Everything about 1835 Constitution Of Mexico totally explained
Mexico's so-called
1835 Constitution wasn't a formal, fully-fledged constitution, but two documents that amended the
1824 Constitution in a way that substantially changed the character of Mexican government: the
Siete Leyes (Seven Laws) of 1835 and the
1836 Constitution Laws.
Historical Context
In the early 19th century, Mexico was politically unstable. The federal government was weak, because although the 1824 Constitution was almost identical to the
United States Constitution, Mexico didn't have the advantage of the landmark
United States Supreme Court decision,
McCulloch v. Maryland and thus
states felt free to countermand federal law – and that allowed corrupt politicians to flourish. Many wanted to fill the vacuum of power, including the Vatican, which owned more than half of all land in Mexico, regional strongmen who controlled state governments, and the
York Rite Masons.
Spain wanted to reestablish its old colonial empire.
France wanted to add Mexico to its list of colonies. The
United Kingdom apparently saw an independent Mexico as an ally that could limit the growth of the United States. The
United States saw European interests as contrary to the
Monroe Doctrine, but the Monroe Doctrine in part was an attempt to keep Europeans from creating colonies in territories it coveted for itself.
Perhaps Yorkino
Manuel Gómez Pedraza was centrist enough to be described variously as a moderate liberal and as a conservative, and part of Mexico's upper-middle-class ruling élite of
hombres de bien ("honest men"). When he seemed set to succeed
Guadalupe Victoria as president, though, conservative
Vicente Guerrero staged a
coup d'état and assumed the presidency on
1 April 1829. Between liberals such as
Simón Bolívar who objected to the violent coup, and conservatives who objected to Guerrero's ordering an immediate abolition of
slavery and emancipation of all slaves, he'd few friends. Guerrero was deposed in a counter-coup on
4 December 1829, and was killed on orders of General
Anastasio Bustamante.
José María Bocanegra was president from
18 December 1833 to
23 December 1833 In 1833,
Antonio López de Santa Anna was elected president but he didn't take an active role, and the actual chores fell to his Vice-President
Valentín Gómez Farías to be acting president. Gómez Farías, a liberal, used his influence to enact the "Reforms of 1833" under the slogan of "religión y fueros". They included the abolition of civil laws which required tithing, state control of public education and the all Church property, the suppression of religious orders, the formation of a body for administering government funds, and the reform of the military, signaling the end of the army's power and the formation of militias.
Gómez Farías' plan to root out corruption stepped on some powerful toes among the military and wealthy landowners and Catholic church. Santa Anna, a long-time liberal, announced that he supported the Conservative Party, and assumed control of Mexico on
29 April 1834. He asked the legislature for the
Siete Leyes (Seven Laws), which passed on
15 December 1835, then declared martial law, and started to put down the revolts which had broken out in several states, first capturing 3000 soldiers in a two-hour battle against
Zacatecan militia, led by Francisco García on
12 May 1835, then moving on to begin a 13-day siege of the
Alamo in
San Antonio de Béxar in
Coahuila y Tejas, ending on
6 March with the death of all but two dozen surviving women and children, as well as
Jim Bowie's slave Sam and Lt. Colonel
Travis' slave Joe, all of whom were released after the battle. Santa Anna's right wing defeated a second Texican force near
Goliad, while Santa Anna then proceeded to march on San Jacinto.
In a surprise attack on the 1400 Mexican troops at the
Battle of San Jacinto on
21 April 1836, the Texicans killed 600 and took 730 prisoner, with the rest – including Santa Anna – temporarily escaping but soon captured.
José Justo Corro became acting president of Mexico with Santa Anna's capture but was replaced with conservative
Anastasio Bustamante after two months.
It was while Bustamante was in office that the
1836 Constitution Laws were adopted on
30 December 1836.
These amendments to the
1824 Constitution provided many reforms, but their primary effect was to strengthen the central government at a time when the independence of Mexico appeared to be in jeopardy.
Further Information
Get more info on '1835 Constitution Of Mexico'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://1835_constitution_of_mexico.totallyexplained.com">1835 Constitution of Mexico Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
