Santa Anna, The Centralized State, and the War With the United States 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 18...

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 18 SANTA ANNA, THE CENTRALIZED STATE, AND THE WAR WI T H THE UNITED STATES he myths surrounding Antonio Lopez de Sama Anna have made him a caricature th.at T deeply colors our understanding of the 1830s through the mid-1850s in Mexico. He has been depicted as a charismatic but unprincipled leader who epitomizes the nineteenth- century Latin American caudi!Jo- unsaupulous. deceptive ruthl~, profiteering. an4,op- portunistic, with a magnetism that attral:ted loyal and zealous followers. These atlributes are in pan true, but they are not the wholesmry. During the period. the presidency changed hands many times. and Santa Anna himself ocrupied the presidency on several occasions_ Even when he was out of the presidJOcy, he exercised powed'ul influence on the country still muggllng t0 achieve politiClll $!ability and economic growth. Santa Anna is perhaps best. if not accmate.ly, remembered. for Mexico's loss of Texas to secession and other northern ter- ritories in the US war withMexico. - 1 SAN TA ANNA, THE CONSUMMATE ARBITER Antonio l6pwde Sama Anna Perez de Lebr6n was born on February 21, 1794 to a criollo landholding family in Veracruz, where. he we.m io school until he was sixteen and decided to join the royalist army. He supponed the c;rown against the insurgents and won special commendation for his actions until 182l;Toen, like many of his criollo comrades, Santa Anna followed Iturbidc's lead and swltjiPed allegiance. The highlights of Santa Anna's career in the period immediately following independence have already been touched upon.ln f823, under the banner of the Plan de Casa Mata, he led the republiClln forces against the empire and contributed i.n no small way to the overthrow of Iturbide. When Mexico's first vice president, conservative Nicolas Bravo, proclaimed a revolt against President Viaoria, Santa Anna took the lead in suppressing the movement and, following the next presidential election, saw to it that the defeated liberal candidate, Vicente Guerrero, was instaUed in office. In 1829, when Spain tried to bring its former colony back into the fold, it was Santa Anna again who defeated the Spanish forces at Tampico to 251 Printed by: [email protected]. Printing is for pmcma1, priva&e me only. No part of1his book may be reprodnced or transmitted without publisher's prior permisaii>n. Violatvn will be prosec:utcd.  252 TIU T RIALS OF NATIONHOOD sa\/e the infan t republic. In 1832, when the Bustam.1n1e dia,uorsbip became intolerable, he ovenhrew iL On the surfuce, at leas~ his career seemed to constitute an unbroken chain of vicmries in the defense of M~xican liberalism. I lowever, he consid=d himself and the anny 10 be above politics, dedicated to lending mil itary service to the patria in times of crisis. Nonetheless, mpitalizing on his popularity, liberals urged him to run for presidem in 1833, and he won by a huge majority. The vice presidency wem 10 Valemfn Comez Farfas, a man of imellcctual distinction and a politician whose liberal credentials were undisputed. In a move that suggests he truly was 1101 interested in poli1i.cal powe,, i..m1a Anna did not take up the post as president. I le preferred to return to his hacienda, Manp de Cla, o in Veracruz. to oversee the administration of his estates. By all account, he was a paterna listic hacendado ,vho helped those who worked for him, inspiring 1hB1r loyalty. In much the same way his populist charisma command ed respect from soldiers Thf ahny was a privileged inSlilution u nder Santa Anna, but ii also came 1.0 represent a kind of populist natio nalism because its campaigns endeavored to preserve national sovereignty. Sama Anna's departure left the presidency in the hands of Gomez Farfas, who began 10 sponsor a number of refonns a,med a1 two enrre,~ed instituLions: the a rmy and 1he church. To cunail the inordinate influence of the army.the reform measures reduced the size of the military and legislated the aht1lhion or the mi litary fueros; Mmy officers would now have to sLand trial in civil couru. 11'1e derical reforms were more wide-ranging. Congress advised dcrgymen to limit their directives anti admonitions from the pulpit to spimltal mat- ters Then, under the prodd ing of C'.ome1,f!arfas and hi~ liberal theoreticians Jost Marra Luis Mora and Lorenzo de Zavala, congi;ess vot£d to serularizc education. fl dosed down the Uni- versity of Mexico wilh its faulltX of p riests and declared 1ha1 all future cl~-rical appointments would be made by the gowrn~t rather than by the papacy. 1111: mandatory payment of the tithe was dedired ,lleg;il. In addiLion, the congress enacted l~lation pcnuining nuns, priests, and lay brothers 10 forswear their vows. In one f i n a l ~ the remaining Francis can missions in northern Mexico were secularizro and their li.mds and propc.rry sequestered. 11w respon1c from the vested interests was almost,P'edktable. To the rallying cry of R.!ligion r Fue,-,. the church, the anny, and o ther conservative groups banded together and called for 1he ovenbrow of the govcmmenL Al~ugb the conservatives prevailed upon Sanq Anna LO lead the revoh, he demurred an 'ln the summ~r of 1833 fought ag.1inst the insurgen1s, finally claiming victory in Cuanaj,mto. With a devastating d10lera epidemic now in fi~i force, Sama Anna once again returm!d 10 Veracniz. I lowever, he warned Gomez !'arias uf restrain congrcss,onal demands Lhnt \\left' Inciting conservatives LO take military action once again_ When that did not happen, Sani.1 Annn decided 10 inurrwne believing that only he could control the machinaLions of conservative elites and clergymen to stir up unrest among the mass of Catholic faithful. In the spring of 1834 wiLh overwhelming popular backing, he resumed the presidency, removed C6mez l'Jrfas, closed down congress, and rescinded 1be refom1 package. Once again he took up the guise of paciJier and arbiter, seeing himself as the only force Cdpable of preventing a destructive re ligious war and restoring order 10 the nation. After achieving this goal, he retumed 10 J\.langa de! Clavo ,vhile a new conservali\'e congress enacted legislation, including the abolition of the Constitution of 1824. 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 p!'OleCUted.  San14 Anna, tht Qn,r;,Ii:A/. Sl.dlt!, And Lhe Wat riih tlttt Unictd SMltS 2 53 Gener.ti \momo ~ a , Santa Alma ( 1794-1876). ~ dominant figur ohl\e first h.llf of th ninctttnth Cn. tr.UlS..and 00. b)' C.Ulos f. C.tstukdll, (D.tlla>, lX. I928J. 236 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.  San14 Anna, tht Qn,r;,Ii:A/. Sl.dlt!, And Lhe Wat riih tlttt Unictd SMltS 2 57 be exchanged. Prom the Mexican point of view, the secret agreement, later m.ide public, was much more controversial. In rerum for his own release and transportation 10 Veracruz, Santa Anna agreed 10 prepare the Mexican cabinet 10 receive a pe;ice mis,ion from Texas so that the independence of the LoneStar Republic could be focmally recognized. Whc.n he returned to Mexico City, Santa Anna discovered that the treaties had prompted owrage from the Intellectual comm w1ity, the liberals, a.n d many ardent nationalists. On the defensive, he offered the excuse that he had made the promises as an individual and that they were not bi nding o n the govemme111. ·n1e legislature r1,,spondcd 1w enacung a la,~ stipulating tha t any agreemen t reached by a Mexican president while held ~oner should be considered null and void. No peace commission from Texas was to be received, and no recognition would be extended. Texas remained independent as the Lone Star Republic from l83(i-10 1845. On the stufuce it would appear preposterous that without the direct suppon of ~ United States, 'l'exas should have been able to retain this independent status m the face otl"gready superior Mexican re- sources and manpower. But Mexico, aJ/1 Wm: J\ ComfWJ 1/islOtT, 1846-1848 ( New Yodrnt1111011 It