Chapter IV: , VII (176)

"The establishment of a constitutional government in Spain, in
1820, produced upon Mexico an effect very different from what
was anticipated. As the constitution provided for a more
liberal administration of government in Mexico than had
prevailed since 1812, the increased freedom of the elections
again threw the minds of the people into a ferment, and the
spirit of independence, which had been only smothered, broke
forth anew. Moreover, divisions were created among the old
Spaniards themselves; some being in favor of the old system,
while others were sincerely attached to the constitution. Some
formidable inroads on the property and prerogatives of the
church alienated the clergy from the new government, and
induced them to desire a return to the old system.
{2171}
The Viceroy, Apodaca, encouraged by the hopes held out by the
Royalists in Spain, although he had at first taken the oath to
support the constitution, secretly favored the party opposed
to it, and arranged his plans for its overthrow. Don Augustin
Iturbide, the person selected by the Viceroy to make the first
open demonstration against the existing government, was
offered the command of a body of troops on the western coast,
at the head of which he was to proclaim the re-establishment
of the absolute authority of the king. Iturbide, accepting the
commission, departed from the capital to take command of the
troops, but with intentions very different from those which
the Viceroy supposed him to entertain. Reflecting upon the
state of the country, and convinced of the facility with which
the authority of Spain might be shaken off,—by bringing the
Creole troops to act in concert with the old insurgents,
—Iturbide resolved to proclaim Mexico wholly independent of
the Spanish nation. Having his head quarters at the little
town of Iguala, on the road to Acapulco, Iturbide, on the 24th
of February, 1821, there proclaimed his project, known as the
'Plan of Iguala,' and induced his soldiers to take an oath to
support it. This 'Plan' declared that Mexico should be an
independent nation, its religion Catholic, and its government
a constitutional monarchy. The crown was offered to Ferdinand
VII, of Spain, provided he would consent to occupy the throne
in person; and, in case of his refusal, to his infant
brothers, Don Carlos and Don Francisco. A constitution was to
be formed by a Mexican Congress; … all distinctions of caste
were to be abolished. … The Viceroy, astonished by this
unexpected movement of Iturbide, and remaining irresolute and
inactive at the capital, was deposed, and Don Francisco
Novello, a military officer, was placed at the head of the
government; but his authority was not generally recognized,
and Iturbide was left to pursue his plans in the interior
without interruption. Being joined by Generals Guerrero and
Victoria as soon as they knew that the independence of their
country was the object of Iturbide, not only all the survivors
of the first insurgents, but whole detachments of Creole
troops flocked to his standard, and his success was soon
rendered certain. The clergy and the people were equally
decided in favor of independence; … and, before the month of
July, the whole country recognized the authority of Iturbide,
with the exception of the capital, in which Novello had shut
himself up with the European troops. Iturbide had already
reached Queretaro with his troops, on his road to Mexico, when
he was informed of the arrival, at Vera Cruz, of a new
Viceroy. … At Cordova, whither the Viceroy had been allowed
to proceed, for the purpose of an interview with Iturbide, the
latter induced him to accept by treaty the Plan of Iguala, as
the only means of securing the lives and property of the
Spaniards then in Mexico, and of establishing the right to the
throne in the house of Bourbon. By this agreement, called the
'Treaty of Cordova,' the Viceroy, in the name of the king, his
master, recognized the independence of Mexico, and gave up the
capital to the army of the insurgents, which took possession
of it, without effusion of blood, on the 27th of September,
1821. All opposition being ended, and the capital occupied, in
accordance with a provision of the Plan of Iguala a
provisional junta was established, the principal business of
which was to call a congress for the formation of a
constitution suitable to the country. At the same time a
regency, consisting of five individuals, was elected, at the
head of which was placed Iturbide. … When the congress
assembled [February 24, 1822], three distinct parties were
found amongst the members. The Bourbonists, adhering to the
Plan of Iguala altogether, wished a constitutional monarchy,
with a prince of the house of Bourbon at its head; the
Republican, setting aside the Plan of Iguala, desired a
federal republic; while a third party, the Iturbidists,
adopting the Plan of Iguala with the exception of the article
in favor of the Bourbons, wished to place Iturbide himself
upon the throne. As it was soon learned that the Spanish
government had declared the treaty of Cordova null and void,
the Bourbonists ceased to exist as a party, and the struggle
was confined to the Iturbidists and the Republicans." By the
aid of a mob demonstration in the city of Mexico, on the night
of May 18, 1822, the former triumphed, and Iturbide was
declared emperor, under the title of Augustin the First. "The
choice was ratified by the provinces without opposition, and
Iturbide found himself in peaceable possession of a throne to
which his own abilities and a concurrence of favorable
circumstances had raised him. Had the monarch elect been
guided by counsels of prudence, and allowed his authority to
be confined within constitutional limits, he might perhaps
have continued to maintain a modified authority; but
forgetting the unstable foundation of his throne, he began his
reign with all the airs of hereditary royalty. On his
accession a struggle for power immediately commenced between
him and the congress." After arbitrarily imprisoning the most
distinguished members of that body, Iturbide, at last,
proclaimed its dissolution and substituted a junta of his own
nomination. "Before the end of November an insurrection broke
out in the northern provinces, but this was speedily quelled
by the imperial troops." It was followed in December by a more
formidable revolt, led off by Santa Anna (or Santana), a young
general who had supported Iturbide, but who had been haughtily
dismissed from the government of Vera Cruz. Santa Anna was
joined by Victoria and other old Republican leaders, and the
power of Iturbide crumbled so rapidly that he resigned his
crown on the 19th of March, 1823, promising to quit the
country, on being assured a yearly allowance of $25,000 for
his support. "With his family and suite he embarked for
Leghorn on the 11th of May. … From Italy he proceeded to
London, and made preparations for returning to Mexico; in
consequence of which, congress, on the 28th of April, 1824,
passed a decree of outlawry against him. He landed in disguise
at Soto la Marina, July 14th, 1824; was arrested by General
Garza, and shot at Padillo by order of the provincial congress
of Tamaulipas, on the 19th of that month. … On the departure
of Iturbide, a temporary executive was appointed, consisting
of Generals Victoria, Bravo, and Negrete, by whom the
government was administered until the meeting of a new
congress, which assembled at the capital in August, 1823.
{2172}
This body immediately entered on the duties of preparing a new
constitution, which was submitted on the 31st of January,
1824, and definitively sanctioned on the 4th of October
following. By this instrument, modeled somewhat after the
constitution of the United States, the absolute independence
of the country was declared, and the several Mexican Provinces
were united in a Federal Republic. The legislative power was
vested in a Congress, consisting of a Senate and a House of
Representatives. … The supreme executive authority was
vested in one individual, styled the 'President of the United
Mexican States.' … The third article in the constitution
declared that 'The Religion of the Mexican Nation is, and will
be perpetually, the Roman Catholic Apostolic. The nation will
protect it by wise and just laws, and prohibit the exercise of
any other whatever.' … On the 1st of January, 1825, the
first congress under the federal constitution assembled in the
city of Mexico; and, at the same time, General Guadalupe
Victoria was installed as president of the republic, and
General Nicholas Bravo as vice-president. The years 1825 and
1826 passed with few disturbances; the administration of
Victoria was generally popular; and the country enjoyed a
higher degree of prosperity than at any former or subsequent
period."

_M. Willson,
American History,
book 3, part 2, chapters 4-5._

ALSO IN:
_H. H. Bancroft,
History of the Pacific States,
volume 7 (Mexico, volume 3), chapters 29-33,
and volume 8, chapters 1-2._

MEXICO: A. D. 1822-1828.
Free-Masonry in politics.
The rival branches of the order.
The Escocés and the Yorkinos.

For some years a furious contest raged between two political
societies, "known as the 'Escocés' and 'Yorkinos'—or, as we
should call them, Scotch Free-Masons and York
Free-Masons—whose secret organizations were employed for
political purposes by two rival political parties. At the time
of the restoration of the Constitutional Government of Spain
in 1820, Free-Masonry was introduced into Mexico; and as it
was derived from the Scotch branch of that order, it was
called, after the name of the people of Scotland, 'Escocés.'
Into this institution were initiated many of the old Spaniards
still remaining in the country, the Creole aristocracy, and
the privileged classes—parties that could ill endure the
elevation of a Creole colonel, Iturbide, to the Imperial
throne. When Mr. Poinsett was sent out as Embassador to Mexico
[1822], he carried with him the charter for a Grand Lodge from
the American, or York order of Free-Masons in the United
States. Into this new order the leaders of the Democratic
party were initiated. The bitter rivalry that sprung up
between these two branches of the Masonic body kept the
country in a ferment for ten years, and resulted finally in
the formation of a party whose motto was opposition to all
secret societies, and who derived their name of Anti-Masons
from the party of the same name then flourishing in the United
States. When the Escocés had so far lost ground in popular
favor as to be in the greatest apprehension from their
prosperous but imbittered rivals, the Yorkinos, as a last
resort, to save themselves, and to ruin the hated
organization, they pronounced against all secret societies.
… 'General Bravo,' Vice-President of Mexico, and leader of
the Escocés, having issued his proclamation declaring that, as
a last resort, he appealed to arms to rid the republic of that
pest, secret societies, and that he would not give up the
contest until he had rooted them out, root and branch, took up
his position at Tulansingo—a village about 30 miles north of
the City of Mexico. Here, at about daylight on the morning of
the 7th January, 1828, he was assailed by General Guerrero,
the leader of the Yorkinos, and commander of the forces of
government.' After a slight skirmish, in which eight men were
killed and six wounded, General Bravo and his party were made
prisoners; and thus perished forever the party of the Escocés.
This victory was so complete as to prove a real disaster to
the Yorkinos. The want of outside pressure led to internal
dissensions; so that when two of its own members, Guerrero and
Pedraza, became rival candidates for the presidency, the
election was determined by a resort to arms."

_R. A. Wilson,
Mexico: its Peasants and its Priests,
chapter 5._

ALSO IN:
_H. H. Bancroft,
History of the Pacific States,
volume 8 (Mexico, volume 5), chapter 2._

MEXICO: A. D. 1828-1844.
The rise of Santa Anna.
Dissolution of the Federal System.
The Unitary Republic established.
Recognition by Spain.
The Pastry War.
Retrogradation and decline.

"After the death of Iturbide, by far the most powerful person
in the nation was the Creole general Santa Anna, who, at the
age of 24, had already destroyed the military empire of his
chief. Santa Anna at first interested himself in the visionary
project of Bolivar for framing a general confederation of the
new nations of South America.

See COLOMBIAN STATES: A. D. 1826.

This project … failed completely; and for several years he
settled down as governor of Vera Cruz, reconciled himself to
the Federal Republic, and took no part in public life. In
1828, however, the Presidential election led to a civil war in
which Santa Anna and his favourite Veracrusanos first found
out their capabilities; and they had an opportunity of testing
them again in the next year, when the feeble force of
Barrados, the last military attempt made by Spain to reduce
Mexico, was cut to pieces at Tampico. From that movement Santa
Anna became the sole controller of the destinies of the
country: and in 1833 he was elected President. Forty years ago
all Europe knew the picture of Santa Anna, with his tall spare
figure, sunburnt face, and black hair curling over his
forehead; how he lived on his hacienda of Manga de Clavo,
cockfighting, gambling, and horse-racing, occasionally putting
himself at the head of his bronzed troops, and either making a
dash at an insurrection, or making a pronunciamento on his own
account. Mexican histories tell how gallantly he defended Vera
Cruz in 1839, against the French invasion under Prince de
Joinville [called 'the Pastry War,' because consequent on the
non-payment of French claims, among which there was prominence
given to a certain pastry-cook's claim for goods destroyed in
the riot of a revolution at the capital in 1828]; how his leg,
having been shattered by a ball, was buried with a solemn
service and a funeral oration in the cemetery of Santa Paula
in Mexico; and how, in a few years, when Santa Anna was in
disgrace with the people, they destroyed the tomb, and kicked
Santa Anna's limb about the streets with every mark of hatred
and contempt. …
{2173}
The manifold difficulties of government in Mexico sufficiently
attested the weakness of the Federal constitution; and in
1835, after a trial of eleven years, the state governments
were dissolved, and the Republic, one and indivisible, set up
for a time in their place. There was now to be a President,
elected by an indirect vote for eight years, a Senate, and a
House of Deputies, both elected by a direct popular vote, and
an elective Supreme Court. Santa Anna, who was identified with
the Unitary principle, was re-elected three times; so that
with some intermission he governed Mexico for 20 years. The
dissolution of the Federal government naturally strengthened
the hands of Santa Anna; and in 1836 Mexico was for the first
time recognized by Spain. But the unitary republic was a time
of disaster and disgrace; and from the point of view of
progress it was a period of reaction. … Europe looked
forward, almost without jealousy, to the time when the great
nation of North America would absorb this people of
half-civilized Indians mixed with degenerate Spaniards. Events
which now happened greatly strengthened this impression."

_E. J. Payne,
History of European Colonies,
chapter 20, sections 6-7._

MEXICO: A. D. 1829-1837.
The Abolition of Slavery.

"The general affairs of the country in the second half of 1829
were in a chaotic state. Disorganization fettered every branch
of the government. … And yet, amidst its constant struggle,
Guerrero's administration decreed several progressive
measures, the most important of which was the abolition of
slavery. African slavery had indeed been reduced to narrow
limits. The Dominican provincial of Chiapas, Father Matias
Cordoba, gave freedom to the slaves on the estates of his
order. On the 16th of September, 1825, President Victoria had
liberated in the country's name the slaves purchased with a
certain fund collected for that purpose, as well as those
given up by their owners to the patriotic junta. The general
abolition, however, was not actually carried out for some
time, certain difficulties having arisen; and several states,
among which was Zacatecas, had decreed the freedom of slaves
before the general government arrived at a final conclusion on
the subject. As a matter of fact, the few remaining slaves
were in domestic service, and treated more like members of
families than as actual chattels. At last Deputy Tornel,
taking advantage of the time when Guerrero was invested with
extraordinary powers, drew up and laid before him a decree for
total abolition. It was signed September 15, 1829, and
proclaimed the next day, the national anniversary. The law met
with no demur save from Coahuila and Texas, in which state
were about 1,000 slaves, whose manumission would cost heavily,
as the owners held them at a high valuation. It seems that the
law was not fully enforced; for on the 5th of April, 1837,
another was promulgated, declaring slavery abolished without
exception and with compensation to the owners."

_H. H. Bancroft,
History of the Pacific States,
volume 8 (Mexico, volume 5), chapter 4._

MEXICO: A. D. 1845.
The Annexation of Texas to the United States.

See TEXAS: A. D. 1836-1845.

MEXICO: A. D. 1846.
The American aggression which precipitated war.

"Texas had claimed the Rio Grande as her western limit, though
she had never exercised actual control over either New Mexico
or the country lying between the Nueces and the Rio Grande.
The groundless character of the claims of Texas to the Rio
Grande as its western boundary was even admitted by some
friends of the measure. … Silas Wright, … referring to the
boundaries of Texas, declared that 'they embraced a country to
which Texas had no claims, over which she had never asserted
jurisdiction, and which she had no right to cede.' Mr. Benton
denounced the treaty [of annexation and cession of territory]
as an attempt to seize 2,000 square miles of Mexican territory
by the incorporation of the left bank of the Rio del Norte,
which would be an act of direct aggression. … In ordering,
therefore, General Taylor to pass a portion of his forces
westward of the river Nueces, which was done before annexation
was accomplished, President Polk put in peril the peace and
the good name of the country. In his Annual Message of
December of that year [1845] he stated that American troops
were in position on the Nueces, 'to defend our own and the
rights of Texas.' But, not content with occupying ground on
and westward of the Nueces, he issued, on the 13th of January,
1846, the fatal order to General Taylor to advance and 'occupy
positions on or near the left bank of the Rio del Norte.' That
movement of the army from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande, a
distance of more than 100 miles, was an invasion of Mexican
territory,—an act of war for which the President was and must
ever be held responsible by the general judgment of mankind."

_H. Wilson,
History of the Rise and Fall
of the Slave Power in America,
volume 2, chapter 2._

ALSO IN:
_T. H. Benton,
Thirty Years' View,
volume 2, chapter 149._

MEXICO: A. D. 1846-1847.
The American conquest of California.

See CALIFORNIA: A. D. 1846-1847.

MEXICO: A. D. 1846-1847.
War with the United States.
The first movements of American invasion.
Palo Alto.
Resaca de la Palma.
Monterey.
Buena Vista.
Fremont in California.

"The annexation of Texas accomplished [see TEXAS: A. D.
1824-1836, and 1836-1845], General Taylor, the United States
commander in the Southwest, received orders to advance to the
Rio Grande. Such was the impoverished and distracted condition
of Mexico that she apparently contemplated no retaliation for
the injury she had sustained, and, had the American army
remained at the Nueces, a conflict might perhaps have been
avoided. But, on Taylor's approaching the Rio Grande, a combat
ensued [May 8, 1846] at Palo Alto with Arista, the Mexican
commander, who crossed over that stream. It ended in the
defeat of the Mexicans, and the next day another engagement
took place at Resaca de la Palma, with the same result. These
actions eventually assumed considerable political importance.
They were among the causes of General Taylor's subsequent
elevation to the Presidency. As soon as intelligence of what
had occurred reached Washington, President Polk, forgetting
that the author of a war is not he who begins it, but he who
has made it necessary, addressed a special message to Congress
announcing that the Mexicans 'had at last invaded our
territory, and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our
own soil.' Congress at once (May 13th, 1846) passed an act
providing money and men.
{2174}
Its preamble stated, 'Whereas, by the act of the Republic of
Mexico, a state of war exists between that country and the
United States, be it enacted,' etc. As long previously as
1843, Mr. Bocanegra, the Mexican Minister of Foreign
Relations, had formally notified the American government that
the annexation of Texas would inevitably lead to war. General
Almonte, the Mexican minister at Washington, in a note to Mr.
Upshur, the Secretary of State, said that, 'in the name of his
nation, and now for them, he protests, in the most solemn
manner, against such an aggression; and he moreover declares,
by express order of his government, that, on sanction being
given by the executive of the Union to the incorporation of
Texas into the United States, he will consider his mission
ended, seeing that, as the Secretary of State will have
learned, the Mexican government is resolved to declare war as
soon as it receives intimation of such an act.' War being thus
provoked by the American government, General Scott received
orders (November 18th, 1846) to take command of the expedition
intended for the invasion of Mexico."

_J. W. Draper,
History of the American Civil War,
chapter 23 (volume 1)._

After his defeat at Resaca de la Palma, the Mexican general
Arista "retreated in the direction of San Luis Potosi, and was
superseded by General Pedro Ampudia. General Taylor marched
his forces across the Rio Grande on the 17th of May and the
invasion of Mexico was begun in earnest. From the 21st to the
24th of September, he was engaged with 7,000 men in the attack
upon Monterey, the capital of Nueva Leon, garrisoned by a
force of 9,000. He met with the same success which had
attended his former engagements. General Ampudia was also
forced to retire to San Luis Potosi. The brilliant features of
this attack were the assault upon Obispado Viejo by General
Worth on the first day of the fight, and the storming of the
heights above on the following day. … Upon the defeat of
Ampudia, Santa Anna, having then just attained to the chief
magistracy of Mexico [the American blockading squadron at Vera
Cruz had permitted him to return to the country, expecting
that his presence would be advantageous to the invaders], and
left it in the hands of his Vice-President, Gomez Farias, took
the command of the Mexican forces and set out to check the
advance of General Taylor. On the 23d of February, 1847, the
bloody battle of Angostura, as it is called by the Mexicans
(known to the Americans as the battle of Buena Vista), was
fought, and lost by the Mexican army. Santa Anna returned to
San Luis Potosi, whence he was called to the capital to head
off the insurrection against Gomez Farias, by the party called
derisively the Polkos, because their insurrection at that time
was clearly favorable to the movements of the American army,
and because James K. Polk was then the President of the United
States and head of the American party favorable to the war. It
was at this time that the army of Taylor was reduced to about
5,000 men in order to supply General Winfield Scott with
forces to carry out his military operations, and the field of
war was transferred to the region between Vera Cruz and the
capital. While these events were in progress an expedition
under General John C. Fremont had been made over-land through
New Mexico and into California [see CALIFORNIA: A. D.
1846-1847; and NEW MEXICO: A. D. 1846], and under the
directions of the United States government the Mexicans of
California had been incited to revolt."

_A. H. Noll,
Short History of Mexico,
chapter 9._

ALSO IN:
_H. Von Holst,
Constitutional and Political History of the U. S.,
volume 3, chapters 4-9._

_H. O. Ladd,
History of the War with Mexico,
chapters 4-8._

_E. D. Mansfield,
History of the Mexican War,
chapters 2-4 and 8._

_O. O. Howard,
General Taylor,
chapters 8-19._

MEXICO: A. D. 1847 (March-September).
General Scott's campaign.
From Vera Cruz to the capital.
Cerro Gordo.
Contreras.
Churubusco.
Molino del Rey.
Chapultepec.
The conquest complete.

"General Winfield Scott was ordered to Mexico, to take chief
command and conduct the war according to his own plan. This
was, in brief, to carry an expedition against Vera Cruz,
reduce its defences, and then march on the city of Mexico by
the shortest route. … On the 7th of March [1847], the fleet
with Scott's army came to anchor a few miles south of Vera
Cruz, and two days later he landed his whole force—nearly
12,000 men—by means of surf-boats. Vera Cruz was a city of
7,000 inhabitants, strongly fortified. … On the 22d the
investment was complete. A summons to surrender being refused,
the batteries opened, and the bombardment was kept up for four
days, the small war vessels joining in it. The Mexican
batteries and the castle [of San Juan de Ulloa, on a reef in
the harbor] replied with spirit, and with some little effect;
but the city and castle were surrendered on the 27th. The want
of draught animals and wagons delayed till the middle of April
the march upon the capital of the country, 200 miles distant.
The first obstacle was found at Cerro Gordo, 50 miles
northwest of Vera Cruz, where the Mexicans had taken position
on the heights around a rugged mountain pass, with a battery
commanding every turn of the road. A way was found to flank
the position on the extreme left, and on the morning of April
18th the Americans attacked in three columns. … The
divisions of Twiggs and Worth … attacked the height of Cerro
Gordo, where the Mexicans were most strongly intrenched, and
where Santa Anna commanded in person. This being carried by
storm, its guns were turned first upon the retreating
Mexicans, and then upon the advanced position that Pillow was
assaulting in front. The Mexicans, finding themselves
surrounded, soon surrendered. Santa Anna, with the remainder
of his troops, fled toward Jalapa, where Scott followed him
and took the place."

_W. C. Bryant and S. H. Gay,
Popular History of the United States,
volume 4, chapter 14._

"Less than a month later [after the battle of Cerro Gordo] the
American army occupied the city of Puebla. Scott remained at
Puebla during June and July, awaiting reinforcements and
drilling them as they arrived. On the 7th of August he set out
for the capital, which was now defended by about 30,000
troops. A series of encounters took place on the 19th, and on
the next day three battles were fought, at Contreras,
Churubusco, and San Antonio. They were in reality parts of one
general engagement. The troops on both sides fought with
stubbornness and bravery, but in the end the Mexicans were
completely routed, and the pursuit of the flying enemy reached
almost to the gates of the capital. A commissioner, Nicholas
P. Trist, having been previously appointed to negotiate with
the Mexicans, an armistice was now agreed upon, to begin on
the 23d of August.
{2175}
The armistice, from a strategic point of view, was a mistake,
the advantage of the overwhelming victories of the 19th and
20th was in great part lost, and the Mexicans were enabled to
recover from the demoralization which had followed their
defeat. The position of the American army, in the heart of the
enemy's country, where it might be cut off from reinforcements
and supplies, was full of danger, and the fortifications which
barred the way to the capital, Molino del Rey, Casa Mata, and
Chapultepec, were exceedingly formidable. On the 7th of
September the armistice came to an end. The negotiations had
failed, and General Scott prepared to move on the remaining
works. A reconnoisance was made on that day, and on the 8th
Scott attacked the enemy. The army of Santa Anna was drawn up
with its right resting on Casa Mata and its left on Molino del
Rey. Both these positions were carried by assault, and the
Mexicans, after severe loss, were defeated and driven off the
field. The next two days were occupied in preparing for the
final assault upon Chapultepec. A careful disposition was made
of the troops, batteries were planted within range, and on the
12th they opened a destructive fire. On the 13th a
simultaneous assault was made from both sides, the troops
storming the fortress with great bravery and dash, and the
works were carried, the enemy flying in confusion. The army
followed them along the two causeways of Belen and San Cosmé,
fighting its way to the gates of the city. Here a struggle
continued till after nightfall, the enemy making a desperate
defence. Early the next morning, a deputation of the city
council waited upon General Scott, asking for terms of
capitulation. These were refused, and the divisions of Worth
and Quitman entered the capital. Street fighting was kept up
for two days longer, but by the 16th the Americans had secured
possession of the city. Negotiations were now renewed, and the
occupation of the territory, meanwhile, continued. The
principal towns were garrisoned, and taxes and duties
collected by the United States. Occasional encounters took
place at various points, but the warfare was chiefly of a
guerrilla character. Towards the close of the war General
Scott was superseded by General Butler. But the work had been
already completed."

_J. R. Soley,
The Wars of the United States, 1789-1850
(Narrative and Critical History of America,
volume 7, chapter 6)._

ALSO IN:
_H. H. Bancroft,
History of the Pacific States,
volume 8 (Mexico, volume 5), chapters 17-20._

_General W. Scott,
Memoirs, by himself,
chapters 27-32 (volume 2.)_

_President's Message and Documents,
December 7, 1847
(Senate Ex. Doc., No. 1, 30th Cong., 1st Session)._

MEXICO: A. D. 1848.
The Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo.
Territory ceded to the United States.

"The Mexican people had now succumbed to the victorious armies
of the 'barbarians of the North.' The Mexican Government was
favorable to the settlement of the questions which had caused
this unhappy war. A new administration was in power. General
Anaya on the 11th of November was elected President of the
Mexican Republic until the 8th of January, 1848, when the
constitutional term of office would expire. … National pride
… bowed to the necessities of the republic, and the deputies
assembled in the Mexican Congress favored the organization of
a commission for the purpose of reopening negotiations with
Mr. Trist, who still remained in Mexico, and was determined to
assume the responsibility of acting still as agent of the
United States [although his powers had been withdrawn]. The
lack of coöperation by the adherents of Santa Anna prevented
immediate action on the part of these commissioners. On the
8th of January, 1848, General Herrera was elected
Constitutional President of the Mexican Republic. … Under
the new administration negotiations were easily opened with a
spirit of harmony and concession which indicated a happy
issue. Mexico gave up her claim to the Nueces as the
boundary-line of her territory, and the United States did not
longer insist upon the cession of Lower California and the
right of way across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The previous
offer of money by the United States for the cession of New
Mexico and Upper California was also continued. … On the 2d
of February a treaty of peace was unanimously adopted and
signed by the commissioners at the city of Guadaloupe Hidalgo.
… The ratifications of the Mexican Congress and of the
United States Senate were exchanged May 30th, 1848. The United
States, by the terms of this treaty, paid to Mexico $15,000,000
for the territory added to its boundaries. They moreover freed
the Mexican Republic from all claims of citizens of the United
States against Mexico for damages, which the United States
agreed to pay to the amount of $3,250,000. The boundary-line
was also fixed between the two republics. It began in the Gulf
of Mexico three miles from the mouth of the Rio Grande del
Norte, running up the centre of that river to the point where
it strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico; then westward
along that southern boundary which runs north of Elpaso, to
its western termination; thence northward along the western
line of New Mexico until it intersects the first branch of the
river Gila, thence down the middle of the Gila until it
empties into the Rio Colorado, following the division line
between Upper and Lower California to the Pacific Ocean, one
marine league south of the port of San Diego. On the 12th of
June, the last of the United States troops left the capital of
Mexico. … The partisan supporters of President Polk's
administration did not hesitate to avow that the war with
Mexico was waged for conquest of territory. … The demands of
indemnity from Mexico first made by the United States were
equal, exclusive of Texas, to half of the domain of Mexico,
embracing a territory upward of 800,000 square miles. … The
area of New Mexico, as actually ceded by treaty to the United
States, was 526,078 square miles. The disputed ground of
Texas, which rightfully belonged to Mexico, and which was also
yielded in the treaty of peace, contained no less than 125,520
square miles. The acquisition of the total amount of 651,591
square miles of territory was one of the direct results of
this war, in which President Polk was ever pretending 'to
conquer a peace.' To this must be added the undisputed region
of Texas, which was 325,520 square miles more, in order
adequately to represent the acquisition of territory to the
United States, amounting to 851,590 square miles. This has
been computed to be seventeen times the extent of the State of
New York. … The territory thus acquired included ten degrees
of latitude on the Pacific coast, and extended east to the Rio
Grande, a distance of 1,000 miles, … Five thousand miles of
sea-coast were added to the possessions of the United States.
… The mineral resources of the conquered territory,
including California, New Mexico, Arizona, Western Colorado,
Utah, and Nevada, have been developed to such an extent that
their value is beyond computation."

_H. O. Ladd,
History of the War with Mexico,
chapters 30-31._

ALSO IN:
_Treaties and Conventions between the United States
and other Countries (edition of 1889),
pages 681-694._

{2176}

MEXICO: A. D. 1848-1861.
The succession of Revolutions and the War of the Reform.
The new Constitution.
The government of Juarez and
the Nationalization of Church property.

"For a brief period, after the withdrawal of the American
army, the Mexican people drew the breath of peace, disturbed
only by outbreaks headed by the turbulent Paredes. … In
June, 1848, Señor Herrera (who had been in power at the
opening of the war with the United States) took possession of
the presidential chair. For the first time within the memory
of men then living, the supreme power changed hands without
disturbance or opposition. … The army … was greatly
reduced, arrangements were made with creditors abroad, and for
the faithful discharge of internal affairs. General Mariano
Arista, formerly minister of war, assumed peaceful possession
of power, in January, 1851, and continued the wise and
economical administration of his predecessor. But Mexico could
not long remain at peace, even with herself; she was quiet
merely because utterly prostrated, and in December, 1852, some
military officers, thirsting for power, rebelled against the
government. They commenced again the old system of
'pronunciamientos'; usually begun by some man in a province
distant from the seat of government, and gradually gaining
such strength that when finally met by the lawful forces they
were beyond control. Rather than plunge his country anew into
the horrors of a civil war, General Arista resigned his office
and sailed for Europe, where he died in poverty a few years
later. It may astonish anyone except the close student of
Mexican history to learn the name of the man next placed in
power by the revolutionists, for it was no one else than
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna! Recalled by the
successful rebels from his exile in Cuba and South America,
Santa Anna hastened to the scene of conflict. … He commenced
at once to extend indefinitely the army, and to intrench
himself in a position of despotic power, and, in December,
1853, he issued a decree which, in substance, declared him
perpetual dictator. This aroused opposition all over the
country, and the Liberals, who were opposed to an arbitrary
centralized government, rose in rebellion. The most successful
leaders were Generals Alvarez and Comonfort, who, after
repeated victories, drove the arch conspirator from the
capital, on the 9th of August, 1855. Santa Anna secretly
left the city of Mexico, and a few days later embarked at Vera
Cruz for Havana. During several years he resided in Cuba, St.
Thomas, Nassau, and the United States, constantly intriguing
for a return to power in Mexico."

_F. A. Ober,
Young Folks' History of Mexico,
chapter 33._

"Upon the flight of Santa Anna, anarchy was imminent in the
capital. The most prominent promoters of the revolution
assembled quickly, and elected General Romulo Diaz de la Vega
acting-president, and he succeeded in establishing order. …
By a representative assembly General Martin Carrera was
elected acting-president, and he was installed on the 15th of
August, 1855, but resigned on the 11th of the following month,
when the presidency devolved a second time upon General Romulo
Diaz de la Vega. The revolution of Alvarez and Comonfort,
known as the Plan de Ayotla, was entirely successful, and
under the wise and just administration of Diaz de la Vega, the
country was brought to the wholly abnormal state of quiet and
order. Representatives of the triumphant party assembled in
Cuernavaca and elected General Juan Alvarez president ad
interim, and upon the formation of his cabinet he named
Comonfort his Minister of War. Returning to the capital, he
transferred the presidency to his Minister of War, and on the
12th of December, 1855, General Ignacio Comonfort entered upon
the discharge of his duties as acting-president. He was made
actual president by a large majority in the popular election
held two years later, and was reinstalled on the 1st of
December, 1857. He proved to be one of the most remarkable
rulers of Mexico, and his administration marks the beginning
of a new era in Mexican history. Scarcely had Comonfort begun
his rule as the substitute of Alvarez, when revolutions again
broke out and assumed formidable proportions. Puebla was
occupied by 5,000 insurgents. Federal troops sent against them
joined their cause. Comonfort succeeded in raising an army of
16,000 men, well equipped, and at its head marched to Puebla
and suppressed the revolution before the end of March. But in
October another rebellion broke out in Puebla, headed by
Colonel Miguel Miramon. The government succeeded in
suppressing this, as well as one which broke out in San Luis
Potosi, and another, under the leadership of General Tomas
Mejia, in Queretaro. It was by Comonfort that the war between
the Church and the government, so long threatened, was
precipitated. In June, 1856, he issued a decree ordering the
sale of all the unimproved real estate held by the Church, at
its assessed value. The Church was to receive the proceeds,
but the land was to become thereby freed from all
ecclesiastical control." Upon information of a conspiracy
centering in one of the monasteries of the city of Mexico, the
president sent troops to take possession of the place, and
finally ordered it to be suppressed. These measures provoked
an implacable hostility on the part of the supporters of the
Church. "On the 5th of February, 1857, the present
Constitution of Mexico was adopted by Congress. Comonfort, as
Provisional President, subscribed it, and it was under its
provisions that he was elected actual president. But ten days
after his inauguration in December, 1857, and his taking the
oath to support the new Constitution, the President, supposing
that he could gain the full support of the Liberals, and
claiming that he had found the operation of the Constitution
impracticable, dissolved Congress and set the Constitution
aside. He threw his legal successor, Benito Juarez, the
President of the Supreme Court of Justice, and one of the
supporters of the new Constitution, into prison." Revolution
upon revolution now followed in quick succession. Comonfort
fled the country. Zuloaga, Pezuela, Pavon, Miramon, were
seated in turn in the presidential chair for brief terms of a
half recognized government.
{2177}
"Constitutionally (if we may ever use that word seriously in
connection with Mexican affairs), upon the abandonment of the
presidency by Comonfort, the office devolved upon the
President of the Supreme Court of Justice. That office was
held at the time by Don Benito Juarez, who thereupon became
president de jure of Mexico. … The most curious specimen of
the nomenclature adopted in Mexican history is that which
gives to the struggle between the Church party and its allies
and the Constitutional government the name of the War of the
Reform. … What was thereby reformed it would be difficult to
say, … further than the suppression of the outreaching
power, wealth, and influence of the Church, and the assertion
of the supremacy of the State. … But the 'War of the Reform'
had all the bitterness of a religious war. … Juarez, who is
thus made to appear as a reformer, was the most remarkable man
Mexico has ever produced. He was born in 1806 in the mountains of
Oaxaca. … He belonged to the Zapoteca tribe of Indians. Not
a drop of Spanish blood flowed in his veins. … Upon the
flight of Comonfort, Juarez was utterly without support or
means to establish his government. Being driven out of the
capital by Zuloaga he went to Guadalajara, and then by way of
the Pacific coast, Panama, and New Orleans, to Vera Cruz.
There he succeeded in setting up the Constitutional
government, supporting it out of the customs duties collected
at the ports of entry on the Gulf coast. It was war to the
knife between the President in Vera Cruz and the
Anti-Presidents in the capital. … On the 12th of July, 1859,
Juarez made a long stride in advance of Comonfort by issuing
his famous decree, 'nationalizing'—that is, sequestrating, or
more properly confiscating—the property of the Church. It was
enforced in Vera Cruz at once. … The armies of the two rival
governments met in conflict on many occasions. It was at
Calpulalpam, in a battle lasting from the 21st to the 24th of
December, 1860, that Miramon was defeated and forced to leave
the country. General Ortega, in command of the forces of
Juarez, advanced to the capital and held it for the return of
his chief. When the army of Juarez entered the capital, on the
27th of December, the decree of sequestration began to be
executed there with brutal severity. … Monasteries were
closed forthwith, and the members of the various religious
orders were expelled [from] the country. … It is said that
from the 'nationalized' church property the government secured
$20,000,000, without, as subsequent events showed, deriving
any permanent benefit from it. It helped to precipitate
another war, in which it was all dissipated, and the country
was poorer than ever. … The decree issued by Juarez from
Vera Cruz in 1859, nationalizing the property of the Church,
was quickly followed up by a decree suspending for two years
payment on all foreign debts. The national debt at that time
amounted to about $100,000,000, according to some statements,
and was divided up between England, Spain, and France.
England's share was about $80,000,000. France's claim was
comparatively insignificant. They were all said to have been
founded upon usurious or fraudulent contracts, and the French
claim was especially dubious. … Upon the issuing of the
decree suspending payment on these foreign debts, the three
creditor nations' at once broke off diplomatic relations with
Mexico, and Napoleon III., of France, proceeded to carry out a
plan which had for some time occupied his mind."

_A. H. Noll,
Short History of Mexico,
chapters 10-11._

ALSO IN:
_H. H. Bancroft,
History of the Pacific States,
volume 8 (Mexico, volume 5), chapters 20-30,
and volume 9 (6), chapter 1._

See CONSTITUTION OF MEXICO.

MEXICO: A. D. 1853.
Sale of Arizona to the United States.
The Gadsden Treaty.

See ARIZONA: A. D. 1853.

MEXICO: A. D. 1861-1867.
The French intervention.
Maximilian's ill-starred empire and its fate.

The expedition against Mexico "was in the beginning a joint
undertaking of England, France, and Spain. Its professed
object, as set forth in a convention signed in London on
October 31st, 1861, was 'to demand from the Mexican
authorities more efficacious protection for the persons and
properties of their (the Allied Sovereigns') subjects, as well
as a fulfilment of the obligations contracted toward their
Majesties by the Republic of Mexico.' … Lord Russell, who
had acted with great forbearance towards Mexico up to this
time, now agreed to co-operate with France and Spain in
exacting reparation from Juarez. But he defined clearly the
extent to which the intervention of England would go. England
would join in an expedition for the purpose, if necessary, of
seizing on Mexican custom-houses, and thus making good the
foreign claims. But she would not go a step further. She would
have nothing to do with upsetting the Government of Mexico, or
imposing any European system on the Mexican people.
Accordingly, the Second Article of the Convention pledged the
contracting parties not to seek for themselves any acquisition
of territory or any special advantage, and not to exercise in
the internal affairs of Mexico any influence of a nature to
prejudice the right of the Mexican nation to choose and to
constitute freely the form of its government. The Emperor of
the French, however, had already made up his mind that he
would establish a sort of feudatory monarchy in Mexico. He had
long had various schemes and ambitions floating in his mind
concerning those parts of America on the shores of the Gulf of
Mexico, which were once the possessions of France. … At the
very time when he signed the convention with the pledge
contained in its second article, he had already been making
arrangements to found a monarchy in Mexico. If he could have
ventured to set up a monarchy with a French prince at its
head, he would probably have done so; but this would have been
too bold a venture. He, therefore, persuaded the Archduke
Maximilian, brother of the Emperor of Austria, to accept the
crown of the monarchy he proposed to set up in Mexico. The
Archduke was a man of pure and noble character, but evidently
wanting in strength of mind, and he agreed, after some
hesitation, to accept the offer. Meanwhile the joint
expedition sailed. We [the English] sent only a line-of-battle
ship, two frigates, and 700 marines. France sent in the first
instance about 2,500 men, whom she largely reinforced
immediately after. Spain had about 6,000 men, under the
command of the late Marshal Prim. The Allies soon began to
find that their purposes were incompatible. There was much
suspicion about the designs of France. … Some of the claims
set up by France disgusted the other Allies. The Jecker claims
were for a long time after as familiar a subject of ridicule
as our own Pacifico claims had been.
{2178}
A Swiss house of Jecker & Company had lent the former
Government of Mexico $750,000, and got bonds from that
Government, which was on its very last legs, for $15,000,000.
The Government was immediately afterwards upset, and Juarez
came into power. M. Jecker modestly put in his claim for
$15,000,000. Juarez refused to comply with the demand. He
offered to pay the $750,000 lent and five per cent. interest,
but he declined to pay exactly twenty times the amount of the
sum advanced. M. Jecker had by this time become somehow a
subject of France, and the French Government took up his
claim. It was clear that the Emperor of the French had
resolved that there should be war. At last the designs of the
French Government became evident to the English and Spanish
Plenipotentiaries, and England and Spain withdrew from the
Convention. … The Emperor of the French 'walked his own wild
road, whither that led him.' He overran a certain portion of
Mexico with his troops. He captured Puebla after a long and
desperate resistance [and after suffering a defeat on the 5th
of May, 1862, in the battle of Cinco de Mayo]; he occupied the
capital, and he set up the Mexican Empire, with Maximilian as
Emperor. French troops remained to protect the new Empire.
Against all this the United States Government protested from
time to time. … However, the Emperor Napoleon cared nothing
just then about the Monroe doctrine, complacently satisfied
that the United States were going to pieces, and that the
Southern Confederacy would be his friend and ally. He received
the protests of the American Government with unveiled
indifference. At last the tide in American affairs turned. The
Confederacy crumbled away; Richmond was taken; Lee
surrendered; Jefferson Davis was a prisoner. Then the United
States returned to the Mexican Question, and the American
Government informed Louis Napoleon that it would be
inconvenient, gravely inconvenient, if he were not to withdraw
his soldiers from Mexico. A significant movement of American
troops under a renowned General, then flushed with success,
was made in the direction of the Mexican frontier. There was
nothing for Louis Napoleon but to withdraw [March, 1867]. …
The Mexican Empire lasted two months and a week after the last
of the French troops had been withdrawn. Maximilian
endeavoured to raise an army of his own, and to defend himself
against the daily increasing strength of Juarez. He showed all
the courage which might have been expected from his race, and
from his own previous history. But in an evil hour for
himself, and yielding, it is stated, to the persuasion of a
French officer, he had issued a decree that all who resisted
his authority in arms should be shot. By virtue of this
monstrous ordinance, Mexican officers of the regular army,
taken prisoners while resisting, as they were bound to do, the
invasion of a European prince, were shot like brigands. The
Mexican general, Ortega, was one of those thus shamefully done
to death. When Juarez conquered, and Maximilian, in his turn,
was made a prisoner, he was tried by court-martial, condemned
and shot. … The French Empire never recovered the shock of
this Mexican failure."

_J. McCarthy,
History of Our Own Times,
chapter 44._

ALSO IN:
_H. H. Bancroft,
History of the Pacific States,
volume 9 (Mexico, volume 6), chapters 1-14._

_H. M. Flint,
Mexico under Maximilian._

_F. Salm-Balm,
My Diary in Mexico (1867)._

_S. Schroeder,
The Fall of Maximilian's Empire._

_Count E. de Keratry,
The Rise and Fall of the Emperor Maximilian._

_J. M. Taylor,
Maximilian and Carlotta._

_U. R. Burke,
Life of Benito Juarez._

MEXICO: A. D. 1867-1892.
The restored Republic.