Colonial Mexico 1519 - 1821 Mexican History

Colonial Mexico 1519 - 1821 MexicanHistory.org

WebGoogle Search

MexicanHistory.org

Colonial Mexico 1519 - 1713True Colonial blinds from the company that makes them for Colonial Williamsburgwww.shutterblinds.com

Mexico Obesity Doctor U.S. trained specialist treats you in Mexico for fractions of the costwww.ObesityControlCenter.com

Single Mexican Women Marry One of These Single Women Neighbors will Envy You!AmoLatina.com

Encomiendas Government in New Spain Council of the Indies, Viceroy and Audiencia Corregidores Exploration Mixton War The Church The Spanish Inquisition Religious Disputes Virgin of Guadalupe Cultural Life Social Classes Economy Colonial Architecture Mexico City Colonial ceramics Tequila , Pulque and Wine Bourbon Reforms Mexican Colonial Coins

Map of New Spain, click to see

Colonial Mexico: A Guide to Historic Districts and Towns This is a great book on the "silver cities' of mexico. Reads like a novel, not a tour guide

video on Mexican colonial cities

While Cortes was conquering the Aztec capital, no one in Spain was aware of it and Cortes conquest was without official recognition . With little preparation, Spain found itself a ruler a faraway land many times larger than itself and much more populated .How was it to control and convert such a land that was over two months away by sea ? The Encomiendas

Maps of Mexico

Mexican coins

http://mexicanhistory.org/colonial.htm[5/20/2010 2:41:16 AM]


Books on Colonial Mexico

The Spaniards renamed Tenochititlan 'Mexico City' and rebuilt it as the capital of Nueva Espana ( New Spain ). Cortes granted his soldiers encomiendas ( land grants )which granted an entire town and its Indian population to an encomendero as the treasure hoped for after the conquest of the Aztecs did not amount to much as much of it had been lost in the retreat of Noche Triste . The Indians owed them tribute as well as forced labor and was a thinly disguised form of slavery . The encomenderos were supposed to convert the Indians and look after their welfare .Spanish encomenderos were usually absentee landlords who lived in faraway cities .Charles V, wanting to protect his new vassals, outlawed encomiendas , but the grants had already been distributed by Cortes . The encomienda system attracted settlers and brought misery and death to many native people as it had in Cuba. The system interfered with Spain's control of the new colony and led to rebellions when Spain tried to reform the system in the 16th century when friar Bartolome de Las Casa convinced the crown to introduce the ' New Laws ' granting freedom to Indians unjustly enslaved and easing labor requirements. There was much opposition to this by the Spaniards in Mexico. When similar laws were enacted in Peru an insurrection resulted which took the life of the viceroy .In 1564, the Crown decreed that all encomiendas would cease upon the death of the holder . This incensed the descendants of the conquistadors . Some, such as Alonso de Avila, argued for independence from Spain with the son of Cortes, Don Martin to made king . Alonso and others were soon arrested and beheaded, and Don Martin was forced to go into exile .This ended independence talk at the time and also ended the new law on the encomienda. Over time as the Indians gained more rights the encomiendas faded away . .Despite the stories of fabulous wealth, the number of Spanish colonists was low. By 1560 there were barely 20,000 Spaniards in Mexico . The Indian population was devastated in the early colonial period, with an estimated 70 to 90 percent dying off due to disease, famine and overwork. there were an estimated 25 million before the conquest and a little over a million by 1605 .The Indian population did not revive until 1650 .African slaves were imported to make up for the decrease in the Indian labor pool. 20,000 had arrived by 1553 .Many Filipinos and Chinese entered on the Manila galleons, possibly as many as 6,000 by the 17th century .

Government in New Spain

www.BookIt.com Ads by Google

Imperial Spain coat of Arms Cortes was appointed governor and captain general of New Spain in 1522 and he moved energetically to explore new lands and develop the economy .Cortes brought the first stocks of cattle to Mexico as well as sheep and goats and introduced European plants . He paid for the conquistadors wives to come to Mexico from Spain and encouraged his men to marry native women, beginning the first mestizos, children of Spanish and native Mexican blood .

Cortes, who had left Mexico to control his former commander Olid in Honduras in 152426 was believed to be dead by the people of Mexico. Enemies of Cortes spread rumors that he cheated the crown. When he returned, he had the enemies hanged, but the Crown remained suspicious and Cortes, hoping to clear his name went to Spain . Charles V, while impressed with the gallant nature of Cortes, desired to appoint his own viceroy

Big Hat Curio... Art Print



in place of the rough adventurers in New Spain and did not reappoint Cortes governor, but made him a marquis with a large estate to get him out of the way . Cortes did not have a noble lineage to be chosen as viceroy . Council of the Indies, Viceroy and Audiencia In 1524 Charles created the Council of the Indies ( "Real y Supremo Consejo de las Indias" ) to oversee all aspects of the colonies and acting in his name . The Council regulated many aspects of life in New Spain, to the location of churches to what kind of crops could be grown . The king and the Council of the Indies decided New Spain needed a ruler to offset the popularity of Cortes and project the authority of the Crown , a viceroy . The first viceroy was not to arrive in Mexico till 1535. The viceroyalty was to administer a vast territory from California to Panama, Caribbean islands and the Philippines . In 1527, Spain set up the first audiencia, a high court with government functions so court cases would not have to be referred to Spain .Judges (oidores ) of the audiencia were some of the most powerful men in the Indies. The audiencia was to keep an eye on the viceroy for the king .Judges (oidores ) of the audiencia were some of the most powerful men in the Indies.

Buy for $19.99

Search For Posters!Go

Guzman In 1529 Nuno de Guzman became became one of three judges in Mexico City which led to one of the lowest points of Spanish administration in Mexico .This period between the rule of Cortes and the viceroys was a time of corruption, graft and injustice as Guzman and the other oidores sought to enrich themselves and gain power .

Zumarraga Meanwhile, the first bishop of Mexico Juan de Zumarraga arrived in 1527 .Angered by the injustice and mistreatment of the Indians and corruption, he preached sermons condemning the judges at risk to his life. Guzman, fearing his days were numbered by the reports of Zumarraga to the Crown , set off to conquer Michoacan to get back in the good graces of the Crown .Guzman treated the Indians savagely, but explored as far as southern Sonora and conquered a large area .In 1538 he went to Spain to answer the charges against him and spent the rest of his life there under house arrest .After the fiasco of Guzman, more care was taken to chose his replacement .Sebastian Ramirez de Fuenleal who was appointed judge and turned out to be a man of high quality and corrected many abuses .

Mendoza Don Antonio de Mendoza, count of Tendilla, accepted the appointment as viceroy after three others had declined and arrived in Mexico in 1535. He was related to the royal family . He had special orders to increase the crowns revenues and see that the Indians were better treated before they were decimated as they were in the Caribbean .He worked hard to provide stability and order . The viceroys or vice-kings, created an elegant court which became the center of European society in New Spain . There were long periods of delay in communication with Spain, and the viceroys and when orders seemed contrary to what was needed, the viceroy sometimes noted ' Obedezo pero no complo ' ( I obey but do not execute ). In order to check on the state of affairs in the colonies, the Crown sometimes sent a royal inspector or visitador .The inspector washttp://mexicanhistory.org/colonial.htm[5/20/2010 2:41:16 AM]


given great authority and usually assumed rule of the colony during his inspection . Sometimes the inspector would travel inconito, sometimes there would be advanced warning .

There were 62 viceroys in New Spain, eventually men born in New Spain would hold this office . Corregidores Provincial administrators were called Corregidores and reported to the viceroy . In the early years these positions went to conquistadors or their sons. The salary for these positions was low and it was expected supplement their income by some sort of abuse of power .Provincial towns were organized by royal decree, all were to have a main plaza, church , royal palace and town hall with streets laid out in a grid pattern .Large cities such as Oaxaca, Puebla and Guadalajara were large enough to have cathedrals and grand palaces . The presidios (military towns), pueblos (civilian towns) and the misiones (missions) were the three major agencies employed by the Spanish crown to extend its borders and consolidate its colonial territories in these territories Exploration By 1524, almost all of the Aztec empire, along with such regions as Colina, the valley of Oaxaca and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec had been brought under control of the colony .Ports were set up such as Acapulco to search for a passage to the East . In the 1540s most the Yucatan was conquered and the city of Merida was founded in 1542 . The city states of the Mayans proved difficult to conquer unlike the centralized Aztecs .A revolt broke out in 1547 which took 20 years and an estimated 500 Spanish lives to quell . The last Mayan state did not fall till 1697 . A large silver find in Zacatecas in the mid 1540s led to increased Spanish attempts to subdue the north .In the north the borders were slowly extended by missionaries and a few settlers and included most of modern day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California. Utah and Colorado .

Francisco Vazquez de Coronado Mendoza appointed Francisco Vazquez de Coronado to search for Cibola and the seven cities of Gold rumored to exist in the north in 1540 . Coronado set off with 336 Spaniards and hundred of Indian allies . The Indians, wishing to get rid of the gold fevered Spanish quickly, always told the Spanish the gold cities were further on .Eventually, Coronado went as far north as Kansas before returning to Mexico empty handed . The Mixton War of 1540 -41



Tenamaxtli The expedition had one unintended consequence . A large number of Spaniards who had settled in New Galicia ( northern Mexico ) went on Coronado's expedition, leaving the area undermanned . The Indians, vengeful of their treatment by Guzman took advantage of the opportunity to rebel in the ensuing Mixton War ( 1540-41), led by Tenamaxtli , the most serious revolt of the times .Alavardo himself was killed trying to subdue the Indians and the rebellion ended only after the viceroy led a large army into the area .Mendoza left a flourishing colony when he retired in 1550 with a legacy of strong royal rule .His successor, Luis de Velasco (1550-64) became known as the father of the Indians . The novel Aztec Autumn by Gary Jennings is an account of this war .Nine years after the Mixton Rebellion, it's continuation, the Chichimeca War began and went on for half a century, with the Spanish eventually buying off the Chichimecs .

The Church in Colonial Mexico

The baptism of Indians began with the march of Cortes . The hand of God was seen in the discovery of Mexico, a gift from God for freeing Spain from the Moslems, who were still viewed as a menace. The person ultimately responsible for all the souls in the New World was Charles V, King of Mexico and the Holy Roman Emperor. Charles V took this charge seriously, and was concerned for the physical and spiritual welfare of the Indians .

Aztec Autumn by Gary Jennings

Cortes recommended that the Crown send the Franciscans, Dominicans and the Augustinians - the mendicant orders and not the secular clergy. The mendicant monks were respected for their vows of poverty , monastic life and humble character . The Franciscan monks were the first to arrive in 1524. They greatly impressed the Indians by walking from Vera Cruz to Mexico City barefoot in their simple friar clothing .They were not seeking a Cibola and riches in gold. Many were influenced by the Renaissance ideas of the time , that they could create an ideal society such as Thomas More's Utopia and St. Augustin's City of God , which would perhaps lead to the second coming of Christ .Some of these communities became self sustaining and even prosperous with their own craft making .



Cuilapan The friars spread out into the country, often being the first Europeans to explore an area . They built fortess missions across New Spain .Nine million were baptized by 1537. For some friars it was not unusual to baptize 4,000 Indians a day . The friars need churches for all these new Christians and a uniquely Mexican architectural form was created to accommodate these large numbers of new converts . This was the open chapel or capilla abierta, which were covered over in time to create religious complexes such as the one at Cuilapan. By 1540, 50 such churches had been built .

Virgin of Guadalupe

Why was Mexico so quickly converted ? There were some similarities that made conversion easier such as the cross which was a symbol for the god of rain in Mesoamerica and the crucifixion of Christ as a symbol for sacrifice needed for rebirth . The Catholic reverence for saints, with their holidays and elaborate religious processions were similar to Mesoamerican practices . The country's patron saint is the Virgin of Guadalupe, who made her appearance to Juan Diego on the site of an Aztec shrine of the Aztec goddess Tonantzin in 1531 on a hill outside of Mexico City . She was officially declared the patron saint of Mexico after she stopped an outbreak of plague in the city in 1737 .Her shrine there attracts thousands of pilgrims daily . Many anthropologists say she represents a synthesis of Catholic and pre Columbian beliefs .



Florentine Codex The priest became great linguists and learned the Indian languages. The also taught Spanish to the Indians and opened universities for Indian nobles , such as.Franciscan college of Santa cruz de Tlatelolco. Some Indians learned Latin so well that they taught it to the Spanish settlers .In the mid 16 century, the friars worked with the Indians to write about their native history and customs in their own language . One of the most famous was by Bernardino de Sahagun, who compiled an encyclopedia of Aztec life, the Florentine Codex. In the process, Indians started to write Nahuatl in the Roman alphabet rather than in pictographs. These became one of the greatest sources of information about Mesoamerican civilization .

The friars helped get laws passed such as the papal bull of 1537 and the New Laws, which declared the Indians were humans and capable of salvation and outlawing Indian slavery . The Spanish Inquisition

Luis and Dona Marianna de Carvajal being burnt at the stake, Mexico, 1601. They were accused of being leaders of the crypto-Jews

The onset of the Spanish Inquisition in Mexico in 1571 marked the end of the idealistic religious period of Renaissance influenced humanism of the mid 16th century . Idealistic priests and friars were replaced with materialistic clergy and the efforts by Zumarraga were overturned .The new clergy were dependent on settlers tithes and not the church . Charles V was dead, and the new Spanish king, Phillip II ( r 1556 - 1598 ) was more interested in exploiting New Spain's economic wealth than saving souls .The universities for Indian nobles were disbanded . The Inquisition was used in Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella to insure religious unity after expelling the Moslems . Jews were forced to convert or leave and Protestants were forbidden in the Spanish realm . Emigrants were screened before being allowed to go to New Spain . Jews who had converted were suspected of being 'crypto-Jews' and were investigated in New Spain .Pirates from Protestant countries were often burned at the stake for heresy . Priests and civil servants were investigated on moral grounds .Indians



were not tried for heresy as they were considered childlike, after a famous case in which an Indian faced the Inquisition for practicing old beliefs after converting . The Inquisition also exercised control over printed works that entered the colony , especially those of the Enlightenment writers. These works did find there way into the private libraries, however .The crime of heresy, which was punishable by burning at the stake ( auto-de-f ) , with the prisoners often strangled first . Auto de fes drew large crowds , the first in the colony was in 1574 .Crimes like adultery, sorcery and blasphemy were punishable by floggings or fines.Only about 50 people were recorded to have been burn at the stake during the 250 years the Inquisition was used in New Spain . It was used with greater frequency in the 18th century to prosecute those involved in political dissent . The Inquisition was not abolished until 1820 . Religious Disputes

Jesuits expelled For the beginning of the colonial period there were religious disputes .The encomenderos resented what they saw as interference in Indian matters .The various orders sometimes fought over control of various territories .There were also quarrels with civil authorities .The most famous of which was an episode between the Jesuits and the bishop of Puebla, Juan de Palafox, who also held civil post and served the viceroy over the wealth of the Jesuits in which the secular church was gained more power . The Bourbon kings, wary of the papal links and coveting the wealth of the Jesuit's had them expelled in 1767 .In 1804 the crown decreed the Act of Consolidation in which the church's funds for charitable works were taken by the state . This was a huge blow to the criollos and the poor of Mexico, criollos depended on church funds as a source of credit and charity in times of famine and disaster .Many criollos were financially ruined by the act and embittered them toward the Crown .In New Spain, this decree led to riots and other disturbances. These were suppressed by summary trials and sentences of perpetual imprisonment, principally in San Luis Potos , Guanajuato and parts of Michoac n.

Cultural Life in New Spain

Sor Juana de la Cruz



Painting advanced in Mexico with the coming of the Flemish master Simon Pereyns in 1566, who taught many local artist .Miguel Cabrera ( 1695 - 1768 ) became one of the most famous baroque painters in Mexico under the support of the church .One of the most famous literary stars of the colonial period was a woman, Sor (Sister ) Juana de la Cruz ( 1651 - 1695 ). She wrote poetry, some of it in the Nahuatl language, wrote plays and essays and was an exponent of women's rights .Another outstanding literary figure was Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora ( 1645 - 1700 ) .

Movie about Juana de la Cruz Yo, la Peor de Todas 'I worst of all' in Spanish with English subtitles

Jose Joaquin Fernandez de Lizardi wrote what is considered to be the first novel written in New spain in 1816 El Periquillo Sarmiento ( The Itching Parrot ) The printing press arrived in Mexico in 1537 . Permission was need to publish from the viceroy and the bishop . There was no public library and no newspapers until 1805 . The Social Classes

a Mestizo baby, by Miguel Cabrera

What was essential a social caste system and enforced by law . At the top was the white ruling class which made up 1 million out of the population by the end of the colonial period . The top of this group were the Spanish from Spain ( peninsulares), most of these returned to Spain . Below them were the Spanish born in Mexico the creoles ( criollos ). Creoles could not hold royal office .Only whites were allowed to wear fine silk clothes, be called gentlemen ( caballeros ) and ladies ( damas ). Below them were the people of color with many different terms for the various combinations of Europeans, Indians and African slaves . Mestizo, persons with one peninsular parent and one indio parent. Castizo, persons with one mestizo parent and one criollo parent. Cholos, persons with one indio parent and one mestizo parent. .



Mulatos, persons of mixed peninsular and negro descent. They were sometimes made into slaves. Zambos, persons who were mixed indio and negro. Euromestizos, Spanish Indian mixture with Spanish characteristics predominating Indomestizos, Spanish Indian mixture with Spanish characteristics predominating

The largest class were the Indians, which were the wards of the church and the Crown . Over the years, the number of African slaves diminished over the years from 20,000 in the 16th century to 6,000 by 1800.

The Economy of New Spain

New Spain was exploited for the benefit of Spain with little reinvestment . Many of the colonists who came to New Spain wanted to make their wealth and return to Spain. The silver bullion was sent to Spain in galleons was enough to pay for administrating all of the American colonies with a surplus .The China trade was established in 1564 silks, ceramics, tea and spices arrived from the Philippines at Acapulco and were transported across Mexico to Vera Cruz and sent to Spain with silver . Commerce was controlled by royal decree. All trade with New Spain had to be approved by Spain and carried on Spanish ships and through the one official port of Vera Cruz to collect duties . After about 1560, ships traveled in annual convoys for protection. from piracy . The attacks of the northern European powers on New Spain became an increasing problem . In 1561 French pirates sacked the town of Campeche In 1683 the French pirate Lorenzillo attacked Vera Cruz and took much loot and ..This curtailed trade since for a long time the galleons sailed in a protected convoy once a year .Industries that could compete with those of Spain were prohibited and was trade with other countries, so New Spain produced few manufactured goods for export .One example of this is the olive and wine industry, introduced by friars but eventually banned by Spain as competing with Spanish growers .

gremios Products for local consumption were permitted to be produced. The were gremios or guilds for each of the crafts such as blacksmiths, tailors, etc , which fixed the price of goods and their quality .To become a master one had to pass an examination and have ones works pass inspection by the guild . Money makers such as tobacco, silk and cochineal ( insects which live on prickly pear cactus and produced red dye ) were royal monopolies .There were royal taxes of all kinds on land, licenses, etc. The most hated was the alcabala, which was due on almost everything sold, which went from 2 % to as high as 14%. The was also a tax on imports and exports called an almojarifazgo .With the ' free hand ' of economics stifled, industry could not grow and advance, which was to have terrible consequences for Spain's



colonies and Spain itself . The restrictions, combined with bad roads, bandits and attacks of Chichimecs kept a healthy, diversified economy from growing . These economic restrictions and expensive European Wars caused Spanish power to seriously weaken by the 17th century .

Vaqueros

The Spanish influence on American culture goes far beyond what many might think. The vaqueros or Spanish cowboys as the gringos may call them By the end of the 16th century the encomiendas were not producing enough due to the Indian labor shortage and lack of Indians to make tribute . Spain turned to the Old World model of haciendas, where small plots were consolidated into large estates where wheat was grown and European cattle bred such as longhorn cattle. Raising cattle had more prestige than growing crops. Vaqueros (cowboys ) on haciendas with their silver spurs and wide-brimmed sombreros to protect themselves from the sun grew up to supply the mining towns in the north and export hides to Spain . Some of the haciendas were vast, one family ranch covered over 11 million acres .

silver bar from shipwreck, The output of the American mines was usually shipped to Spain in the form of ingots

Mining however, was of prime importance to Spain . By the 18th century, Spain produced as much silver as the rest of the world combined .In the early colonial period, Indian laborers were forced to work 12 hours a day and death rates were high . Such



conditions led to rebellions and became hard to obtain laborer . However, rising prices for silver enabled mine owners to pay more for labor which solved the labor problem .

repartimiento In 1549 the labor obligation was abolished and tribute forbidden for Indians .It was reasoned enough Indians would become laborers if they were offered fair pay, but few wished to. So, a system of forced labor was enacted called a repartimiento or cuatequil . Under this system each adult male Indian had to contribute 45 days of labor a year, usually a week at a time .There were many abuses to this system, which was abolished in the early 17th century, except for mine labor .Employers also lured Indians to become forced laborers under a system of debt peonage, in which Indians were paid in advance at rates they could not repay .The debts were passed down from father to son . Colonial Architecture

Casa de Montejo, 1549, plateresque style Spaniards tried to recreate the styles of Spain in Mexico, but was modified by the new land. Churches gained a fortresslike appearance because of Indian attacks, thick walls were needed because of earthquakes. The building material in New Spain was more colorful, the red tezontle pumice and polychrome tiles from Puebla became widely used .



Capilla Real In the early years building were built along gothic, mudejar ( Mooorish ) and romanesque lines . The Moorish style can be seen in the interior and domes of the Capilla Real in Cholulu .In the mid 16th century, the influence of the Spanish Renaissance began to be felt and a style known as plateresque ( silversmith ) with intricate plasterwork bagan to be seen .

The church of Santa Prisca in Taxco, built in the late 18th century, considered one of the best examples of the Mexican baroque style .

The two largest cathedrals were built in Mexico City ( 1563 ) and Puebla ( 1575).



The Churrigueresque style Cathedral in the silver town of Zacatecas

In the 17th century a more distinctively Mexican style emerged, the ultra baroque Churrigueresque style ( named after Jose Churriguera, a spanish architect ). It reflectes some of the exhuberence of the newly rich crillos of the times, especially the super rich silver barons who built such churches as the Zacatecas Cathedral and the Santiago thatelolco in Mexico City.the sculptures of many of the incredibly intricate facades, alters and other admornments so distinctive of Mexican architecture were unknown Indians and mestizos



As a reaction to the excess, a more severe, neoclassical style became dominant from about 1780 to 1830. An example is the Palacio de Mineria in Mexico City . Mexico City The Spanish presence in Mexico was concentrated in Mexico City . Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth rock, Mexico City was a piece of europe in the New world with cathedrals, plazasa, hospitals and universities . Some of the famous sights from the colonial period in Mexico City are :

The National Palace ( Palacio Nacional ) Cortes destroyed the Palace of Moctezuma in 1521 and built a palace fortress.In 1562 the Crown bought the fortress. Iw was destroyed in the 1692 uprising and rebuilt and became the viceroy residence until Mexican Independence .

Metropolitan Cathedral ( Catedral Metropolitana ) Begun in 1573 and worked on for hundreds of years .built on top of an Aztec temple and has been sinking since its construction .There are altarpieces here by the colonial painter Juan Correa . University of the Cloister of Sor Juana, the former convent of the great poet Sor Juana, built in 1585 .



Castillo de Chapultepec, built in 1785 as a viceroyal residence and site of the boy heros of the Mexican war .

Basilica Guadalupe, Shrine built around 1700 where the Vigin of Guadalupe was first sighted in 1531 . Colonial ceramics

Talavera ceramics Glazed pottery was brought to Mexico from Talavera de la Reina, Spain in the 16th century .Many people consider Puebla, Mexico the home of Mexican Talavera because of the first regulations and standards for determining uniformity and excellence of the traditional Mexican Talavera.Talavera is characterized by bright colors and floral designs .Because of the extensive imports from China to Mexico on the galleons , Chinese ceramic was soon imitated, particularly their designs.



Guadalajara also bacame a pottery and ceramic center with the high quality of the local clay . Tequila , Pulque and Wine

pulque production Tequila orginated in the town of the same name about 65 km northwest of Guadalajara. Tequila was first produced in the 16th century. The Aztec people had previously made a fermented beverage from the agave plant, which they called octli (later, and more popularly called pulque. Pulque has about the same alcohol content as beer . The crown had a monopoly on pulque, which was a major source of revenue .The Spanish discovered that by roasting the hearts of the agave plant and fermenting the liquid they could produce tequila . Wine was introduced early to New Spain , but wine production was controlled in New Mexico as to not compete with Spainish wineries . Recently there has been a revival of wine making in Mexico in northern Baja and near Zacatecas . Bourbon Reforms Bourbon Reforms

Philippe de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou, who became King Philip V of Spain Charles II ( 1661 - 1700 ), feeble in mind and body, the centuries of inbreeding within the Habsburg dynasty was the last of the Spanish Hapsburg kings. When Charles II died in 1700, the line of the Spanish Habsburgs died with him. He had named a greatnephew, Philippe de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou (a grandson of the reigning French king



Louis XIV ) as his successor.The spectre of the multi-continental empire of Spain passing under the effective control of Louis XIV provoked a massive coalition of powers to oppose the Duc d'Anjou's succession. Almost immediately the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) began. After eleven years of bloody, global warfare, fought on four continents and three oceans, the Duc d'Anjou, as Philip V, was confirmed as King of Spain on substantially the same terms that the powers of Europe had agreed to before the war. Philip inherited a ruined Spain beacause of the war with its economy in shambles and the treasury empty .Philip looked to the colonies to improve the economy of Spain . .The Bourbons streamlined the vice regal administration, replacing 200 low paid, unskilled corregidores and local mayors with 12 regional intendents . The intendents were well paid and experienced administrators and were better able to collect taxes and tribute for the Crown ..The number of Manila galleon fleets increased to two annually . In 1740, the fleet system was suspended as the threat of piracy decreased and abolished by 1789 .Taxes were lowered to encourage silver mining .

Mexican coins

Charles III These modernizations had the greatest impact under Charles III ( 1759 - 88 ). Charles was a devotee of the enlightenment philosophies then in fashion in Europe and introduced reforms in Spain and the colonies . Under his rule Spain once again became a world power .

Jose de Galvez In 1765 he dispatched to New Spain Jose de Galvez as visitor general .Galvez took a 5 year tour of the colony and proposed sweeping economic and political reforms. He had two main concerns, improve the economy of New Spain and improve its defenses against foreign powers .The Crown developed a professional army in New Spain during the war to deal with the encroachments of the Russians in the northwest and English and developed colony in San Francisco and missions in Texas . It broke up old monopolies to permit more ports such as Campeche and Progreso to compete with Vera Cruz and Acapulco . It lowered taxes and promoted silver mining .Silver production rose from 2.2 million pesos in 1700 to 27 million by 1804. Cochineal production also increased, becoming the second biggest export .



Antonio de Bucareli The Crown also appointed able viceroys during this period . The rule of Antonio de Bucareli ( 1771 - 79 ) was marked by peace and exceptional prosprity .Another viceroy, Revillagigedo , another able ruler( 1789 - 94 ) created the first public transportation system . The reforms made New Mexico the most prosperous of all Spain's colonies and made Spain wealthy . By 1810, New Spain produced 75 percent of all the profit from Spain's colonies .Yet little was reinvested in New Spain . the reforms benefited the peninsulares at the expense of the creoles .The new intendents were all from Spain replacing the creoles who usually held the old corregidore positions before . The country was extremely over regulated and taxed . For example, a ranchero needed a permit to to slaughter a cow for his own consumption . The race class system remained entrenched depite the egalitarianism of the Enlightenment and the countries wealth remain concentrated in the white population . Despite the restrictions on administrative positions, many creoles prospered during this period in business . The creole Count Regla. was the wealthest man in Spain from his silver mines . There were many other creoles who made fortunes in silver mining such as Count Bassoco and Count Valenciana . these Creoles were awarding titles by their donations to the Crown .Creole ranchers and merchants also made fortunes, the Sanchez Navarro family ranch was the size of Portugal . Resentment toward the privileges toward the peninsulares and their Old World condescension grew and the creoles thought of themselves more and more as americanos . The Bourbon reforms brought no social reforms, but the ideas of the Enlightenment and revolutionary France and America could not be stopped from entering New Spain .King Charles III died a year before the French Revolution and was succeeded by a son lacking in wisdom . Mexican Colonial Coins The first coins were minted in New Spain in 1536 .The pillar in the early coins represents the pillars of Hercules, many coins have ' Plus Ultra ' Latin for 'further beyond', the national motto for Spain .By the 18th century New Spain produced as much silver as the rest of the world . The word doubloon (from Spanish dobl n, meaning double), meaning a double-sided token coin, often refers to a seven-gram (0.225 troy ounce) gold coin minted in Spain, Mexico, Peru, or Nueva Granada.

The Spanish dollar (also known as the piece of eight, the real de a ocho, or the eight real coin) is a silver coin, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497.It was legal tender in the United States until an Act of the United States Congress discontinued the practice in 1857. Through widespread use in Europe, the Americas and the Far East, it became the first world currency by the late 18th century. Many existing currencies, such as the Canadian dollar, United States dollar and the Chinese yuan, as well as currencies in Latin America and the Philippine peso were initially based on the Spanish dollar and other 8 reales coins.



The Pillar type coins were produced in Mexico from 1536 to 1572

The shield type were produced from 1572 to 1734

The Waves and pillar type were produced from 1651 to 1773

The Milled pillar type was produced from 1731 to 1772



The milled pillar bust types were produced from 1771 to 1821, you can see the Bourbon fleur-de-lisMortgage Alliance Program Residential Loans & Cash Out Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Rep.www.mortgageallianceprogram.com

Maryland Chesapeake Bay Eastern Shore settlers in 1600's Pirates, Scoundrels, Heroes, Celtswww.lindenhill.net

Things to do near DC Close to DC, Fairfax County has great attractions, shopping & more!www.fxva.com

HomeCortes: Retreat(NocheTriste) June 1520 Defeats Aztecs August 1521 Modern View of Cortes War for Independence 1810 -1821


http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_mexico/new_spain_viceroyalty.jpg[5/20/2010 2:42:49 AM]

The war for Independence 1810- 1821 MexicanHistory.org

WebGoogle Search

MexicanHistory.org

The war for Independence 1810- 1821Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Jose Marcia Morelos y Pavon Congress of Chilpancingo Spain Plan de Iguala Independence Army revolt in

www.MilitaryHistory.Norwich.Edu

Ads by Google

The Mexican Wars for Independence This perceptive history paints Mexico's 18101821 struggle for independence

Unlike in America, where there was a broad groundswell at indignation at English abuses and taxation without representation, only a few conspired for independence in New Spain . There were some military officers kept out of the highest ranks by virtue of being born in New Spain rather than the motherland. Merchants and civil servants exposed to ideas of the Enlightenment and the American and French revolutions. The most radical were the parish priests who saw the suffering of their Indian parishioners firsthand. Most Creoles wished to change the system so that they could have equality with the peninsulares, but not equality for all. The lower classes, the Indians and mixed castes had nothing much to lose, their lot was so hard . They did rebel, but these rebellions were not organized enough to spread far .

http://mexicanhistory.org/Independence.htm[5/20/2010 2:46:23 AM]


Charles IV Despite a lack of fervor for radical change as in France and America, events in Europe caused it to be a necessity . Unlike the wise Charles III, his son Charles IV ( 1788 1808 ) exploited the wealth of the colonies. The most ruinous decision was to take the charitable funds of the church to help pay for European wars . These church funds were sources of credit for Creoles. The church had to call in their mortgages, destroying many Creoles financially .Uprisings against Charles IV in Spain forced him abdicate in favor of his son in 1808 .

5 9 62 482200451

It all begtan with a "shout", with Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla calling on the people of New Spain to fight for their independence

There was more turmoil in Spain when Napoleon forced the Spanish Bourbons into exile and place his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne in 1808 .Because Spain was virtually cut off from its colonies during the Peninsular War of 1808 1814, Latin America was, in these years, ruled by independent juntas. Without a true Spanish monarchy, many creoles thought they should rule themselves. The peninsulares thought otherwise .The Inquisition was used to spy against and try those who agitated for reform .By 1810 many secret societies were formed by creoles to fight for independence .

Bullfighting from... Art Print Buy for $19.99

Search For Posters!Go



Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla One of the first to call for independence was priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in Guanajuato .He became a bishop in 1778 and was investigated by the Inquisition in 1800 for questioning the celibacy of priests ( he had a mistress ), reading proscribed books, doubting the veracity of the virgin birth and the infallibility of the pope and considered the king a tyrant .However, none of these charges could be proved and he was released .However, he lost his position as a rector at the collage of San Nicolas in Morelia .

Ignacio Allende He became the priest in the city of Dolores in 1803 .A few years later he met the revolutionary Ignacio Allende, a captain of the cavalry .Allende introduced him to his revolutionary coterie and planned an uprising for December 8, 1810. However, the plot was discovered and they decided to strike for independence at once .Hidalgo rang the church bells and summoned his parishioners and delivered his famous grito ( cry ) de Dolores on September 16, 1810. Until he delivered his speech he was a minor figure in the revolutionary movement . In response to his call ' Viva Guadalupe ! ( after the Virgin of Guadalupe, who became an independence symbol, her humble clothes contrasting with the richly decorate virgin of the secular church ) The crowd shouted Death to the peninsulares ! The initial response was enthusiastic . With Hidalgo at their head, they marched for San Miguel, gathering more recruits along the way. They took San Migual without trouble and the local militia joined the rebels .They started to pillage and Hidalgo could not control them. Next they took Celya and then marched on Guanajuato. There the peninsulares gathered in a makeshift fortress and decided to wait for aid from Mexico City .



Alhondiga de Granaditas It never came and over 500 peninsulares were killed holding out in the Alhondiga de Granaditas (public granary) and 2,000 rebels were killed . Hidalgo and Allende felt strong enough at this time to split their forces . Within a month they had taken the important silver mining town of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi and Valladolid .By late October the army had about 80,000 marching on Mexico City .

Site of the battle of Monte de las Cruces

The professional army was defeated by sheer numbers at Monte de las Cruces . The army retreated into Mexico City .An immediate attack on Mexico City might have taken the city and brought independence then . However, Hidalgo had taken heavy losses and was short of ammunition . He was also hesitant to let the mod lose on Mexico City .Over Allendes objection he decided to retreat into toward Guadalajara and the Spanish forces under General Felix Calleja began to regroup .The rebels took Guadalajara .

Battle of Puente de Calderon The Spanish army engaged them at Puente de Calderon. In the middle of the battle, a Spanish cannon shot hit a rebel ammunition wagon and the resulting explosion caused a panic in the rebel army and thousands of rebels broke rank and ran, turning into a rout .Hidalgo and Allende took what was left of their forces and retreated northward. They were betrayed and captured in the Texas territory and executed for treason by firing squad on July 31, 1811. Their decapitated heads hung of the walls where the Spaniards were slaughtered at Alhondiga de Granaditas for 10 years as a warning .



Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon The popularity of the Independence movement waned after this . The movement was continued under the mestizo priest Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, who had been recruited by Hildago .Morelos organized his soldiers into small bands that carried out guerrilla warfare .By 1813 they won enough territory to encircle the capital . Congress of Chilpancingo

Morelos then held a congress in Chilpancingo to discuss the plans for the nation once the Spanish were driven out .They issued a Declaration of Independence, those opposed to it were guilty of treason .In their constitution that declared that suffrage should be universal and that slavery and the caste system should be abolished. Government monopolies should also be done away with and replaced with a 5% income tax .Catholicism would remain the official religion of the state .

viceroy Apodaca Meanwhile, the Spanish army gathered strength and broke the encirclement, retaking many towns .Gradually, the rebel army dwindled and in 1815 Morelos was captured and executed .With his execution the Independence movement reached its lowest point .For the next 5 years the movement was little more than guerrilla fighting by a number of independent bands without coordination .After awhile only two major bands remained, one led by Guadalupe Victoria with about 2.000 troops around Puebla and Vicente Guerrero with about 1,000 around Oaxaca .By 1819, the Spanish viceroy, Juan Ruiz de Apodaca was able to report to king Ferdinand that the situation was under control .He offered a pardon for all who would lay down their arms.



King Ferdinand VII Army revolt in Spain Meanwhile, King Ferdinand had been gathering a powerful fighting force to quell the more serious Independence movements in South America . At C diz, Spain, in January 1820, troops who had assembled for an expedition to America were angry over infrequent pay, bad food, and poor quarters and mutinied under the leadership of Colonel Rafael del Riego y Nu ez .Colonel Rafael Riego declared himself in revolt and thousands of troops followed . The Spanish troops demanded that the king should abide by the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812 which affirmed the sovereignty of the people, free speech and curbed the power of the church . If this was not done there would be a military coup .The king, a virtual prioner of the army at this point, yielded to their demands . Ironically, the Creoles found this change too liberal, and began to support Independence and secretly meet with the former colonel Agustin de Iturbide to be their leader to insur a more conservative government . Iturbide had fought against the rebels for nearly a decade . He resigned from the royal army after being accused of corruption. The Creoles convinced the viceroy to reinstate him in the army .

Colonel Iturbide Plan de Iguala In 1820 viceroy Apodaca placed colonel Iturbide in charge of 2,500 men to fight Guerrero . Iturbide marched his force toward those of Guerrero and instead of fighting him asked for a meeting and peace if he could dictate the terms . Guerrero agreed and on Feb 24 they issued the Plan de Iguala, the major points of which were that: independent Mexico would be a constitutional monarchy, led by King Ferdinand or another European prince , .The Catholic Church would remain the only official church in the country, Creoles and peninsularies would have equal rights. A new army would be created, the Army of the Three Guarantees to enforce the plan . This was a much more conservative plan than that of Morelos. The revolution of



Hidalgo and Morelos never gathered support from the conservative upper classes of New Spain, this plan could and military units and common people began to defect to the Army of the Three Guarantees. Priests spoke in support of it from the pulpit . Even many Spanish in Mexico supported the plan since they saw a future for themselves in Mexico, unlike the earlier more radical plans that demanded death or exile of the peninsulares .After many cities fell to the Army of the Three Guarantees, viceroy Apodaca resigned .

Indepence Celebration in Mexico City Independence The Crown was not ready to give up New Spain and appointed a new viceroy, Juan de O'Donoju, the last viceroy of New Spain .O'Donoju became convinced that Spain could not hold on to Mexico, and accepted the Plan de Iguala and signed a treaty at Cordoba . One more proviso was added by Iturbide ; if no European leader was available to become the emperor of Mexico, a Mexican congress would chose an emperor, this was to become an important point . On September 27, 1821 , Iturbide marched into the capital with Vicente Guerrero and Guadalupe Victoria and the army. After so many years of fighting and over 300 years of Spanish rule, Mexico was independent at last . HomeColonial Mexico 1519 1713 First Mexican Empire 1821


The First Mexican Empire 1821 MexicanHistory.org

WebGoogle Search

MexicanHistory.org

The First Mexican Empire and Agustn de Iturbide - Primer Imperio Mexicano July 21, 1821 - March 19, 1823Hottest Mexican Women Browse 100s Photo & Video profiles. Find Your Sweetheart in Mexico!AmoLatina.com

Immigration Records Mexico Obesity Doctor Search the World's largest library of U.S. trained specialist treats you in immigration records online. Mexico for fractions of the costwww.ancestry.com www.ObesityControlCenter.com

Agustn de Iturbide As provided by the Plan de Iguala, General Agustn de Iturbide, a Mexican-born criollo ( Creole ) who originally fought for the pro-Spanish royalists but switched his allegiance to the insurgents in the final phases of the war, named a provisional Junta to rule the country, which in turned named him as its presiding officer .The Congress was still independent and some members of it wanted to form a republic and decreed that no member of the military could hold political office in order to forestall Iturbide 's attempt at becoming monarch . Iturbide knew he had to move quickly if he wanted to seize supreme power. After the declaration of independence on September 27, 1821, it was the intention of Congress to establish a commonwealth whereby the king of Spain, Ferdinand VII, would also be Emperor of Mexico, but in which both countries were to be governed by separate laws and with their own legislative offices. However, as Spain was eyeing to retake Mexico, it did not accept the offer .


http://mexicanhistory.org/firstempire.htm[5/20/2010 2:46:46 AM]


Coin of Emperor Agustin I On May 18, 1821 , Iturbide had his own troops, the regiment of Celaya. stage a demonstration on his behalf . They fired muskets and firing rockets in the air, the shouted ' Viva Agustin I, Emperor of Mexico !' and marched onto Iturbide's home with a mob which had followed them . There they demanded their general declare himself emperor at once . Iturbide feigned reluctance, then accepted .The following morning Iturbide appeared at Congress with many of his followers, which intimidated Congress into naming him the constitutional emperor of Mexico .In June Congress declared the position to be hereditary . The heir apparent was Senor Don August, Iturbide's eldest son and his other brothers and sisters were made princesses and princes . Court etiquette was issued, outraging republican factions who found it undignified to be forced to kiss the emperor's hand on bended knee .

On July 21, 1822 Iturbide was crowned emperor , as Agustin I .Iturbide was now emperor of a huge empire, from California in the north to Panama . The old Captaincy General of Guatemala was also in the empire, which included Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Mexican state of Chiapas . President Madison was initially eager to extend diplomatic recognition to Mexico, hoping to promote free republican governments . When Iturbide was declared emperor, Madison felt this ' empire ' couldn't last long , but recognized the Empire of Mexico in December 22, 1822 .



The economy of the Empire The empire was on very shaky foundations. The war for independence had caused much damage to Mexico, especially the important silver mines, dropping from $26,000,000 minted in 1809 to only $6,000,000 being minted in 1821 .Iturbide and his supporters thought replacing the peninsulares who ended up with most of the capital during the colonial days would rectify the ills of the economy . They underestimated the amount of debt incurred during the war of independence, around 75,000,000 pesos and how it would strangle the economy . The extravagant regime expenses far exceeded its revenue and could only get loans at high rates . The government forced loans from the church and confiscated money from citizens . More paper currency was printed with the consequent inflation .In order to get the Spanish to agree to leave Mexico, Iturbide agreed to let the Spaniards, who nearly all left, to take the value of their land holding in hard currency, which seriously depleted the currency reserves . As many as 20% of adult males were unemployed . Much of the revenue that was raised went to Iturbide's salary and his military cronies, almost nothing was invested in restarting the economy .


Vera cruz with the fortress of San Juan de Ula The economy began to stagnate and there were increasing criticism against the regime .Some members of Congress conspired against the emperor , but they were betrayed and arrested . Despite this there were more and more protests against an imperial form of government for Mexico by members of Congress .On October 31, Iturbide dissolved Congress in the face of heated criticism .

Santa Anna The self proclaimed leader of the antimonarchists was the commander of Vera Cruz Antonio Lopes de Santa Anna .Santa Anna was sent to Vera Cruz to drive out the last



remaining Spanish troops in Mexico in the harbor fortress of San Juan de Ulloa. The Spanish did not leave the fortress till 1825 .On Dec 1, 1822 Santa Anna proclaimed a republic in Vera Cruz .Soon, the old revolutionaries Vicenta Guerrero, Guadalupe Victoria and Nicolas Bravo had joined the movement . Iturbide appointed Jose Antonio Echaverri in charge of the imperial force to attack Santa Anna .Ironically, Echaverri proved as loyal to Iturbida as Iturbide had been to the Spanish viceroy .Echaverri joined Santa Annas' forces . On February 1, 1823, Santa Anna and the other members of his movement announced the Plan de Casa Mata.The key points of the plan were that Mexico would become a republic and Catholicism was to be the sole religion of Mexico. Iturbide would not be recognized as emperor . Realizing he no longer had support, Iturbide abdicated his throne in February 1823 and left first to Italy and then went to London . In 1824 he heard rumors that the restored Spanish king, Ferdinand VII was about to undertake a reconquest of Mexico .Iturbide offered his services to the Mexican republic to fight the Spanish, but the national congress, mindful of the lessons of Napoleon's return refused this offer and passed a law that he would be guilty of treason and executed if he returned . However, Iturbide, unfortunately, did not wait for a reply from Mexico and departed England on May11, 1824 with his family and retainers . He landed at Tampico and was recognized by the military commander there, Gen. Garza, who pretending friendship, but betrayed him .The Tamaulipas legislature met and decided it must enforce the order set by the national congress and he was executed by a firing squad . The sentence was carried outb at Padilla, July 19th, 1824, less than a week from the time of his landing on the coast, and before an appeal could be made to the general Government at Mexico . Before his execution he declared ' Mexicans ! Even in this act of my death I recommend to you to love our fatherland and observe our holy religion..I die for coming to assist you, and I die happy because I die with you ." The empress .Madame Huarte de Iturbide died in Philadelphia in 1861 . HomeWar for Independence 1810 -1821 Early Mexican Republic 1822-33


The Early Republic MexicanHistory.org

WebGoogle Search

MexicanHistory.org

The Early Republic 1823 - 1833 The Early Mexican Republic The new Constitution President Guadalupe Victoria 1824 -29 President Vicente Guerrero 1829 The Spanish Invasion of Mexico 1829 President Bustamante 1830 - 32

The new Constitution After the collapse of the empire, Mexico was ruled by three military men : Guadalupe Victoria, Nicolas Bravo and Pedro Negrete, all military men . Elections were held to chose congressmen for the new constitutional congress .After the election the new congress met on November 27, 1823 to draw up a constitution . Soon two factions emerged as to whether Mexico should be federalist or centralist. The federalist were more liberal and the centralists more conservative and they were to tranfer power from each other in a bloody manner in the early republic period in Mexico . The centralist found support among the hacendados , the military and the clergy . The federalist were supported by liberal Creoles ( crillos ) and metizos who drew inspiration from the French and American revolution and the liberal Spanish constitution of 1812 . The centralists argued that the conditions in America were too different from those of Mexico to be used. There was no history of the democratic process and exchange political ideas that happened in the north . One spokesman said Mexico had " ...buckled for 300 years under the weight of an absolute monarch...we are like children barely out of diapers.." However, the long history of imperial rule and the recent disastrous Mexican empire won the federalist faction when the Constitution of 1824 was draw up and the Estados Unidos Mexicanos was organized as a federal republic of 19 states and four territories . The Central American countries had declared their own independence in 1823 . There were three branches of government as in the United States to balance power : executive, legislative and judicial . The legislature was to be bicameral, with the upper house as the Senate and the lower house as the Chamber of Deputies . Each state was represented by 2 senators and one deputy for every 80,000 residents . The president and vice president were to be elected by the state legislatures for a 4 year term . The Catholic church regained its monopoly on the spiritual life of Mexicans . The president could become a dictator in times of emergencies. The clergy and military were granted the old Spanish exemption of fueros from civil trials.There was to be a free press and free speech . Indian tribute was abolished . During this period the factions attached themselves to Masonic lodges where they could meet in secret . The conservatives met at Scottish Rite lodges and Liberals meet at York Rite lodges . President Guadalupe Victoria 1824 -29

http://mexicanhistory.org/earlyrepublic.htm[5/20/2010 2:47:03 AM]


Guadalupe Victoria The first president ( 1824 - 29 )chosen was Guadalupe Victoria ( real name, Jos Miguel Ram n Adaucto Fern ndez y F lix )and Nicolas Bravo as vice president .Guadalupe Victoria ( 1786 - 1843 ) was a former rebel leader, some report him as honest and unassuming and willing to meet with the public, brave in battle, but no an inspiring or talented administrator .As Iturbide did, he spent more on the military than revenues could sustain , A local military strongman emerges during these times, the caudillo .Over 50,000 men were kept under arms. The government sought to support itself through import duties, taxes and monopolies . These were insufficient to pay the huge debt the republic inherited . These economic troubles and growing factional disputes led to an armed revolt against the president in 1827, led by vice president Bravo , who drew upon the conservatives of the Scottish Rite ( he was the Grand Master ) lodges for support .The York Rite masons , who controlled the army, gathered around the president and the revolt was suppressed by General Santa Anna . Bravo was exiled to Ecuador . In foreign relations the Victoria administration did well. Many foreign countries ( except Spain ) recognized Mexico including the Unites States and the Sabine river was accepted as the eastern boundary of the US - Mexican border . President Vicente Guerrero 1829

www.Groupon.com/LA Ads by Google

The new presidential elections were held in September of 1828. The liberal candidate was Vicente Guerrero, another rebel hero and the conservative candidate was Manuel Gomes Pedraza , who had served in Victoria's cabinet as secretary of war .The elections results showed Pedraza as the winner. The liberals charged that they had lost due to army intimidation of the legislators . The liberal decided to revolt and chose Santa Anna as their leader .After some fighting , the president elect declined the position and Guerrero became president and Santa Anna was given control of the army .



Guerrero was a much more active president than Victoria . He foreshadowed future populists moments by inviting the poor to his birthday party , abolishing slavery and other reforms to help the lower classes . Slaves were few in number by this time, but his act increased his support among mulattos. All remaining Spaniards were to be expelled from Mexico . Spanish imports were seen as a threat to the economy and the poor cotton farmers. The Spanish Invasion of Mexico 1829 Spain, which had never recognized Mexico's independence, choose this time to invade its most important former colony .King Ferdinand VII sent an expedition of 3,000 troops departed from Havana in July 1829 under the command of General Isidro Barradas . The expedition included many of the Spaniards exiled in 1827 who wanted to return to the country. The exiles had convinced Barradas that Mexico was eager to return to Spanish sovereignty.They landed near Tampico, which had been abandoned . Guerrero placed Santa Anna in charge of repulsing the invasion. After an initial attack which failed, Santa Anna settled in for a siege . As yellow fever and lack of supplies took its toll, and the Spaniards did not receive the support they expected from within Mexico , the Spanish general surrendered .The Spanish were allowed to go home and the invasion touched off reprisals against the few reaming Spaniards, mainly middle class merchants, who fled the country . With this victory and that off driving out the emperor, Santa Anna became extremely popular . Guerrero's administration did not long outlast the Spanish invasion .From August 1829 to December he ruled by emergency decree, the most important of which was calling up of the reserves, even after the repulse of the Spanish. Reserves in Jalapa, called for a reduction of the emergency powers and asked vice president Bustamante and Santa Anna to lead them. Bustamante agreed, who portrayed himself as a defender of the constitution .Guerrero set off with a force to attack them, but the capital was taken over by rebel supporters after he left and he retired to his farm in Tixtla . Guerrero was undone by the fear of a president with dictatorial powers after the emergency had passed and the fear of the upper classes of increased power of the lower classes leading to anarchy . The treasury by this time was also bankrupt. These factors led the Senate to declare Guerrero ' morally incapable' to rule and the minister of war ordered all officers to agree to the Plan of Jalapa of the conservative faction . Guerrero's old supports were removed from office in many places and on the state level. This plan backfired , as this was the kind of act federalism was supposed to prevent and caused resentment of the state officials to the coup .Some of the states, such as Michoacan raised troops to fight the coup and Guerrero returned to fight . However, Bustamante, with army support was able to defeat the forces of Guerrero.This marked a return to power of the conservatives. President Bustamante 1830 - 32

-



Bustamante cut back on the size of the army and renegotiated foreign loans, but he was no better able to revive the economy than Guerrero. He also undertook many repressive acts against the liberals such as curtailing the freedom of the press, using secret police and bullying the congress into compliance . Corruption was rampant .But the incident which caused the greatest public outcry was the execution of Guerrero .The public was roused against Bustamante and Santa Anna took advantage of the situation to become the ' savior ' of Mexico again .Bustamante, Santa Anna and G mez Pedraza, signed the conventions of Zavaleta (December 21-23), by which G mez Pedraza was to assume the presidency and hold new elections. Bustamante was to go into exile, which he did in 1833.Santa Anna gathered his forces and overthrew Bustamante and was elected president in the 1833 election . HomeFirst Mexican Empire 1821 Santa Anna 1833 - 47 Mayan Caste War Republic of Rio Grande


Santa Anna Texas Revolution MexicanHistory.org

WebGoogle Search

MexicanHistory.org

Santa Anna 1794 - 1876 1833 Election Reforms of Valentin Gomez Farias Santa Anna becomes Centralist Changes of Santa Anna Revolt of Texas Land Grants to Americans Outlaws Settlers discontent with Mexico Mexican Reaction Fighting Begins Gonzales Capture of Bexar Battle of the Alamo Goliad Houston retreats San Jacinto Treaty of Velasco Republic of Yucatn and the Mayan Caste War Republic of Rio Grande The Pastry War President Again Exile and DeathHottest Mexican Women Browse 100s Photo & Video profiles. Find Your Sweetheart in Mexico!AmoLatina.com

Revolutionary War Records Mexico Obesity Doctor Largest Online US Military Records U.S. trained specialist treats you in Collection. Discover Family Heroes. Mexico for fractions of the costwww.ancestry.com www.ObesityControlCenter.com

Santa Anna of Mexico Drawing on archives in Mexico, Spain, Britain, and Texas as well as published sources, Fowler supplies a much-needed corrective to existing impressions of Santa Anna with this balanced and well-written work Library Journal

1833 Election Santa Anna ( full name Antonio de Padua Mara Severino Lpez de Santa Anna y Prez de Lebrn ) won the election of 1833 as a liberal with the largest majority in history .The vice presidency went to Valentin Gomez Farias, a liberal politician of intellectual distinction .Santa Anna chased after the presidency for at least a decade, but once he had it he soon wearied of it left the day to day running of the country to his vice president while he retired to his estate of Manga de Clavo in Vera Cruz .He was President of Mexico on eleven non-consecutive ( 1833 multiple times ,1834, 1835 ,1839 ,1841 - 1842 ,1843 - 1844 and 1847 ) occasions over a period of 22 years.

Lone Star Nation A well-written history of the Texas Revolution and the events leading up to it .

http://mexicanhistory.org/santaanna.htm[5/20/2010 2:47:45 AM]


Valentin Gomez Farias Reforms of Valentin Gomez Farias Farias, began with two major reforms , that of the church and that of the army . To curb the undue influence of the army, he reduced its size and abolished military fueros . The Church was told it should limit its sermons to spiritual matters . Education was to be taken out of the hands of the church .The University of Mexico was closed down because its faculty was made up entirely of priests .The mandatory payments of tithes were made illegal . The total wealth of the church was estimated at 180 million pesos .Nuns and priests were permitted to foreswear their vows . Santa Anna becomes Centralist The Church , Army and other conservative groups banded together against these reforms .They appealed to Santa Anna who agreed to led the movement against his vice president and rescinded all of Farias reforms and dismissed him from office . He declared that Mexico was not ready for democracy and set about to build a caudilloist state ( It is usually translated into English as "leader" or "chief," or, more pejoratively, warlord, "dictator" or "strongman". "Caudillo" was the term used to refer to charismatic populist leaders among the people ) .In order to secure power, Santa Anna cast away his former liberal ways and became a conservative centralist . Changes of Santa Anna

The Alamo 2004 Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton

Gran Teatro de Santa Anna The old constitution of 1824 was done away with and a new one, the constitution of 1836 was enacted . The Siete Leyes (or Seven Laws) were enacted, in which only those with a certain level of income could vote or hold office .The congress was disbanded .The old federalists states were redrawn into larger military districts governed by political bosses loyal to Santa Anna. State militias were disbanded .The presidential term was extended from four years to eight .Santa Anna was moving to concentrate power . The presidency changed hands 36 times between 1833 and 1855 . The army grew larger at this time to a standing army of 90,000 and even though the country suffered under excessive taxation, the treasury was still bankrupt .Corruption was widespread. Santa Anna became a millionaire . His land holdings by 1845 totaled 483,000 acres .He threw gala balls and had opera houses and theaters built, such as the Gran Teatro de Santa Anna . His official title was ' his most serene highness ' and he also styled himself the " Napoleon of the West .' His busts and statues were to be found throughout Mexico . Several states went into open rebellion after these acts of Santa Anna: Coahuila y Tejas, San Luis Potos, Quertaro, Durango, Guanajuato, Michoacn, Yucatn, Jalisco, Nuevo Len, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas. Several of these states formed their own governments, the Republic of the Rio Grande, the Republic of Yucatan, and the Republic of Texas.The Zacatecan militia, the largest and best supplied of the Mexican states, led



by Francisco Garcia, was well armed with .753 caliber British 'Brown Bess' muskets and Baker .61 rifles. After two hours of combat, on 12 May 1835, the Santa Anna's "Army of Operations" defeated the Zacatecan militia and took almost 3,000 prisoners. Santa Anna allowed his army to ransack Zacatecas for forty-eight hours. After defeating Zacatecas, he planned to move on to Coahuila y Tejas Revolt of Texas October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836

\ Throughout the colonial period the vast territory of Texas ( 268,584 square miles ) was one of the northern colonial provinces of New Spain . The first Europeans in the area, the Franciscan missionaries and early Spanish settlers in the early to mid 1700s faced attacks by Apaches, Comanches and other Indian tribes .The territory was far from Mexico City a few settlers arrived .There were small towns in the interior, San Antonio, Nacogdoches, Goliad, and others, which dated from the time of the early Spanish colonization, or which had grown around the Missions established by the Franciscan friars for the conversion and civilization of the Indians .

Stephen Austin Land Grants to Americans



Mexican Land Grant At the beginning of the 1800s, there were only 7,000 settlers .Spain wished to colonize the territory, and in 1821 granted Moses Austin permission to settle as an empresarios with around 300 Catholic families in Texas. In 1820 he set out for Texas. He was at first coldly received by Governor Martinez of San Antonio, but by the aid of the Baron de Bastrop, a Prussian officer, who had served under Frederick the Great, and was then in the service of Mexico, he obtained a favorable hearing on his proposition to settle a colony of emigrants from the United States in Texas. Austin's petition was forwarded to the central government, and he returned home. On the route he was robbed and stripped by his fellow-travelers, and, after great exposure and privation, subsisting for twelve days on acorns and pecan nuts, he reached the cabin of a settler near the Sabine River. He reached home in safety, and commenced his preparations for removal to Texas; but his exposure and privations had weakened him, and he died from the effects of a cold in his fifty-seventh year, leaving his dying injunction to his son, Stephen, to carry out his project. Mexico became independent and Moses' son, Steven Austin was granted the same right and after advertising for settlers in New Orleans led 300 ( later called the ' old 300') families to settle a grant on the Brazos river .This was followed by a large influx of Americans entered Texas attracted by the cheap land ( ten cents an acre ) compared with $1.25 an acre in the US .Colonists were also given a 7 year exemption from taxes. Life in the new land was rough, While at work they kept guard against the Indians, who roved about stealing the stock, at times making a night attack upon a cabin, or murdering and scalping some solitary herdsman or traveler. The Mexicans did nothing to protect or govern the colony. The settlers created a code of laws for the administration of justice and the settlement of civil disputes. The land titles were duly recorded, and a local militia was organized. Austin was the supreme authority, the judge and commandant .In 1827, New Orleans was abuzz with talk of the leagues of land that Mexico was giving to those who would colonize in Texas. By 1827 there were 12,000 Americans living in Texas. By 1835 there were 30,000 Americans and only around 8,000 Mexicans . Outlaws Many criminals from Mexico and the United Staes fleed to eastern Texas to escape justice .Fraudulent debtors who had chalked on their shutters the cabalistic letters " G. T. T." Gone to Texas . The outlaws of the neutral ground organized themselves into bands, and fought over land titles and for political domination, and in 1826 commenced



a war against the Mexican authorities under the leadership of Hayden Edwards, an empresario, whose contract had been annulled on account of the conflicts which had arisen between the claims of his colonists and the original Mexican inhabitants and squatters. This emeute, called " The Fredonian War," was easily suppressed, Austin and his colonists taking part with the Mexican authorities. Settlers discontent with Mexico The Mexican government believed the Americans could be integrated into Mexican society, but the societies were too different and tensions increased .Most Americans remained Protestant, even though they could go through the motions of being Catholic if questioned by Mexican officials and few bothered to learn Spanish . One of the major grievances against Mexico by the Texans was that it was an appendage to the state of Coahuila . There were eventually given 3 representatives in the state legislature ( out of 12 ) buy were easily outvoted by Coahuilans on important matters . Appellate courts were located in faraway Saltillo .The Americans wanted Texas to be a separate state from Coahuila , but not independent from Mexico and to have its own capital. They believed a closer location for the capital would help to stem corruption and facilitate other matters of government. Steven Austin traveled to Mexico City with a petition asking for separate statehood from Coahuila. this was not approved and he wrote an angry letter to a friend, which seemed to suggest Texas should succeed from Mexico. The letter was intercepted and he spent 18 months in prison . The Americans were also becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Mexican government. Many of the Mexican soldiers garrisoned in Texas were convicted criminals who were given the choice of prison or serving in the army in Texas. Mexico did not protect Freedom of Religion, instead requiring colonists to pledge their acceptance of Roman Catholicism; Mexican Law required a "tithe" paid to the Catholic Church. The American settlers could not grow what crops they wished, but as other citizens of Mexico were required to do, grow which crops Mexican officials dictated , which were to be redistributed in Mexico. Growing cotton was lucrative at the time, but most settlers were not permitted to grow it and those that did were sometimes imprisoned . Mexican Reaction The Mexican government had reasons to be anxious about the growing American population in Texas .President Adams and President Jackson had offered to buy the territory .There were a number of filibustering expeditions from the United States into Texas to set up an independent, the most famous of which was that of John Long of Tennessee who invaded Texas with a private army and seized Nacogdoches and declared himself president of the Republic of Texas .Long's army was later defeated by the Mexicans, but it event drew more support in the US for acquiring Texas . The check immigration into Texas from America, which was mostly by Americans from the south with slaves, president Guerrero enacted the emancipation proclamation in 1829 . Most Americans converted their slaves into indentured servants for life to get around this . By 1836, there were approximately 5,000 slaves in Texas. In 1830, all future immigration from America was forbidden by president Anastasio Bustamente, although thousands continued to pour in through the porous borders . Bustamente also began preparations by making Texas a penal colony, by sending a thousand soldiers, mostly criminals and convicts, to stations in the country. Santa Anna believed that the influx of American immigrants to Texas was part of a plot by the U.S. to take over the region. and the Mexican garrisons were strengthened .Mexico increased custom duties on exports, increasing the cost of trade with the US . Mexican colonization of Texas was encouraged . The final straw for Americans in Texas was Santa Anna's' annulment of the Federal Constitution of 1824 and feared they would lived under a tyrant with no representation at all .Many Americans began to argue that they should separate from Mexico, they were also supported by many Mexican liberals. The most active of these was Lorenzo de Zavala, leader of the Mexican Congress in 1823. The Texans choose independence and chose David Burnet as president and Zavala as vice president . Fighting Begins



Much of Mexico led by the states of Yucatan, Zacatecas, and Coahuila, promptly rose in revolt of Santa Anna's actions. Santa Anna spent two years suppressing the revolts. Under the Liberal banner, the Mexican state of Zacatecas revolted against Santa Anna. The revolt was brutally crushed in May 1835. As a reward, Santa Anna allowed his soldiers two days of rape and pillage in the capital city of Zacatecas; civilians were massacred by the thousands. Santa Anna also looted the rich Zacatecan silver mines at Fresnillo. He then ordered his brother-in law, General Martin Perfecto de Cos, to march into Texas and put an end to disturbances against the state.Most American settlers in Texas or Texicans, were on the whole loyal to Mexico before and few were members of the independence party . But after the annulling of the Constitution of 1824, imprisonment of Austin and the news of what had happened at Zacatecas a majority supported the independence movement . On September 20, General Cos landed at Copano with an advance force of about 300 soldiers bound for Goliad, San Antonio and San Felipe de Austin. Austin was released in July, having never been formally charged with sedition, and was in Texas by August. Austin saw little choice but revolution. A consultation was scheduled for October to discuss possible formal plans to revolt, and Austin sanctioned it. Gonzales

Colonel Domingo Ugartechea, who was stationed in San Antonio, ordered the Texians to return a cannon given to them by Mexico that was stationed in Gonzales. The Texians refused. Ugartechea sent Lieutenant Francisco Castaeda and 100 dragoons to retrieve it. When he arrived at the rain-swollen banks of the Guadalupe River near Gonzales, there were just eighteen Texians to oppose him. Unable to cross, Castaeda established a camp, and the Texians buried the cannon and called for volunteers. Two Texian militias answered the call. Colonel John Henry Moore was elected head of the combined revolutionary militias, and they dug up the cannon and mounted it on a pair of cartwheels. A Coushatta Native American entered Castaedas camp and informed him that the Texians had 140 men. On October 1, 1835, at 7 p.m., the Texians headed out slowly and quietly to attack Castaedas dragoons. At 3 a.m. they reached the camp, and gunfire was exchanged. There were no casualties except for a Texian who had bloodied his nose when he fell off his horse during the skirmish. The next morning, negotiations were held, and the Texians urged Castaeda to join them in their revolt. Despite claiming sympathy for the Texian cause, he was shocked by the invitation to mutiny, and negotiations fell through. The Texians created a banner with a crude drawing of the disputed cannon and the words "Come and take it" written on it. Since they had no cannon balls, they filled it with scrap metal and fired it at the dragoons. They charged and fired their muskets and rifles, but Castaeda decided not to engage them and led the dragoons back to San Antonio. Thus the war had begun Capture of Bexar ( San Antonio )

General Martin Perfecto de Cos Next, the Texans captured Bexar, under the defence of General Cos. When General Austin gave his army of volunteers the boring task of waiting for General Cos army to starve, many of the volunteers simply left. Throughout November 1835, the Texian army dwindled from 800 to 600 men, and the officers began to bicker about strategy and why they were fighting against the Mexicans. Several officers resigned, including Jim Bowie, who went to Gonzales. The siege of Bexar, which began on October 12,



1835, would demonstrate how little leadership the Texan "Army" had. Austin had been appointed Commander of all the Texan forces, but his talents were not well suited for military life. The siege ended on December 11 with the capture of General Cos and his starving army, despite Austin's leadership. The Mexican prisoners were paroled and sent back to Mexico after being made to promise not to fight again. The early victories of the Texans were greatly attributed to their effective hunting rifles, which could fire at distant targets and with more accuracy than the smooth bore muskets of the Mexican infantry. The remaining Texan army, poorly led, and with no collective motivation, prepared to advance towards Matamoros, hoping to sack the town. Although the Matamoros Expedition, as it came to be known, was but one of many schemes to bring the war to Mexico, nothing came of it. On November 6, 1835, the Tampico Expedition under Jos Antonio Mexa left New Orleans, intending to capture the town from the Centralists. The expedition failed. These independent missions drained the Texan movement of supplies and men, bringing only disaster for months to come. Battle of the Alamo

Santa Anna decided to take the counter-offensive. General Cos informed Santa Anna of the situation in Texas, and the general proceeded to advance north with his Army of Operations, a force of about 6,000. The army had gathered in San Luis Potos and soon marched across the deserts of Mexico during the worst winter recorded in that region. The army suffered hundreds of casualties, but it marched forward, arriving in Texas months before it was expected. Taking Bexar (San Antonio ), the political and military center of Texas, was Santa Anna's initial objective The defenders inside the Alamo awaited reinforcement. "At dawn on the first of March, Capt. Albert Martin, with 32 men (himself included) from Gonzales and DeWitt's Colony, passed the lines of Santa Anna and entered the walls of the Alamo, never more to leave them. These men, chiefly husbands and fathers, owning their own homes, voluntarily organized and passed through the lines of an enemy four to six thousand strong, to join 150 of their countrymen and neighbors, in a fortress doomed to destruction." No further reinforcement arrived. The Alamo was defended by about 183-189 men under the command of William Barret Travis and Jim Bowie. Most of the Alamo defenders were white men of Spanish ancestry. Numerous sick and wounded from the siege of Bexar, perhaps raising the Texan military total to around 250, as well as non-combatants were also reported present afterwards. The Battle of the Alamo ended on March 6 after a 13 day siege in which all Texan combatants were killed. The alcalde of San Antonio reported cremation of 182 defenders' bodies; one defender's burial by a Mexican army relative was allowed. Santa Anna's army casualties have been estimated as about 600 - 1000 troopsthe quoted number of Mexican soldiers killed varies greatly. The defense of the Alamo proved to be of no military consequence for the Texan cause, but its martyrs were soon hailed as heroes. The most important result during this time was the 1836 Convention signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico, on March 2. Soon, Santa Anna divided his army and sent flying columns across Texas. The objective was to force a decisive battle over the Texan Army, now led by General Sam Houston. Goliad



General Jos Urrea marched into Texas from Matamoros, making his way north following the coast of Texas, thus preventing any foreign aid by sea and opening up an opportunity for the Mexican Navy to land much needed provisions. Urrea's forces were engaged at the Battle of Agua Dulce on March 2, 1836, which would soon lead to the Goliad Campaign. General Urrea was never defeated in any engagement his forces conducted in Texas.

Jos Urrea At Goliad, Urrea's flying column caught Colonel James Fannin's force of about 300 men on the open prairie at a slight depression near Coleto Creek a

Documents

Colonial Mexico 1519 - 1821 Mexican History