Mexican History in the 18th-19th Centuries - Essay Example

Mexican History Introduction Mexico has a long and varied history that s back to as far as the second millennium BCE. Its history reflects Mexico's struggle for independence in overcoming invasion and control by foreign countries, its struggle for equality for its own individuals within its borders, and the final formation of the United Mexican States. The history of the late 1700s and the early 1800s predominantly deals with the struggle against the colonial viceroyalty, the gaining of independence and the drastic changes that took place in the political theater of Mexico. Many leaders such as Father Hidalgo, General Santa Anna, and Benito Juarez struggled to gain freedom, establish political stability and attempted to hold on to its borders. In the following paper we focus on, "the radical changes that took place in the political platform of Mexico and the people who were responsible to bring about those changes, at the end of eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century." The Change in Political Paradigms By the end of the eighteenth century, Mexico, known as New Spain was governed under the viceroyalty of Spanish authority for around three hundred years and was one of the most densely populated areas of North America. In the overheated military activities at the end of eighteenth century, Spain suffered a number of military defeats in Europe and the Spanish monarchy determined to sort out ways to improve the defenses of its empire. To provide the treasury with large funds which can ultimately help in building up a stronger defense mechanism, the monarchy of Spain decided to revise the structure of taxes collected from New Spain. There were also serious administrative changes undertaken to check the growing amount of corruption in the bureaucratic system. The Bourbon Reforms The Bourbon reforms were implemented primarily to generate revenues for the improvements in military strengths of Spain. However it also attempted to check the inefficiency of local administration as well as to reduce the increasing cases of corruption in the bureaucracy of its colonial governments. In 1778 significant reforms were established which resulted into a loosening of the laws framed for colonial trade with other American colonies. This was aimed to help the colonist develop better trades with other colonies in the North American region and generate funds which could help in maintain a large army. In the administrative mechanism of the colony, reforms were introduced aiming at centralizing the powers of government and placing the Peninsulares (individuals with Spanish birth and upbringing) at important administrative positions. The strength of the colonial armies, which can be deployed elsewhere to check emergencies and prevent the demobilization of Spanish forces, were considerably increased and local militia were reinforced. New taxes were imposed upon the Mexican masses and this was largely unwelcomed by the public with cases of denial of tax. The forceful efforts to bring about reforms and collect taxes resulted in increased grievances against the government and ultimately resulting in disordered conditions like riots and the antigovernment protests. The efforts by Spain to strengthen its political hold over the colony with the administrative changes was fiercely opposed by the Mexicans and these protests were efficiently popularized by the Criollos (the Spanish Mexicans who were born and brought up in Mexico) as they were now excluded from the administrative positions in viceroyalty. The economic prosperity which the Spanish had achieved generated resentment against it and the Mexicans increasingly felt that if provided with independence and allowed to control their own economic affairs, they would benefit more out of this business. The Development of Aggression The monarchy of Spain considered the church to be an economic and political rival as it had cumulated large amount of wealth and exercised great power on the society with the system of education at its control . With intentions to release the amassed wealth of the Jesuits and other religious orders, the monarchy made efforts to check the rising powers of the Catholic Church. With the removal of Jesuits from Spain and seize of their property, the monarchy went further confiscating additional land and economic assets from the Catholic Church. This led to fierce opposition from the religious lobby of Mexico. The radicals were angered with this behavior of Spain and the idea to gain independence grew stronger. By the beginning of the 19th century, th growing Criollos' resentment against the Peninsulares and the viceroyal government of Mexico weakened the link between the colony and the Spain. Gaining influence from the examples of American and French revolution, the Mexicans grew determined to gain self control and self government. The Beginning of Crisis in Spain With the onset of Napoleonic Wars in Europe, Spain was invaded in the year 1808 and Madrid fell to the French powers. The administrative authorities of Spain were transferred to the French. The central authority of Spain degenerated and the administrative heads of New Spain entered into conflicts amongst themselves. Under the pressure of the prominent Criollos and the lack of support from Spain, the viceroy permitted them to participate in the administration tasks by allowing them to take important administrative decisions. The Peninsulares, who were comparatively low in number objected this and in a sudden and decisive movement by them overthrew the viceroyal government on the 15-16 November, 1808. With this, the struggle for power between various political factions began which culminated in a civil war. In the year of 1810 father Miguel Hidalgo, a priest, under the influences of enlightenment ideas, launched the first rebellion that aimed to free Mexico from the colonial regime and the influence of Peninsulares. He received enormous public support and further actions included an immediate announcement of the abolition of slavery and the denial to imposed taxes followed. . This movement to replace the colonial government gradually turned into a social rebellion as thousands of Native Americans under the effect of rising food prices and declining wages supported the uprising. An army of around 80,000 was recruited by father Hidalgo, briefly trained for armed combat, and himself took position as their chief. After some initial military success the rebels captured Mexico City, which they left later under the fear of a large approaching royal army. The rebellion was effectively put off by Spanish soldiers and Hidalgo was executed on July 30, 1811. Another priest by the name of Jose Maria Morelos Pavon called for racial and social equality in Mexico and prepared for another military campaign against the Spaniards. His actions were more effective and proved to better military achievements but ultimately suffered a major defeat in 1813 leading to the execution of Morelos. The major rebellion activities came to an end with this. The Plan of Iguala and Treaty of Crdoba The retreat of French powers and the revolution in Spain in 1820 had deep impacts in Mexico. This reestablished the Spanish constitution of 1812 and emphasized individual liberty and representative government. Joining hands with Vicente Guerrero, Augustin Iturbide in 1821 signed a compromise agreement in which it was declared that their combined forces would bring about independence in Mexico. This specific plan came to be known as 'Plan of Iguala' which set forth three mutual guarantees: Mexico would become an independent country, ruled as a limited monarchy; the Roman Catholic Church would be the state church; and Criollos would be given the same rights and privileges as Peninsulares. Unable to take any steps, the viceroy was forced to accept the demands and in July 1821, under the 'Treaty of Cordoba', he resigned from the post and Mexico in the city of Cordoba and the nation received its identification as and independent nation ruled by a monarch and an acting constitution. With this bloodless change in power, Iturbide became the first emperor of the nation for a short period and abdicated the seat under growing pressure of the military in March 1823 and a Republic was established with Guadalupe Victoria becoming the first president. With the treaty of Cordoba in august 24 1821, Spain recognized Mexico as an independent nation to be known as the Mexican empire. Under this treaty, the government was declared to be monarchial limited by a constitution. The Mexico City was established as the capital city. An assembly was immediately formed that consisted of men of the elite class and influence to ensure that with their efforts resolutions may be passed for further developments. The Establishment of Republic In the absence of a formal and prepared transfer of power, the established republic could restore less amount of order as the acting political leaders had little idea about creating and shaping a new republic. The long civil war had resulted in depletion of society and economy of its strengths. The revenues that were generated from taxes fell to alarming low levels. The political leaders were inexperienced in the matter of reuniting the nation together and thus failed to bind the nation in to one single entity. The elites in the country would look askance at any attempt by the Mexico City to establish power and control over the federal states. The chief problem lay in the fact that there was no specified form of federal government at the center and the political structure of the center and different states was undecided. With the removal of monarchy, a constitution was promulgated in 1824 which gave legislators the power to elect the president and vice president. In the period to follow, a number of infirm political leaders took charge as presidents but providing no effective reformation to the state. At this point, the political leadership set out to divide in opposite factions; the conservatives and the liberals. This polarization between conservationist and the liberals was based upon the debate regarding the form of the new government; the conservatives supported a highly centralized government recognizing little autonomy of the states and maintained the powers of the Catholic Church for the educational facilities. They also advocated an establishment of dictatorship if found necessary. This conservative faction comprised of church leaders, landlords, Criollos and the army officials. Whereas the liberals wanted a federation of states with larger autonomy and not strictly controlled by the center. They also sought to limit the power of the Catholic Church and foster public education rather than church-controlled education, and institute social reforms. Vicente Guerrero, the leader of the liberal wing assumed the seat of president in 1829 but was shot and killed in 1831 by the conservative forces of military leader Anastatio Bustamante. In a series of revolt which followed for two years, the political picture became instable and ultimately established the military commander Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who was responsible for bringing down the Mexican empire, as the president of Mexico. The Texas revolution In the first quarter of the 1800s, Texas was sparsely populated and weakly governed in the absence of strong central powers. In 1820, Moses Austin, a citizen of the USA with permission from the Mexican government, brought American settlers into the state of Texas. Within a period of ten years, large number of migrants moved into the Texan lands and the region was predominantly occupied with the migrants from USA as compared to the local Mexican people. These new settlers found many differences with the policies of ruling Mexican government. The chief among them was the abolishment of slavery by the government in 1829 and the establishment of law that prevented any further displacement of migrants from the United States. With the following political crisis at the center in 1834, the constitution of 1824 which identified the autonomy of the federal states was overthrown and a new centralist constitution was established disrobing the Mexican states of their autonomous powers. The siete leyes (seven laws) were introduced in the 1835 to reinforce the authority of the president Santa Anna as against the congress and the supreme court of Mexico. It framed laws which restricted the citizenship of Mexico to a limited number of people and hence a further inflow of migrants from the United States was banned. The protests followed in the entire country against these actions of power and the state of Texas, exploiting the consequences of this political unrest, rebelled against the government to establish an independent state of Texas in 1835. This came to be known as the Texas Revolution. President Santa Anna, in attempts to avoid the unraveling of the nation, arrived with his military powers in San Antonio, Texas, to take hold of the situation and gained some military success. With further military conflicts on different fields Santa Anna's forces were defeated. In May 1836, Santa Anna signed the treaty of Velasco in which he agreed to evacuate the state of Texas with the Mexican troops and mobilized them to the south of Rio Grande. This established the independence of Texas, though and unconstitutional one and not recognized officially. Mexico refused to acknowledge the independence of Texas. The state of Texas was then annexed by the United States and ultimately resulted into the outbreak of war between the United States and Mexico in 1846 in which Mexico incurred a humiliating defeat and lost almost one third of its lands to the states. Summing up The period at the turn of eighteenth century was marked by massive political changes in the country which enjoyed an almost uninterrupted peace for a period of around three hundred years. In reality it was on account of the changing equations in the European continent that reflected its effect in Mexico. With the loss of power at homelands and the increasing unrest in Mexico, the Spanish monarchy proved to be inefficient in checking the rebels and establishing order. The further polarization of Criollos and the Peninsulares worsened the scene. Whether it was an issue of tax or trade, Spain ultimately failed at every attempt to impose control over the local people. With the rising of the intellectual group and under the armed leadership of Father Hidalgo the Mexican masses entered its first and formal struggle for independence. After the initial failures, in a period of ten years of around ten years Mexico gained independence resulted into an ultimate acquisition of power in a bloodless manner. The chief factor however does seem to lie in the rebels that were opened against the viceroy, they lacked in enough power, but seemingly the predominant reason as it appears is the inability of the degenerating Spanish powers to control their colonies with the mobilization of armed forces and financial resources. However it is seen that with the transfer of power in the treaty of Cordoba, there was no solid framing of a formal constitution for the Monarchy of Mexico to follow. Also the selected monarch did not enjoy the popularity of the masses to an extent that he could establish a powerful monarchy. The disunited political lobby gave rise to differently opined factions and resulted into internal conflicts and an atmosphere of unrest. Controversial historical figures found in Mexico's history of the early nineteenth century can lead to great debate regarding their roles in the reconstruction and development of the Mexican nation. Father Hidalgo's inspirational speech gave Mexicans the motivation to fight for freedom. Leaders like Santa Anna proved to be both beneficial and detrimental for Mexico. He helped in gaining a temporary solidification of the unstable political conditions but at the same time some of his action, like the establishment of Siete Leyes for increasing his own powers was greatly criticized. Further, the inefficient role played during the Texas revolution and the American Mexican War resulted into devastating losses for the Mexico as it lost large amount of lands to the United States in form of the present California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Thus within a period of less than half a century, the political scene had changed beyond recognition and so were its boundaries. References: Kirkwood, Burton. The History of Mexico. Westport, CT.:Greenwood Press. 2000. Hamill, Hugh M. (Jr), The Hidalgo Revolt: Prelude to Mexican Independence. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press,1966 Anna ,Timothy E. Forging Mexico: 1821-1835. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. Di Tella, Torcuato S. Publication Information: Book Title: National Popular Politics in Early Independent Mexico, 1820-1847. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,1996. Meyers, William K. Forge of Progress, Crucible of Revolt: Origins of the Mexican Revolution in La Comarca Lagunera, 1880-1911. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994. Read More