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104-668: The period of the Second Federal Republic prove to be one of the most eventful periods in Mexican history, experiencing two foreign invasions, the loss of half of the national territory, constitutional change, and a civil war. It was also a period of Mexican political evolution experiencing the downfall of the Conservative Party that had predominated during the Centralist Republic, and marking

208-1007: A School of Agriculture, and set aside funds for that purpose. In 1859, Dr. José Eleuterio González founded a school of medicine in Monterey. A 'Society for the Beneficience for the education and mercy of poor children'( Sociedad Beneficiencia para la educacion y amparo de la ninez desvalida ) was founded by the philanthropist Vidal Alcocer in October 1846. In 1858, the Society, in spite of an ongoing civil war, managed to raise funds for and maintain thirty three schools for poor children, attended by seven thousand students, teaching them reading and writing, grammar and arithmetic, art, religious instruction, and music. In at least one institution they also managed to provide food, board, and clothing. The Academy of San Carlos , an art school flourished in

312-517: A divisive policy, instead of uniting the country in the war effort and seeking a means of funding the military that was backed by national consensus. That came to be known as the Revolt of the Polkos because the young middle-class men who made up the militias stationed throughout the capital were known for dancing the polka . The rebels were joined by General José Mariano Salas , who had already played

416-574: A draw. Santa Anna was heading back to Mexico City to arrange defenses against the forces of Winfield Scott , who had just landed at Veracruz. He was at the town of Matehuala , on the way from Angostura, to San Luis Potosi , when received news that there had been a revolution against the government of Gomez Farias. Upon arrival in San Luis Potosi on March 10, he wrote two letters, one to Gomez Farias and one to Peña Barragán, in which he ordered them to suspend hostilities. They did so and awaited

520-604: A fringe movement. By the time the French launched their invasion of Mexico in 1862, monarchism was insignificant and the French at first struggled to find supporters among the Conservatives in their aims to establish a monarchical client state. Many Conservatives were eventually won over only to be disillusioned with the liberal inclinations of Emperor Maximilian . With the fall of the Second Mexican Empire

624-442: A level of sovereignty to be shared with the federal government. Both federal and the state governments continued to be divided into legislative, executive, and judicial branches. In contrast to previous Mexican constitutions, congress was also now made unicameral. There were 2,400 primary schools by 1860, an increase from 1,310 in 1843. The Colegio de San Ildefonso established classes in drawing, French, English, and law. In 1850,

728-402: A loosely organized political party after 1849. At various times and under different circumstances they were known as escoceses , centralists , royalists , imperialists , or conservatives , but they tended to be united by the theme of preserving colonial Spanish values, while not being opposed to the economic development and modernization of the nation. Their base of support was the army,

832-503: A measure aimed at both the Catholic Church an Indigenous, collectively owned lands known as the ejidos . The seizure of private property by the government without due compensation was made illegal. Imprisonment for debt was made illegal. Monopolies were made illegal with exceptions made for the government in order to coin money and run the postal service. The Constitution of 1857 restored the federalist system granting each state

936-481: A measure aimed at the independent court systems previously held by the clergy and the military respectively. Education and administration of justice were declared to be free of charge. Person and home were made inviolable with the exception of arrests by court issued warrant with a clearly defined criminal charge. Under the Constitution of 1857, corporations civil or ecclesiastical were forbidden from owning land,

1040-582: A measure that was used as a pretext by the Second French Empire to launch an invasion of Mexico with the aim of turning it into a client state led by Maximilian of Habsburg . The Second French Intervention in Mexico began in 1861, but was subsequently delayed by a year due to the French loss in the Battle of Puebla . French reinforcements arrived and President Benito Juarez was forced to evacuate

1144-558: A monarchist scheme that never got past the planning stages in 1856. Meanwhile, in April, 1846 the Mexican-American War broke out. Paredes would eventually later declare his loyalty to the republican system for the time being and shifted his focus to the war effort. The overthrow of the liberal president Mariano Arista in 1850 brought the monarchist statesman Lucas Alaman to the position of Foreign Minister, serving under

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1248-487: A new constitution from 1856 to 1857. The subsequent Constitution of 1857 was implemented that year and triggered the War of Reform . The Constitution of 1857 began by declaring man's inherent freedom. Slaves were declared free upon stepping on Mexican soil and contracts were automatically to be rendered null if they involved an undue loss of freedom. The latter was applied even to religious vows. Freedom of speech , freedom of

1352-426: A period of stable, moderate governments. A Conservative coup then overthrew the government in 1852, bringing Santa Anna back for what would be his final dictatorship. The Liberal revolt which in turn overthrew him in 1853, would inaugurate what would come to be known as La Reforma , a series of substantial unprecedented reforms in Mexican constitutional history, most notably the separation of church and state and

1456-475: A pretext by Conservatives who wished to see Santa Anna restored to the presidency. Revolts were raised against the government, most prominent of which was the local insurrection led by a Guadalajara hatmaker named Blancarte. Supporters of Santa Anna, reached out to Blancarte and successfully convinced the latter to increase the scope of his revolt. On September 13, Blancarte proclaimed that Arista ought to be overthrown and that Santa Anna ought to be recalled to take

1560-474: A railway and telegraph line was begun, and the first industrial exhibition in Mexico opened on November 1, 1849, in Mexico City. On November 4, 1848, the army was reduced to 10,000 men, and conscription was abolished, yet the latter measure had to be abrogated when only enough volunteers could be found to fill half of the men needed in the army. The government attempted to establish military colonies along

1664-548: A role during the war of overthrowing President Mariano Paredes. General Matías de la Peña Barragán , the chief of the rebels. met with Valentin Canalizo on February 30 and negotiated on the matter of an arrangement, with Pena insisting on the deposition of Gomez Farias. The negotiations came to nothing, and the revolt continued. Meanwhile, news arrived that Santa Anna had won the Battle of Buena Vista , which took place on February 22 to February 23, but in reality, it had been

1768-472: A role in reorganizing the government. As the Blancarte revolt spread throughout the entire nation, Arista addressed the chambers on December 15, 1852, and eventually resigned on January 5 The restoration of Santa Anna was brought about by a Conservative Party faction led by Lucas Alaman , and including Governor Mugica of Puebla, Teodosio Lares , and Jose Maria Tornel . The centralist system under which

1872-679: A senate “composed of 63 members, one third from the industrial classes, including merchants” When the Conservative Mariano Paredes overthrew the liberal president Jose Joaquin Herrera at the end of 1845, he arranged for a new congress to be elected also taking into account corporatist principles. “Congress was to be composed of 160 deputies, representing the following nine classes, namely: real estate owners and agriculturists; merchants; miners; manufacturers; literary professions; magistracy; public functionaries; clergy; and

1976-597: A separate legal system for Mexican soldiers. The fuero system in Mexico dated back to the colonial era, and historian Lyle McAlister writes that “the [fuero] rendered [the army] virtually immune from civil authority”. The efforts of the liberal president Valentin Gomez Farias to abolish the fuero a system contributed to the uprisings against his government. In 1852, under the Conservative presidency of Santa Anna , there were some efforts to moderately reform

2080-567: A stance as dishonorable was not worthy of being called honest. Negotiations were opened with the United States government, and after deliberating upon the matter, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was approved by congress. As the peace treaty was concluded and the occupiers were on the point of leaving the country, congress named Jose Joaquin Herrera to the presidency of the republic, and Peña y Peña left his post as president in exchange for

2184-511: A war without sounding public opinion, and it reminded its readers that the last time Gomez Farias had tried to nationalize church lands in 1833, it ended with the overthrow of the liberal government. Ramirez resigned after clashes with the cabinet, including difficulties in finding buyers of church lands. On January 26, President Gomez Farias named a junta charged with carrying out the sales of church lands. The legal secretaries Cuevas and Mendez were fined for not wishing to participate. A measure

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2288-459: A year. Conservatives eventually found it convenient to collaborate with the invaders in their aims to return themselves in the wake of their loss in the Reform War, and many Conservative generals eventually began to join the French. Mexico City was taken by June, 1863, with President Juarez fleeing ahead of the French troops, and a French controlled triumvirate was set up as the new executive for

2392-623: The hacendados , and the Catholic Church . In the constitutional history of Mexico they supported the movement to have a centralized republic as opposed to a federal republic , and produced the Constitution of 1836 and the Constitution of 1843 . Certain Conservative intellectuals supported a monarchy for Mexico but between the First Mexican Empire and the Second Mexican Empire such ideas were reduced to

2496-588: The Constitution of 1824 . Their first candidate to reach the presidency was Anastasio Bustamante in 1830, but he both gained and lost the presidency through a coup as most other presidents did during the tumultuous era of the First Mexican Republic . A decade of conservative rule would be inaugurated in 1835 through the establishment of the Centralist Republic of Mexico , but the federalist constitution would be restored in 1846 after

2600-610: The Gadsden Purchase and his suppression of democratic government. A little over a year of civil war followed, the Liberals being led by Juan Álvarez and Ignacio Comonfort and achieving success by October 1855. Álvarez assumed the interim presidency and convoked congress. Appointed to the Alvarez Cabinet were a younger generation of liberals that were to play a notable role in the subsequent Reforma, including

2704-520: The Mexican–American War . This time Gomez Farias urged the nationalization of church lands as a means of funding the war effort, but the efficacy and prudence of such a measure was questioned by Conservatives, even by moderate liberals. There were clashes in the cabinet over the matter, and another Conservative revolt known as the Revolt of the Polkos once again toppled Gomez Farias. A final and ill-fated Conservative effort to fight back against

2808-675: The Second French Intervention in Mexico with the intention of overthrowing the government of the Mexican Republic and replacing it with a French-aligned monarchy, he found that monarchism no longer existed even among the Conservatives. The idea of a Mexican monarchy had reached Napoleon through certain Mexican monarchist expatriates, but most of them had been living in Paris for a significant amount of time and lacked awareness of true state of Mexican affairs. After

2912-577: The Siete Leyes , which replaced the Mexican states with departments, inaugurating the Centralist Republic of Mexico . The governors of the departments were to be appointed by the central government from among candidates nominated by departmental assemblies. Another Conservative constitution would be inaugurated in 1843 through the Bases Orgánicas , which continued the departmental system. The departmental governors were once again appointed by

3016-533: The American Senate. The tide of the war began to turn in 1860 as the Liberals finally began making inroads upon the Conservative controlled interior, culminating in the decisive Battle of Calpulalpan in December 22, 1860. Miramon and other leading Conservatives fled the country, while Conservative guerrillas remained active in the countryside. President Juarez entered Mexico City in victory but now faced

3120-462: The Americans was declared a traitor. On April 2, 1847, Anaya convoked a junta in which he to resolve the issue on whether to defend the capital in case there was not a reasonable chance of winning. All of the supply and budget issues were expounded and the cabinet endorsed guerrilla warfare. When Santa Anna returned to the capital, Anaya passed the presidency down to him. Santa Anna was in charge of

3224-524: The College of San Juan de Letran established chairs in athletics, bookkeeping, and carpentry. The College of St. Gregory established classes in athletics and typography, and begun also holding classes on agriculture. In 1851, a school for teachers was founded in Guadalajara. A business college was founded in 1854. In 1856, Minister of Development Ignacio Siliceo passed a measure for the establishment of

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3328-482: The Conservative presidency of a restored Santa Anna . The Mexican government now began official efforts at seeking a European candidate for a Mexican throne. Alaman kept his efforts secret from the public and from most of his fellow ministers. The project was completely ended when Santa Anna was overthrown by the liberal Plan of Ayutla in 1855. The monarchical project had been dealt an earlier blow when Alaman himself had died in 1853. By 1861, when Napoleon III began

3432-459: The Conservatives ended up losing, effectively putting the matter to rest. Corporatism is the principle that the legislative power of a nation ought to include representatives from bodies or corporations of various segments or classes in society. The Constitution of 1843, formally known as the Bases Orgánicas took into account such principles, because while it established a chamber of deputies representing geographic districts, it also established

3536-465: The Emperor proved to be a liberal, disillusioning many of his conservative supporters. The liberal and conservative parties had not entirely coalesced at the time of the drafting of the Constitution of 1824 , and yet the eventual Conservative cause of centralism was at the center of the debates. Ironically, a liberal, Father Mier would lay out the centralist arguments that would eventually form one of

3640-650: The French and the aforementioned ex-president Miramon would even die alongside Emperor Maximilian when he was executed after the fall of the Second Mexican Empire. Revolt of the Polkos The Revolt of the Polkos was a coup d'état in Mexico that was launched on February 27, 1847, during the Mexican-American War . The coup was initiated by militias stationed at the Mexican capital with

3744-434: The French invasion began, leading Conservative José Maria Cobos published a manifesto arguing that ‘no one’ supported a ‘foreign monarchy’. Conservative ex-president Miguel Miramón also opined that that there was no monarchical party in Mexico. During this time, the official Conservative Party newspaper also endorsed republicanism. The Spanish commander Juan Prim who had already backed out of France's intervention noted

3848-567: The Ley Juarez and the Ley Lerdo , the latter nationalizing collectively owned land, a measure aimed at the Catholic Church vast holdings, but also affecting Mexico's indigenous communities. President Comonfort was dismayed by the level of opposition being shown towards the Constitution of 1857, also finding himself unsatisfied with how weak it left the president in the face of so many revolts. Conservatives reached out to Comonfort to overthrow

3952-542: The Liberal capital of Veracruz, which during the Battle of Antón Lizardo was protected by the United States Navy . Meanwhile the Liberals passed even more sweeping anti-clerical reforms, nationalizing the remainder of Catholic Church properties in order to continue funding the war effort. The controversial McLane–Ocampo Treaty was also signed with the United States by the Liberal government although it died in

4056-421: The Mexican government. This triumvirate organized a Mexican Assembly of Notables and under French direction resolved on July 3, 1863, to change Mexico into a monarchy inviting Maximilian of Habsburg to assume the newly established Mexican throne. This proclamation ended the era of the Second Federal Republic of Mexico. The Constitution of 1824 was reestablished in 1846, restoring the system of government that

4160-500: The Mexican opposition faced by the French, arguing that “if the reactionary party wants to fight the French who intend to come to their country with the flag of monarchy, who remains in Mexico with monarchical ideas?”. On July 22, 1862 Charles de Lorencez , then head of the French occupying forces, in a report to the French government wrote that "Nobody here wants a monarchy, not even the reactionaries." Some Conservatives had sought French intervention, but only to provide military aid in

4264-483: The Tripartite Expedition when they realized France's true intentions. Upon beginning the invasion in December 1861, however, Napoleon realized that Hidalgo and Estrada had exaggerated the monarchist sentiment, which did not truly exist even among Mexican Conservatives . Furthermore, French troops were repulsed by Mexican troops at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, delaying French advances for over

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4368-549: The Tripartite Expedition. Napoleon III intended to overthrow the Mexican Republic and establish a monarchical client state. The idea for invading Mexico and establishing a monarchy had reached Napoleon through two monarchist Mexican expatriates named José Manuel Hidalgo y Esnaurrízar , and José María Gutiérrez de Estrada , and the idea coincided with French imperial aims. Spain and the United Kingdom abandoned

4472-433: The United States at the time, Matias Romero opined that the Conservatives never would have considered a monarchy "if they had not received, directly or indirectly, the indication of proposing it from the French government. " Mexican historian Francisco Bulnes has concluded that Napoleon made military intervention in favor of the Conservatives conditional upon accepting monarchy. Eventually Conservatives would begin to join

4576-451: The United States. The dictatorship began to take on a regal atmosphere as Santa Anna moved his residence to Tacubaya to live in a lavishly decorated palace which also frequently hosted balls and soirees. He revived the noble Order of Guadalupe that had briefly existed during the First Mexican Empire , but upon the first public exposition of its members wearing their ceremonial decorations, they became subject to public ridicule throughout

4680-514: The aftermath of losing the Reform War , without any attempt to replace the Mexican Republic with a monarchy. Historian Hubert Howe Bancroft writes that “at first they only hoped for aid to restore their strength, without any thought of the European powers entertaining the idea of a monarchy in Mexico. The thought was, most probably, put into their heads by Napoleon III .” Mexican minister to

4784-539: The aim of overthrowing President Valentin Gomez Farias . It would eventually succeed, and Gomez Farias was replaced by Pedro María de Anaya . It was the second successful coup that Mexico experienced during the Mexican-American War, and Gomez Farias himself had ascended to the presidency in the aftermath of the fall of President Mariano Paredes , who was overthrown in August 1846 for his poor handling of

4888-512: The anti-clerical measures of the Liberal Party took place during the pivotal La Reforma period which was inaugurated by the Plan of Ayutla that brought the liberal Juan Alvarez to power. This time it was not only the nationalization of church lands, but the question of religious freedom, and thejurisdiction of canon law over clergy that was brought to fore during the discussions regarding

4992-511: The army.” Certain conservative intellectuals would support the establishment of a monarchy, and the Conservative Party would eventually collaborate with the French to establish the Second Mexican Empire . However, after the fall of the First Mexican Empire , Mexican monarchism was reduced to a fringe movement. A Conservative government was in power when Jose Maria Gutierrez Estrada published his monarchist essay in 1840, indeed it

5096-462: The arrival and the arbitration of Santa Anna On his way to the capital, he was met by representatives from both sides of the conflict who hoped to sway him to their cause. On March 21, representatives of the Congress including Mariano Otero and José María Lafragua , set out to present Santa Anna with an offer to assume the presidency. He continued receiving representatives of various interests and

5200-481: The capital which the French occupied by June, 1863. French troops subsequently arranged a Mexican Assembly of Notables to declare the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire in July 1863, putting an end to the era of the Second Federal Republic of Mexico. The Mexican American War broke out in April 1846 during the presidency of Mariano Paredes . A series of uninterrupted Mexican losses inflamed opposition against

5304-516: The central government from nominees submitted by the departmental assemblies. Mexico through the Plan of Iguala , gained its independence as a Catholic confessional state, and even the liberal Constitution of 1824 declared the Roman Catholic religion the sole legally permitted religion. The liberal presidency of Valentin Gomez Farias began a series of anti-clerical measures as early as 1834. The government shut down church schools, assumed

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5408-435: The church. Minister of Relations José Fernando Ramírez recommended the application of the relevant Indian laws in anticipation of political agitation in the churches. Minister of War Valentin Canalizo urged the utmost severity in enforcing laws against those upsetting the public order. Local opposition to the decree was more marked. The legislatures of Queretaro , Puebla , and Guanajuato petitioned congress to nullify

5512-514: The conservatives suffered a decisive defeat, and the party ceased to exist. The Plan of Iguala was a triumph for conservative principles, and in fact a reaction against the Trienio liberal in Spain, but monarchism was largely discredited after the First Mexican Empire 's fall in 1823. The conservatives suffered another setback with the triumph of federalism during the debates over the drafting of

5616-572: The core Conservative principles. Mier argued that the nation needed a strong centralized government to guard against Spanish attempts to reconquer her former colony, and that a federation rather suited a situation in which previously sovereign states were attempting to unite as had happened with the United States. New Spain had never been made up of autonomous provinces. Federation for Mexico, according to Mier would then be an act of separation rather than unification and only lead to internal conflict. The arguments for federation prevailed however, motivated by

5720-464: The country and were referred to by the pejorative ‘ huehuenches .’ Notwithstanding, Santa Anna himself began to go under the honorific His Most Serene Highness He impeded efforts to organize a congress for the purpose of drafting a new constitution and on December 16, 1853, passed a decree extending his personal dictatorship indefinitely. On March 1, 1854, the liberal Plan of Ayutla was proclaimed against Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna , indicting him for

5824-436: The country had been governed was restored, and state legislatures among other bodies of local government were dissolved throughout the country. Education and the accreditation of lawyers was brought directly under the control of Mexico City. A new Ministry of Development was established with the responsibility of handling public works, trade, and colonization. The military was reorganized, being increased in its number of troops,

5928-506: The current circumstances. Comonfort had overestimated the support he could expect among the state governors, and upon realizing that the nation had begun to fracture into a civil war he resigned in favor of the imprisoned President of the Supreme Court Benito Juarez whom Comonfort released before leaving the nation. Juarez narrowly escaped death but eventually found himself along with the Liberal cabinet ensconced in

6032-464: The decree. The State of Durango refused to enforce it, and the State of Queretaro proposed an alternative plan to fund the war effort. Tenants who lived on church lands were also resistant to the enforcement of the decree. The liberal paper El Monitor Republicano was incredulous that of all available options for raising funds, the government had chosen to nationalize church lands in the middle of

6136-506: The drafting of the Constitution of 1857 . Jose Julian Tornel wrote a pamphlet defending the Catholic Church's management of property and finances against advocates of disestablishment, warning that the private market in both fields would be much less generous to the public. Opponents of religious freedom argued that it would undermine national cohesion. In the end however, the liberal measures triumphed, church properties not related to religious functions were nationalized, priests remained under

6240-401: The elections of 1832 in the same fashion. They assumed power on the 24th. The government struggled to finance the war, a problem made worse by the refusal of several state governments to cooperate, and by corruption in the finance ministry, which did not inspire confidence when the government proposed an audit of property owners. On January 7, 1847, a measure was introduced to congress endorsing

6344-628: The era of the Second Federalist Republic. Salas allowed the exiled Santa Anna to return to the nation, and the latter embraced the liberal Constitution of 1824 , thus restoring the federal system and giving birth to the era of the Second Federal Republic. Salas now formed his cabinet out of liberals and Santa Anna supporters, including ex president Valentin Gomez Farias who now received the post of finance minister. Congress finally opened its sessions on December 5, 1846, at midnight, composed mostly of liberals. General Salas opened

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6448-420: The fields of order and finances amidst so many challenges. He explained how as Minister of Foreign Relations under President Herrera, he had been against the war. He did not view this stance as dishonorable as even the most martial of nations at one point had faced a war they could not win. He expressed belief that Mexico simply did not have the ability to continue the war, and proclaimed that anyone who viewed such

6552-426: The forces of Winfield Scott who had just landed at Veracruz. He was at the town of Matehuala on the way from Angostura to San Luis Potosí City , when he received news that there had been a revolution against the government of Valentin Gomez Farias.Valentin Gomez Farias resigned. The insurrection ended, troops were sent back to their stations, and the presidency passed over to Santa Anna, but in turn Santa Anna passed

6656-402: The frontier to settle and pacify the region against Indian raids. The project was hampered by lack of funds, but by 1851, despite not being as extensive as originally planned, reasonable progress on the colonies had nonetheless been made, and three successful settlements were home to over two thousand individuals. The 1851 election was won by Mariano Arista, Herrera’s Minister of War, and Herrera

6760-467: The fuero system. Under Minister of War, and future Conservative president of Mexico, Manuel Robles Pezuela , there were discussions to confine the fuero to military related criminal matters. Liberal efforts to abolish the fuero system through the Ley Juárez later integrated into the Constitution of 1857 , further inflamed Conservative opposition and eventually helped trigger the Reform War , which

6864-474: The government and establish a new constitution, and On December 17, 1857 General Félix Zuloaga proclaimed the Plan of Tacubaya , declaring the Constitution of 1857 nullified, inviting Comonfort to join. To the dismay of liberals Comonfort accepted a role in to what amounted to a self coup . Comonfort accepted the Plan of Tacubaya, and released a manifesto making the case that more moderate reforms were needed under

6968-477: The government on February 21. Mazatlan followed, and much as when there had been revolts against the first presidency of Gomez Farias, the rebels began to call for Santa Anna, with whom Gomez Farias was sharing power, to take over the government. Meanwhile, peaceful opposition against the nationalization law continued. The liberal deputy Mariano Otero protested the measure, and the new finance minister, José Luis Huici, refused to sign it. Sensing that members of

7072-452: The government, and Paredes faced revolution, he resigned on July 28, choosing to return to the military to help with the war effort. Nicolas Bravo was meanwhile chosen as his successor. On August 3, the garrisons of Vera Cruz and San Juan de Ulua revolted, against Bravo. Mariano Salas was made the provisional president, and on August 22, he restored the Constitution of 1824 , putting an end to Centralist Republic of Mexico, and inaugurating

7176-453: The jurisdiction of canon law only in non-civil cases, and for the first time a Mexican Constitution did not declare Catholicism as the state religion. Conservative backlash would trigger the Reform War , and it was during the war that the liberal president Benito Juarez went much further than the earlier reform measures by nationalizing all the remaining church properties in order to fund the war effort. The Conservatives would eventually lose

7280-506: The liberal lawyers Melchor Ocampo and Benito Juarez , the poet Guillermo Prieto and the anti-clerical writer Ignacio Comonfort . The Alvarez administration made progress on some anti-clerical legislation, but amidst the controversy that was resulting he stepped down from the presidency in December 1855, passing down his office to the more moderate Comonfort. Congress began to meet in February of 1856, ratifying Comonfort's ascension to

7384-422: The long struggle for independence to seek as much autonomy as possible, and an eagerness to reap the salaries that would accompany local bureaucracies. Conservatives would finally be able to discard the Constitution of 1824 after the overthrow of the liberal presidency of Valentin Gomez Farias in 1832. A newly elected conservative congress began work on a new constitution that would eventually come to be known as

7488-441: The militias involved in the revolt. Meanwhile Santa Anna was returning to Mexico City from the Battle of Buena Vista to focus on Winfield Scott 's expedition at Veracruz. He received news of the revolt en route, and eventually took the role of arbitrator, siding with the rebels and deposing Gomez Farias. The Mexican American War began under the presidency of Mariano Paredes , who, after suffering catastrophic losses throughout

7592-416: The nation had experienced during the First Mexican Republic . In 1853, Santa Anna briefly restored the centralist system that had reigned during the Centralist Republic of Mexico but he was overthrown in 1855. The Liberal government that came to power in the wake of the Plan of Ayutla narrowly voted against restoring the Constitution of 1824, and a constitutional convention was summoned that began work on

7696-418: The nationalization of Catholic Church lands. A new constitution implementing such measures was promulgated in 1857, upon which the Conservative Party opposition took up arms, inaugurating three years of what would come to be known as the Reform War . The Liberal government led by president Benito Juarez would emerge triumphant in 1860, but a financial crisis led the government to postpone its external debts,

7800-644: The newly-formed national guard at the capital were not sympathetic to the government, Gomez Farias tried to move them to locations in which they would not be a threat to the government. He intended to move the Independence Battalion away from the University of Mexico, located next to the National Palace. He sent on February 24 troops who were led by his own son to expel the Independence Battalion from their temporary barracks. The battalion

7904-424: The north of the country and ending with American troops under Zachary Taylor , ensconced as far as Saltillo , was overthrown in August 1846. Jose Mariano Salas became interim president. He also engaged in constitutional reform by restoring the federalist Constitution of 1824 , after a decade of crises culminating in the war had discredited the Centralist Republic of Mexico and led to a resurgence of support for

8008-575: The old constitution. The former dictator Santa Anna proclaimed his support for the federal system and was invited back into the country to help the war effort. New presidential elections were held in December 1846 and were won by Santa Anna and Valentin Gomez Farias , who would precede to share power. Both men had already ruled together in 1833 during which a controversial anticlerical campaign had been carried out, culminating in Santa Anna switching sides and overthrowing Gomez Farias. The government

8112-399: The presidency and beginning work on a new constitution. Work on the new constitution ended about a year later in February of 1857, and the Constitution of 1857 was promulgated on February 12, 1857, with the purpose of coming into effect on September 16 of that year. The Constitution had integrated two major pieces of anti-clerical legislature that had been passed since the ascension of Alvarez

8216-415: The presidency as the Americans advanced upon and eventually captured Mexico City. The presidency was eventually transferred back to Anaya, who had commanded forces in the defense of Mexico City. After the loss of the capital the Mexican government fled northeast to the city of Querétaro City . Various governors gathered at Queretaro and suggested various options to the government ranging from a continuation of

8320-482: The presidency of the Supreme Court on June 3, 1848. The government left Queretaro and returned to the capital. The Herrera Administration faced enormous financial challenges and while the rest of the Herrera ministry was stable, many financial ministers resigned. However, the economy seemed to be overall improving. Abundant harvests were reported, and the mines began to increase their yields. Construction on

8424-505: The presidency over to Pedro María de Anaya , as he went to face the forces of Winfield Scott. Anaya was authorized by congress to place the capital under a state of siege. After the Battle of Cerro Gordo in which the Americans broke through the defenses on the way to Mexico City, congress gave the president extraordinary faculties, without giving him the authority to sign a peace treaty on his own, or to alienate any portion of national territory, and anyone who now attempted to negotiate with

8528-427: The president intended to recognize the independence of Texas, but the pronunciamiento was also publicly perceived as containing monarchist sympathies. Herrera was overthrown and Paredes became president. As the new government announced a plan for constitutional reform, the press began to attack monarchism. The Conservative statesman Antonio Haro y Tamariz joined such critical voices, expressing skepticism that monarchy

8632-429: The press , and freedom of petition were recognized, with freedom of the press to be limited only by "respect to private life, morality, and the public peace." For the first time the constitution of Mexico did not declare the nation to be a Catholic confessional state , but it did not explicitly guarantee religious freedom either. Special courts separate from the jurisdiction of the civil judiciary were declared abolished,

8736-406: The right to make clerical appointments to the church, and shut down monasteries. It was at this point that the government began proposing the nationalization of church lands as well. Conservative backlash led to the fall of the Gomez Farias administration. The issue of nationalizing church lands was brought up again by Gomez Farias once more who had once again found himself in the presidency during

8840-427: The rise of a Liberal Party hegemony which would consolidate itself throughout the rest of the century. The Second Federal Republic was born in the first months of the Mexican-American War in 1846, with the restoration of the Constitution of 1824 . The war ended in 1848 with Mexico being forced to cede half of its territory to the United States. The period immediately following the war would nonetheless be followed by

8944-415: The seizure of fifteen million pesos from the church by nationalizing and then selling its lands. The proposal created great controversy and on February 27, 1847, several national guard battalions proclaimed against the government. They released a manifesto excoriating the government for pursuing a divisive policy instead of uniting the country in the war effort and seeking a means of funding the military that

9048-528: The session by lamenting the defeats that the military had faced, but expressed hope for the army of twenty thousand men that Santa Anna had gathered at San Luis Potosi . He expressed that he was completely behind continuing the war,. He also expounded upon the peace proposals that had been forwarded to him by the American government. In December the congress elected Santa Anna and Gomez Farias as president and vice-president respectively. Both men had previously won

9152-406: The start of the Mexican–American War . La Reforma , and the establishment of the Constitution of 1857 proved to be another triumph for liberal principles especially anti-clericalism, and conservatives lost the War of Reform attempting to abolish the new constitution. During the Second French Intervention , the conservatives would invite Maximilian of Habsburg , to assume the Mexican throne, but

9256-525: The state militias being dissolved and absorbed into the national army, and subject to an unprecedented conscription, which proved to be enormously unpopular.Santa Anna nonetheless aimed to modernize the army, hiring instructors from Europe, and improving fortresses armaments, and the ships of the Mexican Navy. The regime found new funds through the Gadsden Purchase , which nonetheless proved to be controversial for once again alienating national territory to

9360-452: The strategic port of Veracruz while the Conservative government remained based in Mexico City. The initial phase of the war resulted in repeated Conservative victories, but the Liberals remained entrenched in the peripheries of the nation, and controlled strategic ports that kept them supplied with vital customs revenues. The Conservatives replaced Zuloaga with Miguel Miramon who had a record of victories but who repeatedly failed to capture

9464-496: The task of rebuilding an exhausted and divided nation. A moratorium on foreign debt payments was passed in July, 1861 in order to meet Mexico's financial crisis, but France, the United Kingdom, and Spain responded with the Convention of London , agreeing to armed intervention in order to assure Mexico's debt payments. On 8 December 1861, the three navies occupied the port city of Veracruz . France had ulterior motives in joining

9568-467: The war in 1860, and the liberal separation of church and state remained entrenched. In the Hispanic legal tradition, a fuero is a legal privilege in general and even in contemporary times it is still the term used to refer to legal immunity enjoyed by legislators and other statesmen. The fuero of the Conservative slogan ‘religion y fueros’ referred to a specific legal military privilege that amounted to

9672-469: The war to the surrender of the sparsely populated northern territories. Per the instructions of Congress, Anaya’s term ended on January 8, 1847, and the presidency passed to Manuel de la Peña y Peña , who had already served a brief term during the war. Congress finally met in May, 1847 and at its opening session President Peña y Peña recommended a policy of peace, and recounted the progress that had been made in

9776-472: The war. It was also the second non-consecutive time that Gomez Farias was serving as President of Mexico. He had been president in 1833 during which he had attempted to pass many anti-clerical measures. As the government was struggling to finance the war, the Gomez Farias administration in January, 1847 decided upon nationalizing church lands and selling them to the amount of fifteen million pesos. The measure

9880-408: The years immediately after the Mexican-American War, being funded through a national lottery. Its first art exposition was held in 1850. It was also the first public building in the country to be illuminated at night with gas lighting. Conservative Party (Mexico) The Conservative Party ( Spanish : Partido Conservador ) was a political faction in Mexico between 1823 and 1867, which became

9984-405: Was a militia that was made up of middle class professionals, and their expulsion from the city threatened the livelihoods of their families. That resulted in protest and outrage, followed by the arrest of certain members of the Independence Battalion. On February 27, five national guard battalions proclaimed against the government. They released a manifesto excoriating the government for pursuing

10088-442: Was backed by national consensus.This became known as the Revolt of the Polkos , because the young middle class men who made up the militias stations throughout the capital were known for dancing the polka. Meanwhile news arrived that Santa Anna had won the Battle of Buena Vista which took place on February 22 to February 23, 1847, and which in reality had been a draw. Santa was heading back to Mexico City to arrange defenses against

10192-429: Was directly addressed to President Anastasio Bustamante , but in response to its publication Estrada found himself facing backlash from both Conservative and Liberal parties, accusations of sedition, and was forced to flee the nation. In December 1845, the Conservative general Mariano Paredes published a pronunciamiento against the liberal government of the liberal president Jose Joaquin Herrera , ostensibly because

10296-432: Was met with difficulties and controversy, with conservatives fearing the revival of the 1833 anticlerical campaign, and moderate liberals questioning the effectiveness of such a controversial decree. Violent resistance throughout the country began in January, but it was not until February 27 that the Revolt of the Polkos broke out in the capital. Polkos was a term used to refer to the middle class professionals that made up

10400-429: Was reviving the anti-clerical campaign of 1833. The decree was signed by President of Congress Pedro María de Anaya , and Gomez Farias approved it with the support of Finance Minister Zubieta. The latter was given instructions to avoid any fraud, or hiding of wealth that would impede the efficacy of the measure. Tenants on church lands were to be fined if they did not hand over their rent to government agents, instead of

10504-497: Was struggling to finance the war, a problem worsened by corruption in the finance ministry, which did not inspire confidence when the government proposed an audit of property owners. On January 7, 1847, a measure was introduced to congress that was signed by four of five members of a financial ministry commission, who endorsed the seizure of fifteen million pesos from the church by nationalizing and then selling its lands, which in turn alarmed Gomez Farias’ opponents into fearing that he

10608-451: Was taken to audit the finance ministry to reduce corruption in general, and the relevant officials were also obliged to present a report every four days on the progress of the church land sales and to explain any factors that were causing any delays. There were demonstrations in the capital as early as January 15t but the government was obstinate in carrying out its policy of nationalizing church lands. The Oaxaca garrison pronounced against

10712-403: Was the best form of government for Mexico and pointing out that monarchies are typically supported by a nobility and that there was no nobility in Mexico, sarcastically suggesting that the government start granting titles to generals. The nonexistence of a Mexican nobility, as an obstacle to monarchy, was also pointed out by the liberal press at the time. Ironically, Haro himself would later join

10816-475: Was the first Mexican president to complete a full term since the inaugural holder of the office, Guadalupe Victoria has passed power over to Vicente Guerrero in 1828. Arista took office on January 15, 1851. He decided to adopt many of Herrera’s policies, which he as Minister of War had already played a significant hand in enacting, but made some changes in the cabinet. It was ultimately the ongoing financial crisis which would lead to Arista's fall being used as

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