La Reforma

La Reforma (English: The Reform), refers to a period in Mexican history in which landmark reforms, including a new constitution, were passed by the Liberal Party of Mexico in the 1850s. They were modernizing measures: social, political, and economic, intended to undermine the power of the Catholic Church in Mexico, separate church and state, reduce the power of the Mexican military, and to develop the economy.

The Ley Juarez reduced the power that military and ecclesiastical courts held. More significantly, the Ley Lerdo, forced land owned by civil and ecclesiastical institutions to sell their property to individual owners. The measure was intended to strip the church of most of its property, yet it would also effect Indian communities, who would end up losing their traditional communal lands. Both measures were integrated into the Constitution of 1857.

The controversy reached a point where in December, president Comonfort despite himself being a liberal, accepted a role in a self coup instigated by the Conservative general Zuloaga in order to pursue more moderate measures, but soon backed out of the role as the situation spiraled out of control and began to turn into a civil war, the so-called War of Reform. Comonfort resigned and left the country. The states chose to support either Comonfort's constitutional successor, Juarez or Zuolaga, and during the war, Juarez outright nationalized most church properties in the states under his control, while also secularizing many services previously performed by the church such as birth registration, and marriage. The war raged until December, 1860, when the liberals emerged triumphant.

Almost immediately after the end of the war, Napoleon III used Juarez' suspension of foreign debts as a pretext to invade Mexico in 1862, and sought local help in setting up a client state. Seeing this as an opportunity to undo the Reform, conservative generals and statesmen joined the French and invited Habsburg archduke Maximilian to become Emperor of Mexico. Emperor Maximilian however proved to be of liberal inclination, and ended up ratifying the Reform laws. Regardless, the government of Benito Juárez, still resisted and fought the French and Mexican Imperial forces with the backing of the United States, whom after the end of the Civil War could now once again enforce the Monroe Doctrine. The French eventually withdrew, leading the monarchy to collapse in 1867. The liberals returned to power in 1867, and the Constitution of 1857 would remain in force until the Mexican Revolution.

Background[]

The types of government reforms that would go on to characterize La Reforma were first attempted under the liberal presidency of Valentin Gomez Farias in 1833. Among a wider program of economic and social reform, the government shut down church schools, assumed the right to make clerical appointments to the church, and shut down monasteries.^[1] It was a time of great anti-clerical agitation led by men such as Lorenzo de Zavala and Jose Luis Mora. The measure to assume the patronato, or the right to make appointments to the Catholic Church was actually passed over Gomez Farias' opposition.^[2] The ensuing backlash to these attempted reforms would result in the government being overthrown.

Alvarez Presidency[]

Santa Anna's dictatorship of the early 1850s was overthrown by an insurgency whose principles were laid out in the Plan of Ayutla, which contained a provision for drafting a new constitution. A government led by the liberal Juan Álvarez assumed power in November, 1855. His cabinet was radical and included the prominent liberals Benito Juarez, Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, Melchor Ocampo, and Guillermo Prieto, but also the more moderate Ignacio Comonfort.^[3] Clashes in the cabinet led to the resignation of the radical Ocampo,^[4] but the administration was still determined to pass significant reforms.

Ley Juarez[]

On November 23, 1855, the Ley Juarez, named after the Minister of Justice abolished the jurisdiction that military and ecclesiastical courts previously had over purely civil cases.^[5] Both courts were criticized for being biased towards their defendants. In the case of the ecclesiastical courts, their jurisdiction extended even to tenants living on church land which in that time was extensive, and creditors could not sue such tenants in civil court.^[6] Conservatives accused the government of hypocrisy for acting on the pretext of establishing legal equality for all while maintaining the legal immunity that existed for members of the government.^[7]

Further dissension within liberal ranks, led to Alvarez resigning in December, 1856, and handing the presidency over to the more moderate Comonfort who chose a new cabinet.

Comonfort Presidency[]

President Comonfort

A constituent congress first met on February 14, 1856.^[8] A motion to reestablish the Constitution of 1824 was defeated by a single vote, and a committee was formed towards the end of February to revise the constitution.^[9]

The Ley Juarez was ratified in April. A provisional constitution, borrowing many principles from the Constitution of the United States, was promulgated in June.^[10]

Ley Lerdo[]

In June, 1865 another major controversy emerged over the promulgation of the Ley Lerdo, named after the secretary of the treasury. The law was aimed at the collective ownership of real estate. It forced 'civil or ecclesiastical institutions' to sell any land that they owned, with the tenants getting priority and generous terms for buying the land that they lived on. It was mostly aimed at the church, but the law was also aimed at Mexico's native communities who were going to be forced to sell their communal lands, the ejidos.^[11]

On July 1, Archbishop Garza protested to the government that the properties were likely to be bought by a few rich individuals, argued that the church had previously lent to the government during crises, and defended the church's record of treating tenants more generously than private owners. Minister of Justice Ezequiel Montes received him courteously, but the protests resulted in no change in government policy^[12]

^[13] The law was designed to develop Mexico's economy by increasing the amount of private property owners, but in practice the land was bought up by rich speculators. Most of the lost Indian lands went to haciendas.^[14]^[15]

Freedom of Religion[]

One of the major issues brought up during the constituent congress was that of religious toleration. The Catholic religion had been one of the three leading principles in the Plan of Iguala. Subsequently, Mexico was founded as and remained a confessional state with Catholicism as the sole religion permitted ever since the Constitution of 1824.

Deputy Lafragua, a liberal^[16]^[17] and one of Comonfort's ministers, actually argued against religious toleration, making the case that the nation wasn't ready for it, and feared the measure would simply provoke social upheaval.^[18] Concerns about impacting social cohesion by permitting new religions were an important theme during the debates on the topic.^[19]

A notable issue being brought up by proponents of religious toleration was that it would promote European immigration. LaFragua assured the congress that he was a proponent of immigration. However he made the case that it was not the lack of religious toleration that impeded immigration but rather the lack of security and good roads.^[20]

Liberal Deputy Mata argued that religious intolerance was the only obstacle in the way of European immigration, and cited the case of a group of German colonists, consisting of thirty thousand families considering immigrating to Mexico in the wake of the 1848 Revolution, and yet ultimately opted to go to the United States due to Mexico's lack of both religious freedom and trial by jury.^[21]

Deputy Zarco argued that European settlement of Mexican California could have prevented the United States from annexing that territory.^[22] He defended Deputy Mata's claims on German immigration and added his own experience in working with the Prussian minister to highlight the importance of religious toleration to the immigration question.^[23]

The issue of religious toleration was referred back to a committee in August, 1855, and the question was ultimately shelved by January 1856.^[24] The new constitution would ultimately not explicitly promise freedom of religion, yet in contrast to previous constitutions, it did not declare Catholicism the sole religion of the land, leading to a de facto state of religious freedom.

Constitution of 1857[]

Constitution of 1857

The Constitution of 1857 was finally promulgated in February 5. It was nominally federalist, granting the states an element of sovereignty, yet it also gave the federal government more powers than the previous federalist Constitution of 1824. Congress was given the ability to impeach state governors.^[25] The previously bicameral congress was also made unicameral in order to discard the conservative leaning upper house,^[26] but also in the hopes that a single united chamber could be stronger against any autocratic tendencies coming from the executive branch.^[27] National elections were made indirect, the public choosing electors from their district who subsequently chose the congressmen, the president, and members of the supreme court.

There were also many liberal guarantees such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of education, freedom to bear arms, and a reiteration of Mexico's prohibition of slavery.^[28]

The constitution also made itself inviolable, asserting itself binding even amidst an armed insurrection, as Mexico had experienced multiple times before.^[29] The constitution also codified the Ley Juarez and the Ley Lerdo.^[30]

As an effort to radically change the nation while still attempting to be a compromise, the constitution managed to alienate both liberals and conservatives. Melchor Ocampo, and Ignacio Ramirez both expressed dissatisfaction with the document as not progressive enough. According to Mexican historian Ignacio Altamirano, President Comonfort “did not accept the Constitution in his heart.” ^[31] Conservatives continued to decry the Ley Lerdo. On February 5, 1857, the deputies of the constituent congress and the president proclaimed the constitution, and swore an oath to it, though the document was not meant to take force until September 16. Among those present was former president and now elderly Valentin Gomez Farias who had first attempted similar reforms two decades previously.

Controversy Over the Oath of Fealty[]

On March 17, 1857, it was decreed that all civil servants had to publicly swear and sign and oath to the constitution.^[32] The Catholic Church decreed excommunication for anyone that took the oath, and subsequently many Catholics in the Mexican government lost their jobs for refusing the oath.^[33]

The Franco-Mexican, and liberal paper Trait d'Union now proclaimed that war had been declared between church and state and featured stories on who had refused the oath, including judges and other federal civil servants. The press also noted many cases of minor and local officials also refusing the oath.^[34] Others retracted their oaths to be able to receive the sacraments during Lent, which had begun that year shortly after the decree requiring an oath.^[35]

Liberal officials however struck back at opposition to the oath and to the constitution. Governor Juarez of Oaxaca expelled all priests who refused Christian burial to supporters of the constitution. In Aguascalientes, vice-governor Lopez de Nava also cracked down on those refusing to take the oath by depriving them of political rights. Governor Alatriste of Puebla outright ordered public prayers for the success of the constitutional authorities.^[36]

The Plan of Tacubaya[]

Amidst armed uprisings and rumors of conspiracy, on November 3, Congress granted president Comonfort autocratic powers to maintain order, and suspended the constitutional clauses on freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to bear arms among others, the suspensions to remain in effect until April 30, 1858.^[37] Comonfort meanwhile had won the 1857 presidential election, and assumed his new term on December 1.

On December 17 General Felix Zuloaga, from the outskirts of Mexico City proclaimed the Plan of Tacubaya, declaring the Constitution of 1857 as not in accord with the customs of the Mexican nation, and which offered to give supreme power to President Comonfort, who was to convoke a new constituent congress to produce a new constitution that was to be approved by a national plebiscite before coming into effect. The same day, congress condemned the plan and deposed Comonfort from the presidency. Zuloaga's troops entered the capital on the 18th and dissolved congress. The following day, Comonfort accepted the role as proposed by Plan of Tacubaya, and released a manifesto making the case that more moderate reforms were needed under the current circumstances.^[38]

Juarez Presidency[]

President Juarez

The Plan of Tacubaya did not lead to a national reconciliation, and as Comonfort realized that he had helped trigger a civil war he began to back away from Zuloaga and the conservatives. He resigned the presidency and left the country in January 1858, after which the constitutional presidency passed over to the President of the Supreme Court, who happened to be Benito Juarez. The Conservative government in the capital summoned a council of representatives that elected Zuloaga as president, and the states of Mexico proclaimed their loyalties to either Zuloaga or Juarez.^[39]

War of Reform[]

The nation had now divided itself into liberal and conservative governments and civil war would rage until December, 1860. Throughout the conflict there would be more measures from the liberal authorities aimed at the church, against opponents of the constitution, and attempts to build upon the reforms that had been attempted throughout the Constitution of 1857.

On June 16, 1859, governor of Zacatecas, Jesús González Ortega passed severe decrees aimed at any priest agitating against the Constitution of 1857, prescribing the death penalty for acts including denying the sacraments to those Catholics that had taken the oath of fealty to the constitution. The death penalty was even applied to laymen who agreed to serve as witnesses for those who wished to prove that they had retracted their oaths to the constitution.^[40]

In July, 1859, at the urging of, Minister Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, President Juarez decreed outright nationalization of all church property, including land, church buildings, and even the interior furnishings. Legal pretexts were sought in the old Spanish system of law by which church property had been held in trust for the crown, whose authority over such church wealth the government argued, had now passed down to the Mexican Republic.^[41] Cemeteries were nationalized and civil marriage was instituted. Liberal generals now stripped churches of all valuables such as precious metals and gems to sell for the war effort. Sacred icons and relics were tossed into bonfires as demonstrations against superstition.^[42] The war would end in December, 1860, with the liberals triumphant.

French Intervention and The Second Mexican Empire[]

At the instigation of Mexican monarchist exiles, using Juarez' 1861 suspension of foreign debts as a pretext, and with the American Civil War preventing the enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine, Napoleon III invaded Mexico in 1862, and sought local help in setting up a client state. Seeing this as an opportunity to undo the Reform, conservative generals and statesmen joined the French and invited Habsburg archduke Maximilian to become Emperor of Mexico. Emperor Maximilian however proved to be of liberal inclination, he ratified the Reform Laws with religious freedom being maintained and sales of church property continuing. Nonetheless, he still was willing to declare Catholicism the state religion with clergy being paid by the state after the custom of European Catholic monarchies. Negotiations with the Papal Nuncio stalled and the matter was referred back to the Vatican. Regardless of the Emperor's liberal intentions, the government of Benito Juárez, still resisted and fought the French and Mexican Imperial forces with the backing of the United States, whom after the end of the Civil War could now once again enforce the Monroe Doctrine. The French eventually withdrew, leading the monarchy to collapse in 1867. The liberals returned to power, in a period known as the Restored Republic (1867-1876), often considered the end date of the Reform Era.^[43]

References[]

^ Meyer, Michael (1979). The Course of Mexican History. Oxford University Press. p. 327.
^ Herring, Hubert (1968). A History of Latin America. New York: Alfred Knopf. p. 303.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 668.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 669.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 669.
^ Null, Arthur Howard (1903). From Empire to Republic. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co. p. 182.
^ Zamacois, Niceto (1880). Historia de Mexico:Tomo XIV. J.F. Parres y Comp. pp. 127–128.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 682.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 683.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 689.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 693.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 694.
^ Fehrenbach, T.R. (1995). Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico. Da Capo Press. p. 413.
^ Fehrenbach, T.R. (1995). Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico. Da Capo Press. p. 414.
^ Nutini, Hugo (1995). The Wages of Conquest: The Mexican Aristocracy in the Context of Western Aristocracies. University of Michigan. p. 294.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 676.
^ Zamacois, Niceto (1880). Historia de Mexico:Tomo XIV (in Spanish). J.F. Parres y Comp. p. 347.
^ Zarco, Francisco (1857). Historia del Congreso Constituyente: Tomo II (in Spanish). Mexico City: Ignacio Cumplido. pp. 10–12.
^ Fehrenbach, T.R. (1995). Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico. Da Capo Press. p. 415.
^ Zarco, Francisco (1857). Historia del Congreso Constituyente: Tomo II (in Spanish). Mexico City: Ignacio Cumplido. pp. 13–14.
^ Zarco, Francisco (1857). Historia del Congreso Constituyente: Tomo II (in Spanish). Mexico City: Ignacio Cumplido. p. 37.
^ Zarco, Francisco (1857). Historia del Congreso Constituyente: Tomo II (in Spanish). Mexico City: Ignacio Cumplido. p. 73.
^ Zarco, Francisco (1857). Historia del Congreso Constituyente: Tomo II (in Spanish). Mexico City: Ignacio Cumplido. p. 78.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 695.
^ Parkes, Henry Bamford (1938). A History of Mexico. Cambridge: Riverside Press. p. 238.
^ Herring, Hubert (1968). A History of Latin America. New York: Alfred Knopf. p. 316.
^ Meyer, Michael (1979). The Course of Mexican History. Oxford University Press. p. 379.
^ Meyer, Michael (1979). The Course of Mexican History. Oxford University Press. p. 379.
^ Priestly, Herbert (1969). The Mexican Nation: A History. New York: Cooper Square. p. 327.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 696.
^ Herring, Hubert (1968). A History of Latin America. New York: Alfred Knopf. p. 303.
^ Fehrenbach, T.R. (1995). Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico. Da Capo Press. p. 416.
^ Fehrenbach, T.R. (1995). Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico. Da Capo Press. p. 416.
^ Zamacois, Niceto (1880). Historia de Mexico:Tomo XIV. J.F. Parres y Comp. pp. 514–516.
^ Zamacois, Niceto (1880). Historia de Mexico:Tomo XIV. J.F. Parres y Comp. pp. 514–525.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 716.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 720.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. p. 725.
^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1886). History of Mexico Volume V. The Bancroft Company. pp. 729–730.
^ Zamacois, Niceto (1880). Historia de Mexico:Tomo XV. J.F. Parres y Comp. pp. 240–242.
^ Fehrenbach, T.R. (1995). Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico. Da Capo Press. p. 420.
^ Parkes, Henry Bamford (1938). A History of Mexico. Cambridge: Riverside Press. p. 246.
^ Hamnett, Brian, "Reform Laws" in Encyclopedia of Mexico. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, p. 1239.