Mexico after independence Experienced a great change in economic, political and social structures and beliefs.
The history of Mexican Independence (1810 - 1821) is full of fierce struggles for ideals such as freedom, justice and equality.
Monument to the independence of Mexico
It was about 11 years of uncertainty, in which each participant fought for their own or common interests, which resulted in the independence of Mexico, and foot to another era. The consequences of years of instability, war and oppression became visible in all corners of the new nation.
For although the"good"won and brought the Mexicans to such precious freedom, the reality is that the newly formed country was plunged into a crisis that affected the majority, if not all the areas necessary to promote and maintain their development.
You may be interested in viewing the Causes of Mexico's independence .
Mexico after independence
Economic scope
Graphic retrieved from eh.net.
Mexico was in crisis. The war had reduced the labor force of economic sustenance.
It is estimated that at least one-sixth of the population had perished in battles, and the victims were primarily men, statisticians, who were responsible for most of the physical labor, such as agriculture and mining.
Such a lack of manpower influenced the decline of food products. In addition the number of bodies in the battlefields and the overcrowding in the trenches, caused infectious diseases that plunged the town even more in misery.
Mexico was independent of Spain, but not of the Church or of the wealthy classes. In addition, the new government had inherited the external debt that had been contracted to pay the soldiers' salaries, weapons and all the expenses of the war.
For all this, Iturbide Tried to raise the economy with mercantile strategies, but when these failed, he had to resort to drastic means, such as the reduction of taxes to investors and the auction of Church property. After all, it was the one who possessed more goods and privileges thanks to the favor of the Catholic kings of Spain.
This caused the discontent of the Church and the high social classes, who had supported Independence with the idea of governing the country themselves.
Trade allowed some social classes, such as mestizos, to thrive through trade. In spite of all this, there was soon economic stagnation due to lack of transport infrastructure and the high level of violence in rural areas.
The country was on the verge of misery and it turned to the English to request a loan that only helped for a short period and that failed to inject the expected boom to the exploitation of mines.
In 1830 the bank of Avio was founded, with the purpose of solving industries, but the development that was sought was slow compared to the necessities of the town.
Political situation
Between the years of 1821 to 1851, the country had more than 20 governors. Mexico was a new country, plunged into poverty and without diplomatic relations.
He saw his first years led by Agustín de Iturbide who, despite having openly supported Independence, shortly after plotted and achieved his appointment as emperor.
The change from country to empire did not last long, for Antonio López de Santa Anna , A leader of Veracruz, upon learning of Iturbide's true objective, rose up in arms and managed to come to power only 10 months after being supported by Vicente Guerrero and Nicolás Bravo.
Mexico was not ready to leave the revolts and the following years were full of uprisings in struggle for the power, that ended up being differentiated in two groups, Realists and Conservatives.
The realists were supported by the United States of America and aimed to:
- Make radical changes in the social structure through a democratic and representative Republic for all social classes.
- Establish 3 powers: Executive, Legislative and Judicial.
- Allow freedom of belief
- Individual freedoms
- Separate the Church from the State and seize their property
- That the crimes of the army be judged with equity
- That education was available to all
The Conservatives were supported by the privileged classes, the army, Spain and France, and their objectives were:
- Continue the privileges of the rich
- To institute a centralist monarchy with states as departments
- Permit clergy privileges and not allow free choice of religion
- That the church provide education to eliminate liberal ideas from the root
- Education available only to the rich
The battles between the two factions once again plunged the country into disarray, many of the Central American provinces separated, and the congress appointed a"triumvirate"in which power would fall while a national assembly was called.
In addition, in 1824, a fundamental constitution of 36 articles was published, which established that the country would be governed representatively and popularly as a Federalist Republic.
The states were given power and sovereignty so that, although they were part of the country, they had their own governments and legislations. This was the basis for the country's current federal governments.
The first president under these premises was Guadalupe Victoria, who was received by the people with the hope that would bring the true changes of the independence.
Social ambit
Although the people were free from Spanish oppression, social classes remained marked. The rich and hacendados continued to have privileges and the poor living in poverty, victims of hunger and illiteracy.
Population growth was slow as the war had wreaked havoc and living conditions were deplorable. The survival rate of newborns was very low, and mortality from infections and diseases was very high.
In addition, the attempt of economic development concentrated the industries in the big cities and capitals, which caused a mass migration towards the cities and left the field without manpower.
These new settlements made the cities grow much faster than the development of services, so that large cities were divided between areas of the rich, with services and comforts, and the poor, who were unhealthy and dirty .
Division of urban society
- High: Politicians, military and intellectuals.
- Media: Artisans, shopkeepers and workshop owners.
- Low: Masons, cooks, porters, stone throwers, etc.
Division of rural society
- High. Great merchants, ranchers, ejidatarios and administrators.
- Media: Tenderos, craftsmen, workers of mines and muleteers.
- Low: Indigenous.
Although the constitution proclaimed equality, the reality was that the servants were not allowed to vote and the lower class was marginalized because of its"tendency"to banditry.
The government did nothing to eliminate poverty or unmask the bosses of the thieves' bands, which were often the same landowners or military leaders.
Religious Area
Despite being free from Spain, Catholicism was already rooted in society; The hacendados and descendants of the Spaniards did not allow or conceive a republic separated from the clergy.
Such was the rootedness of religion imposed by the Spaniards upon their arrival, that many of the natives protected it with equal zeal than the upper classes.
The Church's power over the people and the government was overwhelming, because thanks to the years of inquisition and torture, it not only had more properties than the congress, but also had the responsibility of educating the country, which only The children of the hacendados were allowed.
In conclusion, the beginning of Mexico as an independent country was far from the expectations of the heroes and not so heroes of independence.
Freeing himself from an oppressive monarchy did not eliminate the problems of poverty, illiteracy and elitism, but increased them in a country that remained in complete disorder. Military forces, seeing that there was no government, took an important part in the balance of power.
There were no laws to protect the poor from the abuses of the rich, the war had left minimal food production, and many families lost all their male members and at that time there was no guarantee or possible support from a disorganized government.
In addition to this, Mexico was a victim of the attempt to colonize several countries, such as France and the United States, which, on seeing the volatile nation, attempted to invade it and seize its natural resources .
References
- New Spain versus Mexico: Historiography, Chust, Manuel. Complutense Magazine of America's History; Madrid33 (2007): pages. 15-33. Retrieved from search.proquest.com.
- The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: A Legacy of Conflict, Richard Griswold of the Castle University of Oklahoma Press, 01/09/1992, pages 17 - 32. Retrieved from books.google.com.
- A Concise History of Mexico, Brian R. Hamnett, Cambridge University Press, 04/05/2006 - pages 172-182. Retrieved from books.google.com.
- The Crisis of Independence, Instability and the Early Nation by Dr. Eric Mayer, 29 December 2012. Retrieved from emayzine.com.
- The Economic History of Mexico, Richard Salvucci, Trinity University. Eh.net/encyclopedia.
- Caste and Politics in the Struggle for Mexican Independence, Hana Layson and Charlotte Ross with Christopher Boyer. Retrieved from dcc.newberry.org.
- Down From Colonialism: Mexico's 19th Century Crisis by Jamie Rodriguez O. Ed. 1980. Retrieved from historicaltextarchive.com.