaca City. In 1832, he graduated from the Institute of Arts and Sciences with a degree in law. He was eventually admitted to the bar on 13 January 1834. From the very beginning of his legal career, Juárez became an active partisan of the Liberal Party . As a lawyer, Juárez took cases of indigenous villagers. Community members of Loxicha, Oaxaca hired him for their denunciation of

9960-621: The nation. Upon finishing his one term permitted by the state constitution, Juárez became the director of the Oaxaca Institute of Science and Arts where he had previously studied law and also taught science. Juárez also continued his practice of law. Mexico experienced relative peace and stability in the years immediately following the conclusion of the Mexican-American War , through the moderate presidencies of José Joaquín de Herrera and Mariano Arista but in 1852

10080-467: The new constitution which left Catholic public servants with the choice of either keeping their jobs or being excommunicated . In December, a section of the army under Félix Zuloaga rebelled under the Plan of Tacubaya. The controversy that had raged throughout the year convinced President Ignacio Comonfort to accept the plan, amounting to a self coup , which recognized him as president and increased his executive powers, believing that he could bring about

10200-404: The north of the country. The Second Mexican Empire would finally collapse in 1867 after the departure of the last French troops two months previously and President Juárez returned to Mexico City where he continued as president until his death due to a heart attack in 1872, but with growing opposition from fellow Liberals who believed he was becoming autocratic. During his presidency, he supported

10320-454: The oath, including judges and other federal civil servants. The press also noted many cases of minor and local officials also refusing the oath. Others retracted their oaths to be able to receive the sacraments during Lent, which had begun that year shortly after the decree. Liberal officials struck back at opposition to the oath and to the constitution. Governor Juárez of Oaxaca expelled all priests who refused Catholic burial to supporters of

10440-652: The pivotal year of 1856, peacefully retired in Oaxaca, although continuing to correspond with his Liberal allies in Mexico City as they continued their aims in furthering La Reforma . Juárez personally lobbied for a measure expelling the Jesuits from Mexico which was passed in June, 1856. Meanwhile, the Mexican Congress was drafting a new Constitution which integrated into itself the Ley Juárez along with

10560-526: The presidency of the Supreme Court . During his presidency, he led the Liberals to victory in the Reform War and in the Second French intervention in Mexico . Born in Oaxaca to a poor rural Indigenous family and orphaned as a child, Juárez passed into the care of his uncle, eventually moving to Oaxaca City at the age of 12, where he found work as a domestic servant. Sponsored by his employer, who

10680-410: The presidency on an interim basis who in turn convened a congress. An important aspect of Juan Alvarez was taking in his cabinet young liberals, thanks to it so important for the history of Mexico and Melchor Ocampo , Benito Juarez, Guillermo Prieto and Ignacio Comonfort men had the opportunity to have an active political participation. In his administration, Alvarez was dedicated to make laws that keep

10800-414: The presidency over to the more moderate Comonfort, who chose a new cabinet. A constituent congress first met on 14 February 1856. A motion to reestablish the Constitution of 1824 was defeated by a single vote, and a committee was formed towards the end of February to revise the constitution. The Ley Juárez was ratified in April. A provisional constitution, borrowing many principles from the Constitution of

10920-429: The press, freedom of assembly, freedom of education, freedom to bear arms, and a reiteration of Mexico's prohibition of slavery. Article 123 of the Constitution read that “ the federal government retains the exclusive right to exercise, in the matters of religious practice and external discipline, whatever intervention may be designated by the laws, ” leading critics to ponder the exact meaning of this, and to believe that

11040-435: The private market in both fields would be much less generous to the public. The law was designed to develop Mexico's economy by increasing the amount of private property owners, but in practice the land was bought up by rich speculators. Most of the lost Indian lands went to haciendas . One of the major issues brought up during the constituent congress was that of religious toleration. The Catholic religion had been one of

11160-400: The purchase price itself. The Reform did create an expanded base of urban property owners who bought Church-owned property. Since economic development remained a liberal goal, the disappointing lack of industrial development from domestic capital meant that pursue the program liberals had to look to foreign investors and a situation of economic dependency. A fundamental and lasting reform was

11280-436: The reduction of duties, the encouragement of foreign commerce, the subdivision of great estates to encourage peasant proprietorship, and the encouragement of immigration. On 12 July, a series of anti-clerical laws were passed adding upon those that had already been implemented as part of the Constitution of 1857. The properties of the Catholic Church were almost entirely nationalized, the responsibility of carrying out marriages

11400-440: The sacraments to those Catholics that had taken the oath of fealty to the constitution. The death penalty was even applied to laymen who agreed to serve as witnesses for those who wished to prove that they had retracted their oaths to the constitution. In July 1859, at the urging of, Minister Miguel Lerdo de Tejada , President Juarez decreed outright nationalization of all church property, including land, church buildings, and even

11520-464: The same year. He continued his theological studies for six years, but eventually decided that he was not interested in the priesthood. An Institute of Arts and Sciences had been founded by the Oaxacan state legislature in 1826, and Juárez transferred there in 1827. In 1829, Juárez was appointed a teacher of physics. In 1831, Juárez accepted the post of Regidor del Ayuntamiento , or judicial secretary to

11640-403: The secular Mexican nation-state rather than members of their community. Breaking up collective indigenous community landholdings and giving community members a chance to purchase parcels held as private property was a failure. Individual community members did not have the capital to purchase such holdings, so that the buyers were largely well-off non-indigenous who could now acquire land suddenly on

11760-421: The sole religion of the land, leading to a de facto state of religious freedom. The Constitution of 1857 was finally promulgated in 5 February. It was nominally federalist, granting the states an element of sovereignty, yet it also gave the federal government more powers than the previous federalist Constitution of 1824. Congress was given the ability to impeach state governors. The previously bicameral congress

11880-507: The state of Oaxaca, a position which he held until 1846. The Centralist Republic itself would be overthrown in 1846 at the beginning of the Mexican American War , and Oaxaca regained its federal autonomy, its executive now led by a triumvirate which included Juárez. He was subsequently elected to the national congress as a deputy for Oaxaca. Juárez supported President Valentín Gómez Farías , who had returned to power. There

12000-577: The state religion with clergy being paid by the state after the custom of European Catholic monarchies. Negotiations with the Papal Nuncio stalled and the matter was referred back to the Vatican. Regardless of the Emperor's liberal intentions, the government of Benito Juárez , still resisted and fought the French and Mexican Imperial forces with the backing of the United States, whom after the end of

12120-410: The state religion, and aimed to establish religious freedom, freedom of association, civil rights, the abolition of monopolies, and the abolition of hereditary privileges. As opposition to the Constitution of 1857 threatened civil war, Comonfort's ministers resigned on 20 October 1857, and among the replacements was Juárez who was appointed as Secretary of Home Affairs ( Secretario de Gobernacion ), and

12240-434: The tenants getting priority and generous terms for buying the land that they lived on. It was not only aimed at the Catholic Church, which held considerable real estate, but also at Mexico's indigenous communities that were forced to sell their communally-held lands, the ejidos . On 1 July, José Lázaro de la Garza y Ballesteros  [ es ] protested to the government that the properties were likely to be bought by

12360-489: The three leading principles in the Plan of Iguala . Subsequently, Mexico was founded as and remained a confessional state with Catholicism as the sole religion permitted ever since the Constitution of 1824. Deputy Lafragua , a liberal and one of Comonfort's ministers, actually argued against religious toleration, making the case that the nation was not ready for it, and feared the measure would simply provoke social upheaval. Concerns about affecting social cohesion by removing

12480-510: The war effort. Sacred icons and relics were tossed into bonfires as demonstrations against superstition. The war would end in December 1860, with the liberals triumphant. At the instigation of Mexican monarchist exiles, using Juarez' 1861 suspension of foreign debts as a pretext, and with the American Civil War preventing the enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine, Napoleon III invaded Mexico in 1862, and sought local help in setting up

12600-453: The war, Juárez outright nationalized most church properties in the states under his control. The war raged until December 1860, when the liberals emerged triumphant. Almost immediately after the end of the war, Napoleon III used Juarez's suspension of foreign debts as a pretext to invade Mexico in 1862 and sought local help in setting up a client state. Seeing this as an opportunity to undo the Reform, conservative generals and statesmen joined

12720-426: Was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. Of Zapotec ancestry, he was the first indigenous president of Mexico and the first democratically elected indigenous president in the postcolonial Americas. A member of the Liberal Party , he previously held a number of offices, including the governorship of Oaxaca and

12840-504: Was a revolt against the state of Oaxaca during this time, causing Juárez to abandon his congressional post and return to Oaxaca to try and maintain order. In November, 1847, he assumed the governorship. When Santa Anna fell from power disgraced by his loss in the Mexican-American War, Governor Juárez did not allow the ex-president to establish himself in Oaxaca, which gained for him the future enmity of Santa Anna. Juárez

12960-446: Was already announcing that the Constitution ought to be reformed. Chief Justice Juárez rebuffed Comonfort's invitation to join him in abandoning the constitution. On 17 December, Conservatives led by Felix Zuloaga proclaimed the Plan of Tacubaya , which dissolved congress and invited Comonfort to accept the presidency with extraordinary powers in a self-coup . Comonfort "felt that by temporarily assuming dictatorial powers he could hold

13080-524: Was also a lay Franciscan , Juárez temporarily enrolled in a seminary and studied to become a priest, but he later switched his studies to law at the Institute of Sciences and Arts , where he became active in liberal politics . He began to practice law and was eventually appointed as a judge, after which he married Margarita Maza , a woman from a socially distinguished family in Oaxaca City. Juárez

13200-478: Was also made unicameral in order to discard the conservative leaning upper house, but also in the hopes that a single united chamber could be stronger against any autocratic tendencies coming from the executive branch. National elections were made indirect, the public choosing electors from their district who subsequently chose the congressmen, the president, and members of the supreme court. There were also many liberal guarantees such as freedom of speech, freedom of

13320-472: Was completely removed from the Catholic Church and was declared to be a purely civil contract, and the registration of births and deaths was also removed from the Church and handed over to the state. Furthermore, monasteries were dissolved although nunneries were allowed to remain with the condition that they accept no more novices. The U.S. at this time was seeking a route for transit from the Caribbean to

13440-467: Was eventually elected Governor of Oaxaca and became involved in national politics after the ousting of Antonio López de Santa Anna in the Plan of Ayutla . Juárez was made Minister of Justice under the new Liberal president Juan Álvarez . He was instrumental in passing the Juárez Law as part of the broader program of constitutional reforms known as La Reforma (The Reform). Later, as the head of

13560-457: Was faced with chaos in the state finances, the state justice department, and the state police organization. Juárez proceeded to carry out a program of economic improvements which included an elimination of the state deficit, the construction of roads and bridges, and the development of education. Governor Juárez also prepared and published a Civil and Penal Code. Oaxaca became a model state, and Juárez’ gained fame as an able administrator throughout

13680-525: Was former president and now elderly Valentin Gomez Farias who had first attempted similar reforms two decades previously. On 17 March 1857, it was decreed that all civil servants had to publicly swear and sign and oath to the constitution. On 13 November, the Catholic Church, which had not until then taken a formal stand on the constitution, ordered the clergy to not swear allegiance to it. As for Catholic parishioners, swearing allegiance would result in excommunication. Anyone who had taken Church property under

13800-485: Was made Chairman of the Council of Ministers. When, one month later, Comonfort was formally elected as the first president under the new constitution, Juárez was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In the face of increasing opposition however and with civil conflict already erupting in the state of Puebla , the moderate President Comonfort sought to distance himself from the Constitution of 1857 and by December

13920-490: Was one of increasing Liberal victories and Miramon once again indecisively attacked Veracruz in March. In September, the Juárez government suffered a scandal when the Liberal General Santos Degollado raided a mule train of money being sent to European merchants. Juárez made efforts to recover the money and gave orders for restitution. As an inevitable Liberal victory approached, Juárez issued

14040-444: Was published on February of that year and was meant to come into power in September. The constitution allotted considerable power to Mexican states and well as giving Congress power over the President. Conservatives pushed back against the parts of the constitution that were perceived to infringe upon the rights of the church, and controversy was further inflamed when the government mandated that all civil servants take an oath to uphold

14160-491: Was rejected by the United States Senate. The American recognition of the Juárez government at Veracruz also led the United States to defend it against another one of Miramon's siege attempts. Towards the end of 1859, the Conservative government commissioned two gun boats to depart from Cuba and attack Veracruz while Miramon attacked from the land, but they were seized by the U.S. Navy as pirates. The year 1860

14280-476: Was stationed with General Ignacio de la Llave . Upon his arrival Juárez was joined by his wife and greeted with enthusiasm by the population. One of Juárez's first challenges in the new capital was meeting French and English claims over loans that had been forced upon English and French merchants by the Liberal General Garza. Juárez warded off the threat of military intervention by recognizing

14400-461: Was the only obstacle in the way of European immigration, and cited the case of a group of German colonists, consisting of thirty thousand families considering immigrating to Mexico in the wake of the 1848 Revolution , and yet ultimately opted to go to the United States due to Mexico's lack of both religious freedom and trial by jury. Deputy Francisco Zarco  [ es ] argued that European settlement of Mexican California could have prevented

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