The Mexican War for
Independence
Charles III enacted the
Bourbon Reforms
(r. 1759-1788)
Jose de Galvez carried out the
Bourbon Reforms in New Spain
Napoleon as Romantic Hero: David’s
Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1800)
Joseph “Botillas” Bonaparte:
Ruler of Spain (1808-1813)
Don Miguel Hidalgo: Began
Mexico’s Struggle for
Independence, Sept. 16, 1810
Hidalgo’s followers fused
nationalism with religion
Father Jose Maria Morelos
(1765-1815)
Vicente Guerrero bridges mestizo/
criollo division in Independence
Movement
Agustin de Iturbide: First
Emperor of Mexico
(r. 1821-22)
Plan de Iguala “Plan of
the Three Guarantees”
1. Independence
2. Equality of all citizens
3. Catholicism as official religion
-Mexico will be a constitutional
monarchy—crown offered to Spanish
royal family!
-No distinctions based on race/
ethnicity
-All government jobs open to merit
-Church will be protected
Causes of the Mexican
War for Independence
• Bourbon Reforms (1760-1800)
– Alcabala (sales tax)
– Royal Monopolies on liquor, stamps,
salt, mercury
– Increasing numbers of Peninsulare
administrators
– Greater presence of royal military
• Social/Ethnic hierarchy stifled
advancement of mestizoes, Native
Americans and enslaved persons
• Unequal relationship between
mother country and colony
Agents of War for
Independence
• Napoleon Bonaparte
• Father Miguel Hidalgo—Grito
de Dolores
– Father Jose Maria Morelos
– Mestizo followers
– Virgine de Guadalupe?
• Vicente Guerrero
• Agustin de Iturbide
– Criollo followers
Results
• Violent oppression of Hidalgo’s
revolt by criollo military
• Iturbide’s “top down”
revolution in 1821
• “Age of Caudillos” (18221870s)
• La Riforma tries to break power
of caudillos
• Emperor Maximilien I
• Porfirio Diaz “El Presidente”
(1876-1910)
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna:
President of Mexico (off and on)
1833-1855
Benito Juarez: President in
1861 and leader of the Liberal
Reforma
Porfirio Diaz: “Effective Suffrage,
no re-election!” ruled Mexico
Francisco Madero: Coahuila
Intellectual turned Revolutionary
Pres. William Howard Taft, a
Progressive Republican,
threw US support to Madero
Pancho Villa: Populist
Gaucho Rebel from
Chihuahua
Emiliano Zapata: Populist Rebel
from the South (Morelos)
Victoriano Huerta: Former Diaz
Military Leader turned Madero
strongman
Venustiano Carranza: Norteno
Revolutionary from Coahuila
Pres. Woodrow Wilson, a
Progressive Democrat, threw
US support to Carranza
Alvaro Obregon: Former Carranza
General turned Presidente in
1920--brought peace to Mexico
Jose Vasconcelos: Mexico’s First
Minister of Public Education
Causes of Mexican
Revolution 1910-1920
• Persistence of Colonial
Inequalities
• Caudillos—Santa Anna
– Loses Texas
– Loses ‘Far North’=US Southwest
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La Riforma —Benito Juarez
Foreign Invasion-Maximilien I
Porfirio Diaz, pres. 1876-1910
Creelman Interview, 1908
Agents of the Mexican
Revolution
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Creelman Interview
Porfirio Diaz
Francisco Madero
Huerta
Pancho Villa
Emiliano Zapata
Venustiano Carranza
peones
Outcomes of Mexican
Revolution
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Chaos and disorder
V. Carranza becomes president
Mexican Constitution of 1917
Land reform but not until 1930s
Further conflicts over religion
Later on ejidos are privatized in
1980s—repeal of reform?