In 1822 Agustín de Iturbide had himself proclaimed Emperor of Mexico. At that time, the former viceroyalty of New Spain and the Captaincy General of Guatemala were part of the Mexican territory. The economic situation of the Empire was precarious. Santa Anna and Guerrero proclaimed the Casa Mata Plan, which was ignored by the Iturbide government and announced the establishment of a Republic. In the context of the economic and political crisis, Iturbide abdicated on March 19, 1823 and went into exile. In July, the United Provinces of Central America declared their independence.
In 1824 the Constituent Congress promulgated the Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States, known as the Constitution of 1824. The document indicated that the Nation would adopt a federal government with a division of powers. Congress called elections, in which Guadalupe Victoria was the winner for the period 1824 – 1829. After Victoria’s presidency ended, Mexican political life became unstable due to the struggles between the old aristocracy and the small group of liberal bourgeoisie of the country. The central character throughout the first half of the 19th century was Antonio López de Santa Anna. He rose to power eleven times; five of them as liberal and the other six as conservative.
In 1833 the first liberal reform of the State took place, headed by Valentín Gómez Farías (who was also interim president, since Santa Anna had retired to rest on his estate) and José María Luis Mora. This reform ended in the installation of a centralist republic. In 1835 the Seven Laws were promulgated, the name given to the constitution of a centralist court whose validity led to the declaration of independence of Zacatecas and Texas, the latter requested protection from the government of the United States of America.
According to allcitycodes, Santa Anna appointed Manuel Barragán provisional president to go fight the Texans. In 1836 Mexico declared war on Texas and Santa Anna defeated the Texans at Béjar and at the Alamo Fort, but was defeated and taken prisoner by Houston at San Jacinto.
After the defeat Santa Anna signs the Velasco treaties by which Mexico recognizes the independence of Texas. In 1841 the state of Tabasco separated from Mexico, rejoining in 1842. That same year, 1841, the Republic of Yucatán declared its independence, and it would not rejoin Mexico until 1848.
On January 6, 1843, the Second Centralist Republic was proclaimed, headed by Santa Anna. Unable to face the American invasion, the central government was again replaced by a federal one, which began on August 22, 1846. At this time, Mexico was facing the war against the United States, which had annexed the Republic of Texas in 1845 and in 1846 claimed possession of the strip between the Bravo and Nueces rivers, which led to a war and the subsequent American occupation that it lasted from 1847 to 1848, and concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
All Mexico got from the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe – Hidalgo was $ 15 million and some property and language rights to the lands they lost. the Treaty gave the United States some of the best territories in Mexico: the current North American Southwest.
New conflicts arose between liberals and conservatives caused by the arrival – for the eleventh time – of Santa Anna to power (1853-1855). Santa Anna named himself Dictator of Mexico and ruled with the title of His Serene Highness by constitutional law. Meanwhile, the country was bankrupt and the government was extremely corrupt. The 30 of December of 1853 Santa Anna signed the sale of 76 845 square kilometers of Mexican territory to the United States for 10 million pesos. This sale is known as Venta de La Mesilla. For this reason, in 1854 the Liberals went to war, protected by the Ayutla Plan and led by Juan N. Álvarez and Ignacio Comonfort..
The 1 of February of 1854, proclaiming the plan of Ayutla against Santa Anna, Benito Juarez was appointed Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs in the new government. When Comonfort gave his coup, Juárez assumed the interim presidency the 15 of January of 1858, establishing in Guanajuato his government and declaring the so – called War of the Three Years or reform, which ended with his victory and liberals, meanwhile the conservatives fought in guerrillas. Juárez summoned a new constituent who promulgated the new liberal-oriented Mexican constitution.
The War of Reform ended with the victory of the Liberals in January 1861. Encouraged by the French Emperor Napoleon III, Great Britain and Spain prepared together with France to invade Mexico, and an international squad appeared in the waters of Veracruz. The government of Juárez wanted to negotiate but the French did not want only economic compensation, their true objective was to establish a monarchy in Mexico under their influence. In addition, a group of conservative Mexicans and enemies of the reform gave them their support. The Spanish and the English withdrew, but the French forces headed for the capital. His triumph was not so quick in Puebla, on May 5 An army of 4,000 men under the command of General Zaragoza defeated the invaders despite their numerical superiority, the French withdrew to Orizaba, where they were joined by a conservative force led by General Márquez and from there they marched back to Puebla. Zaragoza died, but his troops defended the city for two months, after which they had to surrender. After the fall of Puebla, the invaders entered the capital and, on July 10, a council of notable conservatives offered the crown of Mexico declaring the Archduke Maximiliano of Austria a monarchy. Lacking support, the Mexican empire Collapsed. The Empress Carlota went in vain to ask Napoleon III and the Pope for help. Finally, he lost his reason, while Maximiliano was defeated in Querétaro and shot by Juárez along with Generals Miramón and Mejía on the hill of the bells, on June 19, 1867.
On December 8, Juárez presided over the union congress, once again meeting in the capital after 6 years of happy resistance, he had to finish his reform, interrupted by the struggle, his presidential term had ended during the civil war. He was re-elected twice. Porfirio Díaz, a native of Oaxaca and also of Zapotec descent, led an uprising flying the banner of “no-reelection.” Juárez suffocated him, but he died shortly after, on July 18, 1872, when he had been reelected.
Porfirio Díaz had supported the Ayutla Plan under the orders of Juárez during the reform war and against Maximiliano. Due to differences with Juárez, he proclaimed the Plan de la Noria, and had to go into exile. Later, he launched the Plan de Tuxtepec against Lerdo de Tejada, he occupied the capital and the government in 1876, and ruled until 1911 with few interruptions. No man had held power for so long after the conquest. He ran the country for 30 years, sometimes directly and sometimes through another president. Many of the reform laws were annulled, mainly those relating to church property and religious education.
