WEBVTT 1 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:24.559 Hello, and welcome to Western SIEV episode five hundred and fourteen, 2 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:29.039 the Cry of Dolores. Now for a moment, what I 3 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:32.399 need everybody to do is just kind of disregard your 4 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.719 views of modern day Mexico, whether those are extraordinarily positive, 5 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:41.719 extraordinarily negative, or maybe somewhere in between. Mexico, which was 6 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:45.119 New Spain around the year eighteen hundred, was a land 7 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:49.399 of extraordinary contrasts. There were vast silver mines in the 8 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:54.159 north that fed the treasuries of Spain, rich haciendas that 9 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:59.359 dominated the countryside, and bustling cities like Mexico City that 10 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:02.439 rang with the sound of church bells and the chatter 11 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:07.159 of merchants from every corner of the Spanish Empire. But 12 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:13.439 beneath the surface there were extraordinary fissures. For three centuries, 13 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:18.439 Spanish colonial rule created a rigid hierarchy that defined every 14 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:23.879 aspect of life. At the top stood the peninsularres. Those 15 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:27.280 were the Spaniards who had been born on the Iberian Peninsula, 16 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:32.200 and they monopolized every single high office in the land. 17 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:38.959 Below them were the creolis, American born Spaniards. They were wealthy, educated, 18 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:43.079 and increasingly they were resentful of being treated as second 19 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:47.200 class citizens because of where they were born. Further down 20 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:51.000 the ladder there were the mestisos and indigenous peoples who 21 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:56.040 bore the heaviest burdens of taxation, forced labor, and land dispossession. 22 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:01.400 African descended peoples, both free and in slave, navigated a 23 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:04.959 world that granted them few rights under what was effectively 24 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:09.280 the caste or cast a system. Now hovering over all 25 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:12.039 of it, of course, was a growing sense of instability 26 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:18.000 that was coming primarily from Europe. In eighteen o eight, Napoleon, 27 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:22.000 as we know, invaded Spain and forced the King, Ferdinand 28 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:26.719 the Seventh to abdicate, with the Spanish crown suddenly without head, 29 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:30.960 the colonies of the Empire were plunged into uncertainty. Who 30 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:35.520 now held legitimate authority, who spoke for the all powerful 31 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:42.039 Spanish monarch, and quite frankly, was obedience still required at all? 32 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:45.840 These were the questions that slowly at first and then 33 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:52.120 with explosive force, pulled Mexico quickly into a revolution. Now 34 00:02:52.199 --> 00:02:56.360 throughout the late eighteenth century war bond reforms had attempted 35 00:02:56.599 --> 00:03:01.840 to modernize the Spanish Empire from the monarchs, with their 36 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:06.840 bureaucracy had raised taxes, strengthened the military and placed ever 37 00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:11.680 more authority in the hands of the Peninsulares. To many Creoles, 38 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:17.000 this was an insult to indigenous communities and mestistos in Mexico. 39 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:20.400 It was a burden that only deepened their feelings of inequality. 40 00:03:21.479 --> 00:03:24.240 That the ideas from the wider Atlantic were also quick 41 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:29.240 to begin to seep south into Mexico. The American Revolution 42 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:34.360 began to suggest that maybe colonies could after all challenge 43 00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:38.479 distant monarchies, and the French Revolution, which followed quickly on 44 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:42.439 its heals, preached equality and the rights of man, though 45 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:45.879 of course the violence of the terror made the elites 46 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:49.919 in Mexico uneasy. And then there was the Haitian Revolution, 47 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:54.280 led by the people of African descent, who overthrew slavery 48 00:03:54.360 --> 00:04:00.599 and colonial rule. Both inspired and terrified observers across Latin America. 49 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:05.039 By eighteen ten, the reality was Mexico had become a 50 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:09.000 powder keg and it was ready to burst, And in 51 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:13.960 the quiet town of Dolores, a priest named Miguel Hidalgo 52 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:19.480 Ecostia provided the spark. On the night of September fifteenth, 53 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:24.199 eighteen ten, conspirators gathered in the home of Hidalgo, a 54 00:04:24.199 --> 00:04:28.439 sparish priest known for his unorthodox views, is concern for 55 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:33.120 the poor and his intellectual curiosity. Word had reached them 56 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:36.879 that the conspiracy to overthrow colonial rule had been discovered, 57 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:41.600 and so there was now no time left. They had 58 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:46.439 to act. Early in the cold dawn of September the sixteenth, 59 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:51.600 Hidalgo stepped outside the church, rang its bell and issued 60 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:56.439 what history remembers as the Grito de Delores, the Cry 61 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:02.639 of Dolores. We don't actually have the exact words that 62 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:07.759 father hid Alago offered on that cold morning, but contemporaries 63 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:12.079 recall the spirit quote, my children, will you recover the 64 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:16.160 land stolen from your forefathers? Will you defend your religion 65 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:22.639 and rights? Long live our Lady of Guadalupe, Death to 66 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:27.920 bad government end quote. Now these were words that, of course, 67 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:32.160 you could have switched around slightly and put in the 68 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:37.600 mouth of say Patrick, Henry or Moraut in the French Revolution. 69 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:42.879 This were revolutionary times across the world, and everybody was 70 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.759 kind of preaching the same ideas. So it was only 71 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:52.079 natural that eventually Mexico would pick up the baton and 72 00:05:52.199 --> 00:05:53.959 run with it, and run with it by the way 73 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:57.839 they definitely did. Now, of course, this wasn't a refined 74 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:01.600 political manifesto. It was something that was actually a little 75 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:05.240 bit more powerful. It was a call to action addressed 76 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:10.240 to the ordinary people of Mexico, indigenous villagers, mestisos, laborers, 77 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:14.000 small farmers, those who had never before been invited into 78 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:18.279 the political life of the empire, and the rebellion exploded 79 00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:24.600 with astonishing speed. Quickly thereafter, the conspirators marched to Guantanto, 80 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:29.160 a much larger town nearby, and within days tens of 81 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:34.279 thousands of people were rallying to Father Hidalgo, many armed 82 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:38.279 with sticks, slings and only farm tools. They morved first 83 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:42.480 towards the prosperous binding city of Guantanto, where a bloody 84 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:49.319 confrontation unfolded. Royalist defenders barricaded themselves in a nearby massive granary, 85 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:53.120 but the building was stormed after a legendary miner nicknamed 86 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:57.639 El Papilla set fire to the door. The victory, kind 87 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:01.600 of like the bast deal, gave the rebel momentum, but 88 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:05.759 it also set the tone of uncontrolled violence that frightened 89 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:09.680 the creole elites and drove some into the arms of 90 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:15.399 the royalists. Heidalgo's massive but poorly trained army quickly pushed 91 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:20.800 forward toward Mexico City. Panic gripped the colonial government. Yet, 92 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:24.360 at Monte de las Crusis in late October, despite winning 93 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:29.600 a major battle, Hidalgo hesitated. Now why he turned back 94 00:07:29.639 --> 00:07:34.759 at this point remains debated. Perhaps he feared a massacre, 95 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:39.199 perhaps he realized that his forces were not prepared to 96 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:44.600 fight an urban battle. The hesitation marked a turning point 97 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:48.600 in the Mexican War of Independence. Royalist forces were able 98 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:53.360 to recover, and by early eighteen eleven, Hidalgo was captured. 99 00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:56.199 He had been then defracked by the Roman Catholic Church 100 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:02.439 and executed, but of course the rebellion and revolution didn't 101 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:07.120 die with him. After Hidalgo's death, leadership passed to a 102 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:12.959 former student of his, Jose Maria Morales, another priest. He 103 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:16.639 was more disciplined, strategic, and driven by a much clearer 104 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:22.240 political vision of Mexico's future. From eighteen eleven to eighteen fifteen, 105 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:28.360 Morelos led a series of brilliant gorilla campaigns across southern Mexico. 106 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:33.399 Unlike Hidalgo's mass uprising, Morales sought to get trained troops 107 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:36.600 he wanted organization, and he wanted to hold on the 108 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.200 territory that they were able to capture, and they worked quickly. 109 00:08:40.679 --> 00:08:44.480 Morales and his troops captured key cities imports, including Wahaca 110 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:49.960 and Acapoco, and created functioning local governments. Morales then called 111 00:08:49.960 --> 00:08:54.960 a Congress at Chipakingo in eighteen thirteen, which produced one 112 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.919 of the foundational documents of Mexican nationalism. He sent to 113 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:03.960 Mendiento Ste la Nacion the Feelings of the Nation. Much 114 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:07.679 like the Declaration of Independence or perhaps the Declaration of 115 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:10.720 the Rights of Man in the French Revolution. It laid 116 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.519 out a program for what it saw as the future 117 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:18.159 for Mexico and also the reasons for separation from Spain. 118 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:23.279 Its ideas were pretty simple. One gain independence from the 119 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:29.440 Spanish monarchy. Number two, abolished slavery number three and the 120 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:35.039 rigid caste system. Number four, make sure that sovereignty resides 121 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:38.320 in the Mexican people, not in a distant government and 122 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:43.039 not in a monarch, And finally, enshrine Catholicism forever as 123 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:47.679 the national religion of Mexico. It was a revolutionary document 124 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:51.360 both in spirit and substance, a new social order, not 125 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:56.600 merely a transfer of power from peninsulares to creolos. This 126 00:09:56.679 --> 00:09:59.279 is when the Mexican Revolution starts to look a lot 127 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:02.519 more like the French Revolution than the American Revolution, which 128 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:04.759 you could argue was just a transfer of power from 129 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:07.879 one group of elites to another group of elites. This 130 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:11.960 was a total restructuring. After all, the Mexicans appeared at 131 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:14.000 this point to be ready to do something that the 132 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:19.120 Americans weren't, and that was abolished slavery. And certainly no 133 00:10:19.159 --> 00:10:23.879 one in New England had any intention of eliminating their 134 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:28.159 quasi caste system. But of course Spanish power wasn't going 135 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:33.120 to go away instantaneously, and it slowly reasserted itself. A young, 136 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:40.559 dynamic all Royalist officer named Augustine de Terbe harried Morales's forces, 137 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:46.000 and in eighteen fifteen, Morales, like Hidalgo, was captured, defrocked, 138 00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:51.559 and executed. And so by eighteen sixteen the war seemed 139 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:55.679 to be collapsing. Yet independence survived in the hills and 140 00:10:55.720 --> 00:11:00.000 countrysides of southern and central Mexico, kept alive by low 141 00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:04.440 coo guerilla leaders, most famously Vicent de Guireo, a mixed 142 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:09.799 race fighter whose tenacity would shape Mexico's future. For several years, 143 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:15.519 the conflict stagnated, neither side could win outright, but events 144 00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:22.159 thousands of miles away reshaped everything. In eighteen twenty, Spanish 145 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:25.759 army officers revolted and forced King Ferdinand the Seventh to 146 00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:30.240 restore the Constitution of eighteen twelve, a liberal charter limiting 147 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:34.960 royal power and expanding rights to Mexican conservatives, especially the 148 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:39.679 Creolos and Catholic hierarchy. This new liberal order was alarming. 149 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.159 They feared a couple of things. They feared weakened church authority, 150 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:48.399 They feared property reforms, and they feared reduced power for 151 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:53.039 colonial elites. Suddenly, many who once fought for Spain began 152 00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:56.840 to wonder if independence might actually protect their interests better 153 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:01.519 than remaining tied to a liberalized Spain. No convert was 154 00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:08.240 more dramatic or consequential than Augustine de Terbe himself. Eyterbe, 155 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:13.840 once the scourge of the Mexican insurgents, now approached Guerrero 156 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:18.120 with a surprising proposal, what if they joined forces and 157 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:23.720 created a broad coalition for independence. In February of eighteen 158 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:27.159 twenty one, he unveiled what was called the Plan of Igala, 159 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:31.879 which offered three guarantees, only this time independence from Spain. 160 00:12:32.679 --> 00:12:36.720 Unity among all social classes didn't say anything about eliminating 161 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:42.159 the caste system, and by social classes he meant pensulaes, creolos, mestizo's, 162 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:46.440 indigenous peoples, and black peoples. But again, unity didn't mean 163 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:51.519 the elimination of social distinctions. And finally, Catholicism as the 164 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:56.120 sole religion of this new state. Eyturbe's message was clear. 165 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:00.320 Independence wasn't going to overturn society. The idea was to 166 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:07.519 achieve independence, transfer power, and then stabilize society. Guerrero, long 167 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:11.879 committed to a more egalitarian vision, nonetheless agreed, seeing independence 168 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:15.559 as the first necessary step. Together, they formed the army 169 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:19.960 of the three guarantees, and the plans succeeded because it 170 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:24.879 united groups that previously had been so divided. It united 171 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:32.200 conservatives who feared Spain's new increasing liberalism. It concerned creolos 172 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:36.360 who wanted political power. It brought in insurgents who had 173 00:13:36.360 --> 00:13:40.399 fought for an independence for a decade, brought in merchants 174 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:44.519 who simply want instability, and it brought in local communities 175 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:49.720 longing for relief for war. The new coalition quickly swept 176 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:56.080 across Mexico with astonishing speed. Spanish authority crumbled almost overnight. 177 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:00.639 By August eighteen twenty one, the last Viceroy de de 178 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:05.120 ju realized that resistance was impossible, and so he signed 179 00:14:05.159 --> 00:14:11.080 the famous Treaty of Cordeba, recognizing Mexican independence. On September 180 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.360 the twenty seventh, eighteen twenty one, e Turbe marched into 181 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.960 Mexico City at the head of the army of the 182 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:22.720 Three Guarantees. Bells rang and crowds shouted vive in Deepenzia. 183 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:27.159 After three centuries of Spanish rule and eleven years of 184 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:33.240 bitter conflict, Mexico was free. But of course independence did 185 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:37.039 not bring peace. In fact, it opened a new chapter 186 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:41.000 of political turmoil. That new chapter that we'll get into 187 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:49.000 right after this. Now, Mexico had won independence, but they 188 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:54.120 had done so without really agreeing on what independence actually meant. 189 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:57.120 This is kind of a repeating theme throughout this period 190 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:00.600 in history. There was no constitution in place, There was 191 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:03.320 no consensus on the structure of government. There was no 192 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:06.320 agreement about the role of the church, the army, or 193 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:11.240 the regions. The Viceroy of New Spain vast diverse and 194 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:17.000 deeply unequal had fractured long before independence was achieved. Now 195 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:19.440 the question was how to put it back together again 196 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:23.320 and again. It's worth remembering at this point that Mexico 197 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:27.120 stretches from the present southern border of Mexico all the 198 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:30.799 way up to present day Colorado and California in the 199 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:35.919 United States, So this is pretty massive territory that everyone 200 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:40.519 had to deal with. Between eighteen twenty one and eighteen forty, 201 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:46.039 Mexico would try out empires, republics, dictatorships, and federal systems, 202 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:51.919 all while still searching for a stable political identity. Interestingly enough, 203 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:57.960 Mexico's first experience in government was another monarchy, because Augustine 204 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:03.039 de Turbe, the gentleman who had switch sides, charismatic popular 205 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:06.600 with the military, quickly became the leading figure in post 206 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:10.960 independence Mexico. While the Plan of Igala had envisioned a 207 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:15.080 European prince leading a constitutional monarchy, no one was willing 208 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:19.039 to accept the invitation, So in May of eighteen twenty two, 209 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:26.000 a newly convened Mexican Congress declared Eyterbe Emperor Augustine the First. 210 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:32.840 At first, the crowds cheered, but beneath the surface opposition 211 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:40.320 quickly grew. Mexico inherited a financial crisis. There was a 212 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:43.919 crushing debt and a devastated economy, not the least of 213 00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:47.200 which devastated because of two decades of on again off 214 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:52.840 against civil war. There was also massive regional divisions. Provinces 215 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:58.240 resisted central authority and many wanted federal autonomy. There were 216 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:05.759 political factions. Republicans mistrusted monarchists, clergy feared reforms, and military 217 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:12.000 officers everywhere jockeyed for influence. So when Congress criticized the 218 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:15.440 emperor for his inability to deal with these myriad problems, 219 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:22.039 Emperor Augustine the First simply responded by dissolving Congress opponents 220 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:26.079 then soon rallied behind a rising political figure who's going 221 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:28.319 to play a role in Mexico's story all the way 222 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:33.200 through the US Mexico War, and that is Antonio Lopez 223 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:39.279 Date Santa Anna, a young officer whose ambition oftentimes outpaced 224 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:44.319 his experience and skill. In eighteen twenty three, when Santa 225 00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:48.119 Anna was still a young military officer, he and other leaders, 226 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:53.319 most notably Guadalupe Victoria and Bisante Gerrero, proclaimed the Plan 227 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.839 of Casa Mata, calling for the restoration of Congress and 228 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:04.759 the end of Eturbay's emperorship, and each Bay's support quickly evaporated. 229 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:08.559 He abdicated in March of eighteen twenty three after not 230 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:12.119 even two years, and went into exile in Europe, only 231 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:15.839 to return in eighteen twenty four to be executed as 232 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:18.720 a trader under a law that had been passed that 233 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:23.960 he didn't know about. Whoops, reading is helpful, folks, And 234 00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:27.279 so the empire had lasted honestly less than a year, 235 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:30.799 and Mexico now faced the task of trying to build 236 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:35.119 its first republic. In the wake of the empire's collapse, 237 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:40.119 political leaders gathered to craft a new constitution, influenced this 238 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:43.160 time by the United States model and shaped by the 239 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:48.440 Mexican realities. The Constitution of eighteen twenty four established one 240 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:54.759 a federal republic, two states with considerable autonomy, three a 241 00:18:54.880 --> 00:19:00.920 bicameral Congress, four a president and vice president. Five Catholicism 242 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:05.279 as the official religion. And so it was in many 243 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:09.640 ways an effort to try to marry old Mexico to 244 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:13.160 the new Mexico that wanted to emulate in different ways 245 00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:17.160 the burgeoning power of the United States at the time. 246 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.920 There were two independence heroes who were chosen to lead 247 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:25.680 the new republic. President Guadalupe Victoria. He was a moderate, 248 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:30.920 He was somewhat idealistic, and he was extremely widely respected, 249 00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:34.839 which was something that Emperor Augustine didn't have. And then 250 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:38.720 there was Vice President Nicholas Bravo. He was much much 251 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:43.079 more conservative and suspicious of federalism. But you know what, 252 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:49.200 at last, Mexico at least had a constitutional framework. Unfortunately, 253 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:52.279 it's one thing to write down the rules on a 254 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:55.160 piece of paper and quite another thing, as we know, 255 00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:59.519 to execute those rules. Because the real challenge lay ahead 256 00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:07.599 governing a fractured, impoverished, and often deeply divided country. And 257 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:14.960 so throughout the eighteen twenties, two major factions crystallized. There 258 00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:20.480 were the Federalists and the Centralists. The Federalists favored strong 259 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:24.200 state governments. They advocated for the reform of the church 260 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:31.240 and military privileges. They drew their support generally from liberals, intellectuals, 261 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:36.920 and many provincial leaders, and they were also associated, interestingly enough, 262 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:41.240 with the Masons back in the United States. Then there 263 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:45.440 were the Centralists. The Centralists, as the name probably suggests, 264 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:49.759 one and two A had established a strong national government. 265 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:54.680 They defended the church's role and the special privileges of 266 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:59.920 the military called military pueros. They were supported by conservative elite, 267 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:06.480 high clergy and many army officers. These ideological tensions are 268 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:11.400 going to define Mexican politics for decades and honestly, in 269 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:15.559 many ways still define the Mexico that we know today. 270 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:19.480 This tension between those who want a much stronger federal 271 00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:23.519 government between those who want more autonomy for the states. Honestly, 272 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:26.079 we see this playing out with Moreno and some of 273 00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:31.319 other modern political Mexican parties even today. So it's worth 274 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:35.720 guys knowing your history. As I'm guessing you know, at 275 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:39.440 the center of almost every political storm, though, stood a 276 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:43.119 man whose presence is going to just loom over nineteenth 277 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:48.480 century Mexico who I mentioned before, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. 278 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:52.799 It's a name you want to continue to remember. And 279 00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:57.680 even President Victoria, even though he had enormous wide respect 280 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:01.359 in a lot of sort of individual legitimacy and charisma, 281 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:05.359 even he struggled to hold the fragile republic together, not 282 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:08.279 the least of which because he had to deal with 283 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:15.279 rebellions within his own party. Vice President Nicholas Bravo attempted 284 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:18.559 a conservative revolt against the federal government as early as 285 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:22.839 eighteen twenty seven. Now it failed, but it highlighted the 286 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:26.839 volatility of the Young Republic. And then, of course there 287 00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:31.240 were just the constant fears of encroachment from Europe. There 288 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:35.599 was fear that the Spanish would attempt a reconquest at 289 00:22:35.640 --> 00:22:40.960 some point, and so in eighteen twenty seven, this after 290 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:46.039 the failed Conservative coup, influenced Congress to decree the expulsion 291 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:51.920 of almost all remaining Spaniards from Mexico. Now this is 292 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:56.240 understandable to an extent if you are afraid of, let's say, 293 00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:59.920 you know, a fifth wing coming at you from within. 294 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:04.079 But the problem was is that the vast majority of 295 00:23:04.119 --> 00:23:10.160 these people were the merchants, administrators, and technocrats. This further 296 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:15.000 weakened the Mexican economy and its bureaucracy at frankly the 297 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:20.279 worst possible moment. And all of this happened around eighteen 298 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:23.960 twenty eight, and in eighteen twenty eight was the year 299 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:29.720 for the next Mexican presidential election, and the election for 300 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:35.720 Victoria's successor became a chaotic struggle. There were a couple 301 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.799 of people who were running. Of course, Santa Anna, who 302 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:41.160 I mentioned remember keeping in mind, but then there was 303 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:45.559 also Manuel Gomez Pedrasa. He was a moderate. Santa Anna 304 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:48.200 was a staunch conservative, He will be throughout his entire career, 305 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:50.960 very pro military, relies on the Church for a lot 306 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:54.359 of his support, so on and so forth. But Pandaso won. 307 00:23:55.440 --> 00:24:00.640 Despite that, Santa Anna refused to accept the results. He 308 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:04.920 launched a rebellion, arguing that they had cooked the electoral 309 00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:09.039 books and that the people had been cheated. Riots quickly 310 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:15.039 engulfed Mexico City. Congress overturned the election and installed instead 311 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:21.119 Santa Anta's ally, Vicente Guerrero, another independence hero now Visan 312 00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:25.319 de Guerrero was a man of mixed African, Indigenous and 313 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:29.319 Spanish ancestry, and so to a lot of extent, I 314 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:34.079 guess the elevation of Vicente Guerrero represents some of the 315 00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:40.519 more ambitious goals of the Mexican Revolution, and his government 316 00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:45.720 was quite revolutionary, particularly from a social standpoint. He almost 317 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:50.759 immediately moved to abolish slavery nationwide, which was both a 318 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:57.680 moral and political triumph from Mexico. Now conservative elites despised 319 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:02.640 his administration. He attempted tax reforms and used a lot 320 00:25:02.680 --> 00:25:07.640 of egalitarian rhetoric that frightened both the landowners and the clergies. 321 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:12.720 And so then in eighteen twenty nine, Spain did in 322 00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:17.880 fact launch one final campaign to try to retake Mexico, 323 00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:23.599 landing forces at Tampico. Guerrero intrusted the defense to Santa Anna, 324 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:30.759 who defeated the expedition and became a celebrated national hero. Now, ironically, 325 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:35.039 Santa Anna's fame now threatened Gorreano's rivals more than Spain did. 326 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:41.720 Vice President Anastasio Bustamante, a staunch centralist, overthrew Guerra, who 327 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:45.279 then retreated to the south, continued resistance, and was eventually 328 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:48.200 captured and executed. If you're starting to see a theme 329 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:50.640 here as to why it's difficult from Mexico to establish 330 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:56.240 stability early on, congratulations, ten points for you. Bustamante's regime 331 00:25:56.559 --> 00:26:01.799 sparked widespread uprisings, and Mexico was now in a cycle 332 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:06.839 very familiar in unstable New nations, every presidency followed by 333 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:12.279 a contested election and a rebellion. And so instead this time, 334 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:15.240 what politicians came up with was what was called the 335 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:19.920 Plan of Vera Cruz. In eighteen twenty three, and this 336 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:24.000 was a consequence of Santa Anna's revolt that same year, 337 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:29.079 this time against Bustamante. Fighting spread across the nation, and 338 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:32.400 as part of the plan, Bustamante finally agreed to step 339 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:38.039 down and Santa Anna, ever the political chameleon, stepped into 340 00:26:38.359 --> 00:26:43.319 the presidency, beginning a period of direct rule by Antonio 341 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:47.519 Lopez de Santa Anna. Now, his first term as president, 342 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:51.240 which lasted from eighteen thirty three to eighteen thirty five, 343 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:56.079 was unlike anything Mexico had ever seen. He campaigned as 344 00:26:56.079 --> 00:27:00.680 a liberal reformer, won by a landslide, and then promptly 345 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:04.720 left Vice President Valentine Gomez Farrarias to run the government 346 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:10.119 while he returned home to rest. Gomez ferrarius who might 347 00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:12.880 not have been as close to an ally as Lopez 348 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:18.440 thought he was, immediately launched several sweeping reforms. He reduced 349 00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:21.400 the influence of the Church, at least formally in government. 350 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:27.359 He curbed military privileges, He secularized education, some major step 351 00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:29.960 forward from Mexico at the time, and he pushed for 352 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:35.920 fiscal modernization throughout the country. Now, these reforms thrilled liberals, 353 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:40.519 but they enraged conservatives and members of the clergy, and so, 354 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:45.319 sensing that the political wins were turning, suddenly, Santa Ana 355 00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:49.440 decided to return from his little retirement party to the capitol. 356 00:27:49.960 --> 00:27:55.160 He declared that Farraria's reforms were excessive, and now switching sides, 357 00:27:55.559 --> 00:27:58.880 he aligned himself with the Conservatives and not the Vice president, 358 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:03.960 but he left in charge. He overthrew, in fact, the 359 00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:07.680 very government that he had been elected to lead. This 360 00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:10.960 is one of those bizarre moments in history where people 361 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:17.200 switching sides lead to rather interesting results. Now, what's fascinating 362 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:19.519 is that at least one thing was becoming clear about 363 00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:22.039 the Santa Ana period in Mexican history, and that is 364 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:25.480 that Santa Anna was not loyal to any particular ideology. 365 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:30.960 Santa Anna was only loyal to Santa Anna period, full stop. 366 00:28:31.160 --> 00:28:34.440 And that's going to be something that repeats throughout Now 367 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:38.279 with conservative support, Santa Anta dismantled the eighteen twenty four 368 00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:41.720 federal system and in place put the siet de Las, 369 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:45.880 or the Seven Laws, which were passed in eighteen thirty six. Now, 370 00:28:45.960 --> 00:28:51.440 these transformed Mexico into a centrist republic. States became a 371 00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:56.680 military controlled departments, voting rights were now really restricted, and 372 00:28:56.759 --> 00:29:01.039 the presidency gained sweeping powers close to a monarch. There 373 00:29:01.079 --> 00:29:05.319 was now a supreme conservative power that oversaw the government. 374 00:29:06.039 --> 00:29:11.839 This shift, of course, outraged federalists across the country. Revolts 375 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:15.559 spread everywhere. There was a revolt in Zacatecas, which was 376 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:18.519 crushed by Santa Ana. There was a revolt throughout the 377 00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:22.599 Yucatan which nearly succeeded. And then, of course there was 378 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:26.359 the secession of Texas, which led to the Texas Revolution 379 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:29.200 between eighteen thirty five and eighteen thirty six. I'm going 380 00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:32.559 to come back to that one later on. The loss 381 00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:36.880 of Texas severely damaged Santa Ana's prestige, especially after his 382 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:39.599 capture at San Jacinto, which is that we'll talk about 383 00:29:39.640 --> 00:29:44.759 in future episodes. That being said, one thing did endure 384 00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:47.720 after eighteen thirty five eighteen thirty six, and that was 385 00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:51.039 the centrist regime for at least the moment there would 386 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:57.599 be going no going back, that is, to a federal republic. Now. 387 00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:03.200 After Santa Anna's defeat in Texas, conservatives rallied around Bustamante again, 388 00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:08.599 who returned to the presidency in eighteen thirty seven. This, 389 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:14.400 unfortunately resulted in a couple of issues cropping up Bustamante 390 00:30:14.519 --> 00:30:17.920 faced a lot of things. There was economic collapse, there 391 00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:22.160 continued to be regional insurgencies, and there was growing discontent 392 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:26.279 with centralism. That leads me to one of the most 393 00:30:26.279 --> 00:30:29.759 interesting parts in this period of history, which is called 394 00:30:29.799 --> 00:30:34.400 the pastry or. In the eighteen twenties, during one of 395 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:38.720 Mexico's many internal uprisings, a French baker in Mexico City 396 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:42.759 claimed that Mexican soldiers had looted and destroyed his pastry shop. 397 00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:48.640 He demanded compensation, an extravagant sum. Through diplomatic channels, his 398 00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:51.519 complaint was soon folded into a much larger list of 399 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:55.519 grievances by French merchants who argued that Mexico had failed 400 00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:59.319 to protect foreign property and honor debts. Backed by the 401 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:04.440