Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Western SIEV episode five hundred and fourteen,
Speaker 1: the Cry of Dolores. Now for a moment, what I
Speaker 1: need everybody to do is just kind of disregard your
Speaker 1: views of modern day Mexico, whether those are extraordinarily positive,
Speaker 1: extraordinarily negative, or maybe somewhere in between. Mexico, which was
Speaker 1: New Spain around the year eighteen hundred, was a land
Speaker 1: of extraordinary contrasts. There were vast silver mines in the
Speaker 1: north that fed the treasuries of Spain, rich haciendas that
Speaker 1: dominated the countryside, and bustling cities like Mexico City that
Speaker 1: rang with the sound of church bells and the chatter
Speaker 1: of merchants from every corner of the Spanish Empire. But
Speaker 1: beneath the surface there were extraordinary fissures. For three centuries,
Speaker 1: Spanish colonial rule created a rigid hierarchy that defined every
Speaker 1: aspect of life. At the top stood the peninsularres. Those
Speaker 1: were the Spaniards who had been born on the Iberian Peninsula,
Speaker 1: and they monopolized every single high office in the land.
Speaker 1: Below them were the creolis, American born Spaniards. They were wealthy, educated,
Speaker 1: and increasingly they were resentful of being treated as second
Speaker 1: class citizens because of where they were born. Further down
Speaker 1: the ladder there were the mestisos and indigenous peoples who
Speaker 1: bore the heaviest burdens of taxation, forced labor, and land dispossession.
Speaker 1: African descended peoples, both free and in slave, navigated a
Speaker 1: world that granted them few rights under what was effectively
Speaker 1: the caste or cast a system. Now hovering over all
Speaker 1: of it, of course, was a growing sense of instability
Speaker 1: that was coming primarily from Europe. In eighteen o eight, Napoleon,
Speaker 1: as we know, invaded Spain and forced the King, Ferdinand
Speaker 1: the Seventh to abdicate, with the Spanish crown suddenly without head,
Speaker 1: the colonies of the Empire were plunged into uncertainty. Who
Speaker 1: now held legitimate authority, who spoke for the all powerful
Speaker 1: Spanish monarch, and quite frankly, was obedience still required at all?
Speaker 1: These were the questions that slowly at first and then
Speaker 1: with explosive force, pulled Mexico quickly into a revolution. Now
Speaker 1: throughout the late eighteenth century war bond reforms had attempted
Speaker 1: to modernize the Spanish Empire from the monarchs, with their
Speaker 1: bureaucracy had raised taxes, strengthened the military and placed ever
Speaker 1: more authority in the hands of the Peninsulares. To many Creoles,
Speaker 1: this was an insult to indigenous communities and mestistos in Mexico.
Speaker 1: It was a burden that only deepened their feelings of inequality.
Speaker 1: That the ideas from the wider Atlantic were also quick
Speaker 1: to begin to seep south into Mexico. The American Revolution
Speaker 1: began to suggest that maybe colonies could after all challenge
Speaker 1: distant monarchies, and the French Revolution, which followed quickly on
Speaker 1: its heals, preached equality and the rights of man, though
Speaker 1: of course the violence of the terror made the elites
Speaker 1: in Mexico uneasy. And then there was the Haitian Revolution,
Speaker 1: led by the people of African descent, who overthrew slavery
Speaker 1: and colonial rule. Both inspired and terrified observers across Latin America.
Speaker 1: By eighteen ten, the reality was Mexico had become a
Speaker 1: powder keg and it was ready to burst, And in
Speaker 1: the quiet town of Dolores, a priest named Miguel Hidalgo
Speaker 1: Ecostia provided the spark. On the night of September fifteenth,
Speaker 1: eighteen ten, conspirators gathered in the home of Hidalgo, a
Speaker 1: sparish priest known for his unorthodox views, is concern for
Speaker 1: the poor and his intellectual curiosity. Word had reached them
Speaker 1: that the conspiracy to overthrow colonial rule had been discovered,
Speaker 1: and so there was now no time left. They had
Speaker 1: to act. Early in the cold dawn of September the sixteenth,
Speaker 1: Hidalgo stepped outside the church, rang its bell and issued
Speaker 1: what history remembers as the Grito de Delores, the Cry
Speaker 1: of Dolores. We don't actually have the exact words that
Speaker 1: father hid Alago offered on that cold morning, but contemporaries
Speaker 1: recall the spirit quote, my children, will you recover the
Speaker 1: land stolen from your forefathers? Will you defend your religion
Speaker 1: and rights? Long live our Lady of Guadalupe, Death to
Speaker 1: bad government end quote. Now these were words that, of course,
Speaker 1: you could have switched around slightly and put in the
Speaker 1: mouth of say Patrick, Henry or Moraut in the French Revolution.
Speaker 1: This were revolutionary times across the world, and everybody was
Speaker 1: kind of preaching the same ideas. So it was only
Speaker 1: natural that eventually Mexico would pick up the baton and
Speaker 1: run with it, and run with it by the way
Speaker 1: they definitely did. Now, of course, this wasn't a refined
Speaker 1: political manifesto. It was something that was actually a little
Speaker 1: bit more powerful. It was a call to action addressed
Speaker 1: to the ordinary people of Mexico, indigenous villagers, mestisos, laborers,
Speaker 1: small farmers, those who had never before been invited into
Speaker 1: the political life of the empire, and the rebellion exploded
Speaker 1: with astonishing speed. Quickly thereafter, the conspirators marched to Guantanto,
Speaker 1: a much larger town nearby, and within days tens of
Speaker 1: thousands of people were rallying to Father Hidalgo, many armed
Speaker 1: with sticks, slings and only farm tools. They morved first
Speaker 1: towards the prosperous binding city of Guantanto, where a bloody
Speaker 1: confrontation unfolded. Royalist defenders barricaded themselves in a nearby massive granary,
Speaker 1: but the building was stormed after a legendary miner nicknamed
Speaker 1: El Papilla set fire to the door. The victory, kind
Speaker 1: of like the bast deal, gave the rebel momentum, but
Speaker 1: it also set the tone of uncontrolled violence that frightened
Speaker 1: the creole elites and drove some into the arms of
Speaker 1: the royalists. Heidalgo's massive but poorly trained army quickly pushed
Speaker 1: forward toward Mexico City. Panic gripped the colonial government. Yet,
Speaker 1: at Monte de las Crusis in late October, despite winning
Speaker 1: a major battle, Hidalgo hesitated. Now why he turned back
Speaker 1: at this point remains debated. Perhaps he feared a massacre,
Speaker 1: perhaps he realized that his forces were not prepared to
Speaker 1: fight an urban battle. The hesitation marked a turning point
Speaker 1: in the Mexican War of Independence. Royalist forces were able
Speaker 1: to recover, and by early eighteen eleven, Hidalgo was captured.
Speaker 1: He had been then defracked by the Roman Catholic Church
Speaker 1: and executed, but of course the rebellion and revolution didn't
Speaker 1: die with him. After Hidalgo's death, leadership passed to a
Speaker 1: former student of his, Jose Maria Morales, another priest. He
Speaker 1: was more disciplined, strategic, and driven by a much clearer
Speaker 1: political vision of Mexico's future. From eighteen eleven to eighteen fifteen,
Speaker 1: Morelos led a series of brilliant gorilla campaigns across southern Mexico.
Speaker 1: Unlike Hidalgo's mass uprising, Morales sought to get trained troops
Speaker 1: he wanted organization, and he wanted to hold on the
Speaker 1: territory that they were able to capture, and they worked quickly.
Speaker 1: Morales and his troops captured key cities imports, including Wahaca
Speaker 1: and Acapoco, and created functioning local governments. Morales then called
Speaker 1: a Congress at Chipakingo in eighteen thirteen, which produced one
Speaker 1: of the foundational documents of Mexican nationalism. He sent to
Speaker 1: Mendiento Ste la Nacion the Feelings of the Nation. Much
Speaker 1: like the Declaration of Independence or perhaps the Declaration of
Speaker 1: the Rights of Man in the French Revolution. It laid
Speaker 1: out a program for what it saw as the future
Speaker 1: for Mexico and also the reasons for separation from Spain.
Speaker 1: Its ideas were pretty simple. One gain independence from the
Speaker 1: Spanish monarchy. Number two, abolished slavery number three and the
Speaker 1: rigid caste system. Number four, make sure that sovereignty resides
Speaker 1: in the Mexican people, not in a distant government and
Speaker 1: not in a monarch, And finally, enshrine Catholicism forever as
Speaker 1: the national religion of Mexico. It was a revolutionary document
Speaker 1: both in spirit and substance, a new social order, not
Speaker 1: merely a transfer of power from peninsulares to creolos. This
Speaker 1: is when the Mexican Revolution starts to look a lot
Speaker 1: more like the French Revolution than the American Revolution, which
Speaker 1: you could argue was just a transfer of power from
Speaker 1: one group of elites to another group of elites. This
Speaker 1: was a total restructuring. After all, the Mexicans appeared at
Speaker 1: this point to be ready to do something that the
Speaker 1: Americans weren't, and that was abolished slavery. And certainly no
Speaker 1: one in New England had any intention of eliminating their
Speaker 1: quasi caste system. But of course Spanish power wasn't going
Speaker 1: to go away instantaneously, and it slowly reasserted itself. A young,
Speaker 1: dynamic all Royalist officer named Augustine de Terbe harried Morales's forces,
Speaker 1: and in eighteen fifteen, Morales, like Hidalgo, was captured, defrocked,
Speaker 1: and executed. And so by eighteen sixteen the war seemed
Speaker 1: to be collapsing. Yet independence survived in the hills and
Speaker 1: countrysides of southern and central Mexico, kept alive by low
Speaker 1: coo guerilla leaders, most famously Vicent de Guireo, a mixed
Speaker 1: race fighter whose tenacity would shape Mexico's future. For several years,
Speaker 1: the conflict stagnated, neither side could win outright, but events
Speaker 1: thousands of miles away reshaped everything. In eighteen twenty, Spanish
Speaker 1: army officers revolted and forced King Ferdinand the Seventh to
Speaker 1: restore the Constitution of eighteen twelve, a liberal charter limiting
Speaker 1: royal power and expanding rights to Mexican conservatives, especially the
Speaker 1: Creolos and Catholic hierarchy. This new liberal order was alarming.
Speaker 1: They feared a couple of things. They feared weakened church authority,
Speaker 1: They feared property reforms, and they feared reduced power for
Speaker 1: colonial elites. Suddenly, many who once fought for Spain began
Speaker 1: to wonder if independence might actually protect their interests better
Speaker 1: than remaining tied to a liberalized Spain. No convert was
Speaker 1: more dramatic or consequential than Augustine de Terbe himself. Eyterbe,
Speaker 1: once the scourge of the Mexican insurgents, now approached Guerrero
Speaker 1: with a surprising proposal, what if they joined forces and
Speaker 1: created a broad coalition for independence. In February of eighteen
Speaker 1: twenty one, he unveiled what was called the Plan of Igala,
Speaker 1: which offered three guarantees, only this time independence from Spain.
Speaker 1: Unity among all social classes didn't say anything about eliminating
Speaker 1: the caste system, and by social classes he meant pensulaes, creolos, mestizo's,
Speaker 1: indigenous peoples, and black peoples. But again, unity didn't mean
Speaker 1: the elimination of social distinctions. And finally, Catholicism as the
Speaker 1: sole religion of this new state. Eyturbe's message was clear.
Speaker 1: Independence wasn't going to overturn society. The idea was to
Speaker 1: achieve independence, transfer power, and then stabilize society. Guerrero, long
Speaker 1: committed to a more egalitarian vision, nonetheless agreed, seeing independence
Speaker 1: as the first necessary step. Together, they formed the army
Speaker 1: of the three guarantees, and the plans succeeded because it
Speaker 1: united groups that previously had been so divided. It united
Speaker 1: conservatives who feared Spain's new increasing liberalism. It concerned creolos
Speaker 1: who wanted political power. It brought in insurgents who had
Speaker 1: fought for an independence for a decade, brought in merchants
Speaker 1: who simply want instability, and it brought in local communities
Speaker 1: longing for relief for war. The new coalition quickly swept
Speaker 1: across Mexico with astonishing speed. Spanish authority crumbled almost overnight.
Speaker 1: By August eighteen twenty one, the last Viceroy de de
Speaker 1: ju realized that resistance was impossible, and so he signed
Speaker 1: the famous Treaty of Cordeba, recognizing Mexican independence. On September
Speaker 1: the twenty seventh, eighteen twenty one, e Turbe marched into
Speaker 1: Mexico City at the head of the army of the
Speaker 1: Three Guarantees. Bells rang and crowds shouted vive in Deepenzia.
Speaker 1: After three centuries of Spanish rule and eleven years of
Speaker 1: bitter conflict, Mexico was free. But of course independence did
Speaker 1: not bring peace. In fact, it opened a new chapter
Speaker 1: of political turmoil. That new chapter that we'll get into
Speaker 1: right after this. Now, Mexico had won independence, but they
Speaker 1: had done so without really agreeing on what independence actually meant.
Speaker 1: This is kind of a repeating theme throughout this period
Speaker 1: in history. There was no constitution in place, There was
Speaker 1: no consensus on the structure of government. There was no
Speaker 1: agreement about the role of the church, the army, or
Speaker 1: the regions. The Viceroy of New Spain vast diverse and
Speaker 1: deeply unequal had fractured long before independence was achieved. Now
Speaker 1: the question was how to put it back together again
Speaker 1: and again. It's worth remembering at this point that Mexico
Speaker 1: stretches from the present southern border of Mexico all the
Speaker 1: way up to present day Colorado and California in the
Speaker 1: United States, So this is pretty massive territory that everyone
Speaker 1: had to deal with. Between eighteen twenty one and eighteen forty,
Speaker 1: Mexico would try out empires, republics, dictatorships, and federal systems,
Speaker 1: all while still searching for a stable political identity. Interestingly enough,
Speaker 1: Mexico's first experience in government was another monarchy, because Augustine
Speaker 1: de Turbe, the gentleman who had switch sides, charismatic popular
Speaker 1: with the military, quickly became the leading figure in post
Speaker 1: independence Mexico. While the Plan of Igala had envisioned a
Speaker 1: European prince leading a constitutional monarchy, no one was willing
Speaker 1: to accept the invitation, So in May of eighteen twenty two,
Speaker 1: a newly convened Mexican Congress declared Eyterbe Emperor Augustine the First.
Speaker 1: At first, the crowds cheered, but beneath the surface opposition
Speaker 1: quickly grew. Mexico inherited a financial crisis. There was a
Speaker 1: crushing debt and a devastated economy, not the least of
Speaker 1: which devastated because of two decades of on again off
Speaker 1: against civil war. There was also massive regional divisions. Provinces
Speaker 1: resisted central authority and many wanted federal autonomy. There were
Speaker 1: political factions. Republicans mistrusted monarchists, clergy feared reforms, and military
Speaker 1: officers everywhere jockeyed for influence. So when Congress criticized the
Speaker 1: emperor for his inability to deal with these myriad problems,
Speaker 1: Emperor Augustine the First simply responded by dissolving Congress opponents
Speaker 1: then soon rallied behind a rising political figure who's going
Speaker 1: to play a role in Mexico's story all the way
Speaker 1: through the US Mexico War, and that is Antonio Lopez
Speaker 1: Date Santa Anna, a young officer whose ambition oftentimes outpaced
Speaker 1: his experience and skill. In eighteen twenty three, when Santa
Speaker 1: Anna was still a young military officer, he and other leaders,
Speaker 1: most notably Guadalupe Victoria and Bisante Gerrero, proclaimed the Plan
Speaker 1: of Casa Mata, calling for the restoration of Congress and
Speaker 1: the end of Eturbay's emperorship, and each Bay's support quickly evaporated.
Speaker 1: He abdicated in March of eighteen twenty three after not
Speaker 1: even two years, and went into exile in Europe, only
Speaker 1: to return in eighteen twenty four to be executed as
Speaker 1: a trader under a law that had been passed that
Speaker 1: he didn't know about. Whoops, reading is helpful, folks, And
Speaker 1: so the empire had lasted honestly less than a year,
Speaker 1: and Mexico now faced the task of trying to build
Speaker 1: its first republic. In the wake of the empire's collapse,
Speaker 1: political leaders gathered to craft a new constitution, influenced this
Speaker 1: time by the United States model and shaped by the
Speaker 1: Mexican realities. The Constitution of eighteen twenty four established one
Speaker 1: a federal republic, two states with considerable autonomy, three a
Speaker 1: bicameral Congress, four a president and vice president. Five Catholicism
Speaker 1: as the official religion. And so it was in many
Speaker 1: ways an effort to try to marry old Mexico to
Speaker 1: the new Mexico that wanted to emulate in different ways
Speaker 1: the burgeoning power of the United States at the time.
Speaker 1: There were two independence heroes who were chosen to lead
Speaker 1: the new republic. President Guadalupe Victoria. He was a moderate,
Speaker 1: He was somewhat idealistic, and he was extremely widely respected,
Speaker 1: which was something that Emperor Augustine didn't have. And then
Speaker 1: there was Vice President Nicholas Bravo. He was much much
Speaker 1: more conservative and suspicious of federalism. But you know what,
Speaker 1: at last, Mexico at least had a constitutional framework. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: it's one thing to write down the rules on a
Speaker 1: piece of paper and quite another thing, as we know,
Speaker 1: to execute those rules. Because the real challenge lay ahead
Speaker 1: governing a fractured, impoverished, and often deeply divided country. And
Speaker 1: so throughout the eighteen twenties, two major factions crystallized. There
Speaker 1: were the Federalists and the Centralists. The Federalists favored strong
Speaker 1: state governments. They advocated for the reform of the church
Speaker 1: and military privileges. They drew their support generally from liberals, intellectuals,
Speaker 1: and many provincial leaders, and they were also associated, interestingly enough,
Speaker 1: with the Masons back in the United States. Then there
Speaker 1: were the Centralists. The Centralists, as the name probably suggests,
Speaker 1: one and two A had established a strong national government.
Speaker 1: They defended the church's role and the special privileges of
Speaker 1: the military called military pueros. They were supported by conservative elite,
Speaker 1: high clergy and many army officers. These ideological tensions are
Speaker 1: going to define Mexican politics for decades and honestly, in
Speaker 1: many ways still define the Mexico that we know today.
Speaker 1: This tension between those who want a much stronger federal
Speaker 1: government between those who want more autonomy for the states. Honestly,
Speaker 1: we see this playing out with Moreno and some of
Speaker 1: other modern political Mexican parties even today. So it's worth
Speaker 1: guys knowing your history. As I'm guessing you know, at
Speaker 1: the center of almost every political storm, though, stood a
Speaker 1: man whose presence is going to just loom over nineteenth
Speaker 1: century Mexico who I mentioned before, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
Speaker 1: It's a name you want to continue to remember. And
Speaker 1: even President Victoria, even though he had enormous wide respect
Speaker 1: in a lot of sort of individual legitimacy and charisma,
Speaker 1: even he struggled to hold the fragile republic together, not
Speaker 1: the least of which because he had to deal with
Speaker 1: rebellions within his own party. Vice President Nicholas Bravo attempted
Speaker 1: a conservative revolt against the federal government as early as
Speaker 1: eighteen twenty seven. Now it failed, but it highlighted the
Speaker 1: volatility of the Young Republic. And then, of course there
Speaker 1: were just the constant fears of encroachment from Europe. There
Speaker 1: was fear that the Spanish would attempt a reconquest at
Speaker 1: some point, and so in eighteen twenty seven, this after
Speaker 1: the failed Conservative coup, influenced Congress to decree the expulsion
Speaker 1: of almost all remaining Spaniards from Mexico. Now this is
Speaker 1: understandable to an extent if you are afraid of, let's say,
Speaker 1: you know, a fifth wing coming at you from within.
Speaker 1: But the problem was is that the vast majority of
Speaker 1: these people were the merchants, administrators, and technocrats. This further
Speaker 1: weakened the Mexican economy and its bureaucracy at frankly the
Speaker 1: worst possible moment. And all of this happened around eighteen
Speaker 1: twenty eight, and in eighteen twenty eight was the year
Speaker 1: for the next Mexican presidential election, and the election for
Speaker 1: Victoria's successor became a chaotic struggle. There were a couple
Speaker 1: of people who were running. Of course, Santa Anna, who
Speaker 1: I mentioned remember keeping in mind, but then there was
Speaker 1: also Manuel Gomez Pedrasa. He was a moderate. Santa Anna
Speaker 1: was a staunch conservative, He will be throughout his entire career,
Speaker 1: very pro military, relies on the Church for a lot
Speaker 1: of his support, so on and so forth. But Pandaso won.
Speaker 1: Despite that, Santa Anna refused to accept the results. He
Speaker 1: launched a rebellion, arguing that they had cooked the electoral
Speaker 1: books and that the people had been cheated. Riots quickly
Speaker 1: engulfed Mexico City. Congress overturned the election and installed instead
Speaker 1: Santa Anta's ally, Vicente Guerrero, another independence hero now Visan
Speaker 1: de Guerrero was a man of mixed African, Indigenous and
Speaker 1: Spanish ancestry, and so to a lot of extent, I
Speaker 1: guess the elevation of Vicente Guerrero represents some of the
Speaker 1: more ambitious goals of the Mexican Revolution, and his government
Speaker 1: was quite revolutionary, particularly from a social standpoint. He almost
Speaker 1: immediately moved to abolish slavery nationwide, which was both a
Speaker 1: moral and political triumph from Mexico. Now conservative elites despised
Speaker 1: his administration. He attempted tax reforms and used a lot
Speaker 1: of egalitarian rhetoric that frightened both the landowners and the clergies.
Speaker 1: And so then in eighteen twenty nine, Spain did in
Speaker 1: fact launch one final campaign to try to retake Mexico,
Speaker 1: landing forces at Tampico. Guerrero intrusted the defense to Santa Anna,
Speaker 1: who defeated the expedition and became a celebrated national hero. Now, ironically,
Speaker 1: Santa Anna's fame now threatened Gorreano's rivals more than Spain did.
Speaker 1: Vice President Anastasio Bustamante, a staunch centralist, overthrew Guerra, who
Speaker 1: then retreated to the south, continued resistance, and was eventually
Speaker 1: captured and executed. If you're starting to see a theme
Speaker 1: here as to why it's difficult from Mexico to establish
Speaker 1: stability early on, congratulations, ten points for you. Bustamante's regime
Speaker 1: sparked widespread uprisings, and Mexico was now in a cycle
Speaker 1: very familiar in unstable New nations, every presidency followed by
Speaker 1: a contested election and a rebellion. And so instead this time,
Speaker 1: what politicians came up with was what was called the
Speaker 1: Plan of Vera Cruz. In eighteen twenty three, and this
Speaker 1: was a consequence of Santa Anna's revolt that same year,
Speaker 1: this time against Bustamante. Fighting spread across the nation, and
Speaker 1: as part of the plan, Bustamante finally agreed to step
Speaker 1: down and Santa Anna, ever the political chameleon, stepped into
Speaker 1: the presidency, beginning a period of direct rule by Antonio
Speaker 1: Lopez de Santa Anna. Now, his first term as president,
Speaker 1: which lasted from eighteen thirty three to eighteen thirty five,
Speaker 1: was unlike anything Mexico had ever seen. He campaigned as
Speaker 1: a liberal reformer, won by a landslide, and then promptly
Speaker 1: left Vice President Valentine Gomez Farrarias to run the government
Speaker 1: while he returned home to rest. Gomez ferrarius who might
Speaker 1: not have been as close to an ally as Lopez
Speaker 1: thought he was, immediately launched several sweeping reforms. He reduced
Speaker 1: the influence of the Church, at least formally in government.
Speaker 1: He curbed military privileges, He secularized education, some major step
Speaker 1: forward from Mexico at the time, and he pushed for
Speaker 1: fiscal modernization throughout the country. Now, these reforms thrilled liberals,
Speaker 1: but they enraged conservatives and members of the clergy, and so,
Speaker 1: sensing that the political wins were turning, suddenly, Santa Ana
Speaker 1: decided to return from his little retirement party to the capitol.
Speaker 1: He declared that Farraria's reforms were excessive, and now switching sides,
Speaker 1: he aligned himself with the Conservatives and not the Vice president,
Speaker 1: but he left in charge. He overthrew, in fact, the
Speaker 1: very government that he had been elected to lead. This
Speaker 1: is one of those bizarre moments in history where people
Speaker 1: switching sides lead to rather interesting results. Now, what's fascinating
Speaker 1: is that at least one thing was becoming clear about
Speaker 1: the Santa Ana period in Mexican history, and that is
Speaker 1: that Santa Anna was not loyal to any particular ideology.
Speaker 1: Santa Anna was only loyal to Santa Anna period, full stop.
Speaker 1: And that's going to be something that repeats throughout Now
Speaker 1: with conservative support, Santa Anta dismantled the eighteen twenty four
Speaker 1: federal system and in place put the siet de Las,
Speaker 1: or the Seven Laws, which were passed in eighteen thirty six. Now,
Speaker 1: these transformed Mexico into a centrist republic. States became a
Speaker 1: military controlled departments, voting rights were now really restricted, and
Speaker 1: the presidency gained sweeping powers close to a monarch. There
Speaker 1: was now a supreme conservative power that oversaw the government.
Speaker 1: This shift, of course, outraged federalists across the country. Revolts
Speaker 1: spread everywhere. There was a revolt in Zacatecas, which was
Speaker 1: crushed by Santa Ana. There was a revolt throughout the
Speaker 1: Yucatan which nearly succeeded. And then, of course there was
Speaker 1: the secession of Texas, which led to the Texas Revolution
Speaker 1: between eighteen thirty five and eighteen thirty six. I'm going
Speaker 1: to come back to that one later on. The loss
Speaker 1: of Texas severely damaged Santa Ana's prestige, especially after his
Speaker 1: capture at San Jacinto, which is that we'll talk about
Speaker 1: in future episodes. That being said, one thing did endure
Speaker 1: after eighteen thirty five eighteen thirty six, and that was
Speaker 1: the centrist regime for at least the moment there would
Speaker 1: be going no going back, that is, to a federal republic. Now.
Speaker 1: After Santa Anna's defeat in Texas, conservatives rallied around Bustamante again,
Speaker 1: who returned to the presidency in eighteen thirty seven. This,
Speaker 1: unfortunately resulted in a couple of issues cropping up Bustamante
Speaker 1: faced a lot of things. There was economic collapse, there
Speaker 1: continued to be regional insurgencies, and there was growing discontent
Speaker 1: with centralism. That leads me to one of the most
Speaker 1: interesting parts in this period of history, which is called
Speaker 1: the pastry or. In the eighteen twenties, during one of
Speaker 1: Mexico's many internal uprisings, a French baker in Mexico City
Speaker 1: claimed that Mexican soldiers had looted and destroyed his pastry shop.
Speaker 1: He demanded compensation, an extravagant sum. Through diplomatic channels, his
Speaker 1: complaint was soon folded into a much larger list of
Speaker 1: grievances by French merchants who argued that Mexico had failed
Speaker 1: to protect foreign property and honor debts. Backed by the
Speaker 1: government of Luis Philippe, France demanded six hundred thousand pesos
Speaker 1: in reparations, an enormous figure for a cash strapped republic.
Speaker 1: While Mexico stalled, France quickly escalated the situation. In April
Speaker 1: of eighteen thirty eight, a French naval squadron arrived in
Speaker 1: the Gulf of Mexico and imposed a blockade on Mexican ports.
Speaker 1: By November, French forces bombarded the fortress of San Juande Ulla,
Speaker 1: guarding the vital port of Vera Cruz. Cannon fire thundered
Speaker 1: across the harbor, shocking a nation that had barely recovered
Speaker 1: from the Texas Revolution. Mexico's defense fell once again. You
Speaker 1: guessed it to its most familiar and controversial figure, Antonio
Speaker 1: Lopez de Santana. Rushing to Vera Cruz to repel the
Speaker 1: French landing, sent Anna personally led troops into battle. During
Speaker 1: a skirmish, a French cannonball shattered his leg. The limb
Speaker 1: was amputated, buried with full military honors, and Santa Anna,
Speaker 1: ever the political showman, transformed the injury into a symbol
Speaker 1: of patriotic sacrifice. He would have a prosthetic leg, by
Speaker 1: the way, made entirely of the silver, that he would
Speaker 1: have throughout the rest of his life. Militarily, Mexico could
Speaker 1: not win diplomatically, though it had a lifeline. Britain, eager
Speaker 1: to stabilize trade in the region, mediated an agreement, and
Speaker 1: in March of eighteen thirty nine, Mexico agreed to pay
Speaker 1: the indemnity and French forces withdrew the conflict. Mockingly dubbed
Speaker 1: the Lagrera de Pastelles. The Pastry War was brief and
Speaker 1: it was limited, but its significance was outsized. It marked
Speaker 1: Mexico's first armed confrontation with a European power as an
Speaker 1: independent nation. It exposed its military and financial weakness and
Speaker 1: so the precedent for foreign intervention. It also resurrected in
Speaker 1: Santa Anna's political career, yet again, proving that even defeat
Speaker 1: could spurn someone in to power. The Pastry War over,
Speaker 1: there was once again a federalist revolt in eighteen forty,
Speaker 1: because by eighteen forty the political system was near breaking.
Speaker 1: Federalist rebels briefly seized the National Palace and attempted to
Speaker 1: restore the eighteen twenty four constitution. It failed, but the
Speaker 1: uprising showed that Mexico was still searching, still debating, still
Speaker 1: fighting over what kind of a nation that it wanted
Speaker 1: to be, and Mexico was, of course not the only
Speaker 1: area in Southern and Central America grappling with these issues.
Speaker 1: Next week, we turn even further south to deal with
Speaker 1: the variety of rebellions that were all focusing throughout Spain's
Speaker 1: expulsion from the New World