Chapter 17: The Early Mexican Republic PDF

Printed by: quinn.smid!@avc:.edu. Printing is for pcil80D8l, privare uso only. No part of1his book may bci npn,dua,d or tnmsmitb:d without pabliahcr'a prior permisaion. VIOl.a1ms will be proeec:uted. CHAPTER 17...

Printed by: quinn.smid!@avc:.edu. Printing is for pcil80D8l, privare uso only. No part of1his book may bci npn,dua,d or tnmsmitb:d without pabliahcr'a prior permisaion. VIOl.a1ms will be proeec:uted. CHAPTER 17 THE EARLY MEXICAN REPUBLIC THE CO NSTI T U TIO N OF 182 4 \'vrth the collapse of the empire. a three-man junta governed Mexico provisionally. All three-Nicolas Bravo, Guadalupe Victoria. and Pedro Celestino Negrete-were ml µary men. The precedent of miscasting soldiers as statesmen was now well established. Jlie 6m order of bwiness was to call elections for delegates to a constitutional congress that would be charged with framing the new charrer. The constituent body met fonheJirst time on November 27, 1823, and their focus narrowed to a question that on the s'u aace seemed simple enough: shou.ld the new republic be federalist. with more autonomy for the states. or centralist, giving more authority to !he central government? Although there were some exceptions to the general alignmen df forces, the centralists found their strength 'among the clergy, the hacendados, and tne' army officers, while the federalistfuebrands attraaed suppon from those liberal cdol(os and mestizos who drew on ninetceenth-century liberal ideas from French and American revolutions as well as the US Constitution and the liberal Spanish dorument of 18f2. They emphasized the importance of a secular--s'fate and equality before the law witho;t ethnic distinction. The chief spokes- men for the federalists were Miguel Ramos Ari~ &om Coahuila and Valent!n G6mez farfas &omZacalecas. Fray Servando Teresa de Mierand Carlos Maria de Bustamante championed the centralist cawe. When Ramos Ariz, e-presented the body with a working paper modeled closely after the US constitution, fray Servando, an iconoclast who once questioned the authenticity of the Virgln of Guadalupe, responded with an eloquent speech. He observed that the experieno: of the northern neighbor had been entirely diffm?nt from tha1 ofMexico, and, whi.le a federal system might well be suited 10 the needs of the United States, it cou.ld not work in Mexico for it would weaken lhe country jwt when strength from union was required. Speaking of the thlneen colonies to the north, Fray Servando argued; They wue already separate and independent one from another. They federalixed themselves in union against the oppression of England; to federalize ourselves, now united, is 10 divide 24 3 Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for pmcma1, priva&e me only. No part of'lhis book may be reprodnced or transmitted without publisher's prior permisaii>n. Violatvn will be prosec:utcd.  244 TIU TRIALS OF NATIONHOOD o ursel\-es and to bring upon us the '""Y evils they sought to remedy with their federa- tion. We are like children barely ou1 of diapers or like slaves who have jusa unshackled their chains... We migh, say ,hat naiurc, hselfhu dcciud our ccn,raliz,iion.1 Fray Servando's a rguments, although highly prescient failed to persuade. Ramos Arizpe and his federalist cohorts also drew upon the lessons of history but interpreted them quite differently. Centralism they equated with despotism. As exam ples I.hey pointed 10 the 300 years of colonial rule and the ten months of monarchy, whid1 were also centralistir and authoritarian. They prefem.>d the dispersion of powers inheren t in the federJI structure and argued that such a system harmonized more d osely with Mexico's recently won liberties. A would-be dictato r could be thwancd in his nefarious ottempu to iubject the people only if the states and localities enjoyed a resperuble measure of tndependenr power. Arizpe's plea carried the day. Under the Constitution of 1824 the Estados Urrn,los Mq_icanos were o rganized as a federal republ ic composed of nineteen states and four tertftories. In the separario n-of- powers clause delinea ting governmental authority in10 the executive, legisla tive. a nd ju dicial branches, the p hilosophical influence of ,\lo~esqttieu and the practical infl uence of the US Constirution of 1787 stand ouL The l~sfamre was made bicameral. the u pper house designated J$ 1he Senate and the lower house as the Chamber of Deputies. Sach state was represemed by two senators and one deputy for eve ry eigh ty thousand inhabit anis. In at least one respect th, federal 1cm established in 1824 went bcypnd its US model and gave the state< even greater pow~r than those 10 the north: both the president and the vice-p resident were to be el cted not by popular vote but by 1he state legislatures, for a term of four years More impon.uuly, hO\wver, I.he autonomy of sutes in a highly ('1deral system meant that local politics would play a major role in determining Lhe natur-=.ol"dtizcnshl p aud political p.micipation, even who,could voie. Sta tes devla,caoa 19 zacatecas 10 PulC>la.s Adopcad om Romeo Flores Caballero. Coclnte,,._, Tho Role of rhe Spaniards ii /he /nd_.ien,;e of - t.. , (Lined'\: ~ o f Nebraska Press. 1974), p, 8&. r: Th< Mj Lh.u amt l.('J domU\:itc the, COUlltry'S polltkal life in tbt- 6n.t half of tht> nineteenth Cffltury. Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae only. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced OJ' trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be proJec:Uted.  248 TIU TRIALS OF NATIONHOOD DOMEST IC TURMOIL ANO A SPA NIS H INVASION Passions had not yelsubsided when new presidential elections were held in Seplernber 1828. The candidate of the liberal facLion, Vicente Guerrero, another hero of the wars, was opposed by conservative Manuel Gomez Pedraza, an accomplished scholar who had served in the Vic1orio cabi net as secretary of war. The clealon results showed tJ1a1 G6mez Pedraza carri,-d ten of the nineteen srn1e legislan.rres, but the liberals, feeling little obligatJon 10 pay homage 10 the constitution, charged that he had used h is influence wilh the anny tQ intimidate the legislators. Rather than rum the gQVernmenr over 10 their enemies. the liber.il. opted instead for revolution. Once again they found their champion in Antonio Lopez de Sama Anna, bu1 on this OCCllSion the odds were ~trongly ,1gainst him. Through f'ol'iticnl corruption reached new heights. Bui the incidem that occasioned the greatest;.{ubtic outrage was the capture and c~ecuuon o( the former presiden ~ Vicente Cuemirq..Afler his ousu:r by the Bustamame anny, Guerrer g,adually made his way to Acapul, where he accepted passage on the Colot11//o, a ship flying L11e Italian flag. Bui Captain"i>icaluga, a Genoese citizen, had agreed 10 sell Guerrero 10 the govemmem for SS0,000. NJ soon ns the former presiden I bo.·trded the Colo111bo, he was bound hand and foot and lllined over to federal authorities. I le was subse- qi,itntly tried, convic1cd oftr~son, 01~d on January 14, 1831, executed. n,e execution had a sobering efferrns Mexicans began 10 tall) up. Of the five outstanding leaders of the wars of independe~four-Miguel l lidalgo, Jose Maria Morelos, Aguslin de Iturbide. and now Viccn1e Cuerrero-had died before the firing squad. Only Guadalupe Vic- toria escaped Ibis fate. The word uaicor had come to be used too easily and tile cl1arge invari- ably carrie,i the supreme pena lty As a nation, Mexico was unsure of itself. It had struggled si11ce Independence. Na1ional. state. and local governmems d ealt with disorder and insol- vency. Al the local level in the countryside, daily life resonated with traditional agriculnmtl.md m,uke1 cycles, Js indigenous communities interpreted noilons of liberty within their own frameworks. In cities, indigenous barrios used church instirutions to preserve traditions that supported Lhcir interests. In general, however. the social s1ruaure had 1101 changed in Printed by: quinn.smi1h@avc:.ec1n. Printing is for pi,ncmal, privata uae only. No part of1his book may ba n,pmduced or trammitted wilhont pabliahet11 prior permilllion. Vwla1on will be proJec:Uted. 250 TIU T RIALS OF NATIONHOOD any meaningful way. llxecuting Vicente Guerrero might have saliated the political vengeance of a few but did nothing to stem devasiating epidemics, 10 repair pi1ted roads, or 10 n unure a national healing process. Abolishing the caste system saucely abolished pove.ny. Emanci- pating the slaves did not climimne malnutrition and illiteracy. h seemed time for a change of direction. Sanw Anna marshaled his forces once again, overthrew the Busiamante govern- ment, and then returned to hls esiates in Veracruz. RECOMMENDED FOR FURTHER STUDY Arch