Turmoil and Change in Mexico
Ch 12 Section 4
Santa Anna
• Fought in the Mexican revolt against Spain.
• Served as president on four separate occasions between
1833-1855.
• Was a powerful caudillo- military dictator.
• Was considered a brilliant politician who knew how to
control his people.
• He would later lead the
fight against the U.S. to
keep the Texas territory.
The Texas Revolt
• Many U.S. citizens moved to Texas in the 1820’s with the
encouragement of Mexico.
• Slavery was practices by many immigrants but was
banned in Mexico.
• Texas colonists revolted in
1835 led by Stephen Austin.
Santa Anna won several
Battles but was defeated at
The Battle of San Jacinto
Where he was captured.
The Mexican-American War
• Santa Anna was released in exchange for a pledge to free
Texas.
• When the U.S. annexed Texas in 1845, Santa Anna declared
war against the U.S.
• The war took two years and the U.S. won and captured nearly
1/3 of the total size of Mexico. Treaty of Hidalgo- ended the
war
The fate of Santa Anna
• After losing to the U.S. he went into exile but
returned again in 1853.
• Finally he went into exile in 1855 for twenty
years before returning a poor, blind and
broken man.
Benito Juarez, “the reformer”
• He ruled from 1861-1872 and passed La Reforma.
• This plan would redistribute land to the poor and
increase education in Mexico.
• He also built railroads, a telegraph system and
expanded trade opportunities for Mexico.
France invades Mexico
• Napoleon III plotted with conservatives to take Mexico
and establish a French colony in the America’s.
• In 1862, French forces invaded Mexico and captured it
within 18 months.
• Napoleon put Austrian Archduke Maximilian in power,
Juarez escaped.
• After five years of French rule, Napoleon seeing the great
expense of ruling Mexico, withdrew.
Juarez was reelected.
serving for five years until
dying of a heart attack
Porfiro Diaz
• Ruled from 1876-1911 as a caudillo
• Democracy was seldom seen in
Mexico with Diaz.
-He promised Mexico “Liberty, order
and progress”.
-Mexico developed its railroads,
banks and currency.
-Rich got rich and poor stayed poor.
-Political instability would soon arrive.
Mexican Revolution
• Francisco Madero- An advocate for democracy who
called for political reform.
• Diaz had Madero arrested after he declared his
candidacy for president, he was exiled and then called
for a rebellion.
• In 1913, he returned to Mexico
after Diaz was defeated
in the revolution.
-He served two years before resigning
after being considered too liberal.
-He was later assassinated
Pancho Villa
• A hero to the Mexican population for his role as a
Mexican Robin Hood.
• He raised an army and help take Diaz out of power in
1911
• Later he led a raid against the U.S. killing 17
Americans in claiming he was trying to retake
Mexico’s lost land. (New Mexico and Texas)
Pancho Villa
• Was pursued heavily by the U.S. but was never
caught as he was hidden by Mexican locals.
Sound familiar???
-He and Emilano Zapata helped overthrow
Mexico’s new president Victoriano Huerta
replacing him with Venustianzo Carranza.
-Carranza turned against both Villa and Zapata
killing Zapata and sending Villa into hiding.
Venustiano Carranza
• Revised a new Mexican constitution in 1917.
• The new constitution specified land reforms,
state take over of catholic properties, new labor
laws and legal rights for women along with equal
pay.
• Carranza did not support the final version of the
constitution and was overthrown in 1920 by one
of his own generals Alvaro Obregon.
• Obregon ruled until 1928 when he was
assassinated.
The PRI
• The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)was formed in 1929.
• This party did not tolerate opposition.
• The lack of opposition led to a lengthy period
of peace and political stability.
Mexico
• Still in need of economic stability today
• Political stability is again in question today