Álvarez' cabinet which had included the progressive state governors Benito Juarez and Melchor Ocampo, and the poet Guillermo Prieto represented a new generation of liberals that had grown up since independence, and intended to pass unprecedented reforms during a period which began with the Álvarez administration and would eventually come to be known as La Reforma. The reforms would culminate in the Constitution of 1857, and open conflict with the opponents of the measures which would not entirely end until 1867.
They began with the Ley Juarez, which stripped the Mexican clergy of their independent legal privileges ( fueros ) which they had hereunto enjoyed under canon and civil law. The Ley Juarez was prefaced by the cause celebre of Father Javier Miranda. On 20 November 1855, the former conservative minister, Father Miranda was arrested in his home at Puebla. He was then transported to Mexico City where he was held at the barracks of San Hipolito. [20] This was technically illegal as the government could not at the time imprison a priest without collaboration from church authorities. The conservative press was outraged, and even the liberal press criticized the arrest as arbitrary and advocated for Miranda to be tried and for the government to explain its motives in arresting him. [21] The bishop of Puebla protested to the government, but to no avail. The only response of the government was to transport Miranda to the fortress of San Juan de Ullua in Veracruz Harbor. It was suspected that the arrest was due to Miranda's political views. [22]
The Ley Juarez was passed on 22 November 1855. Ecclesiastical tribunals were stripped of their ability to judge civil law cases. They were allowed to continue judging clergy in the cases of canon law. [23] With Father Miranda's case in mind, conservatives accused this measure as a means of passing severe anti-clerical laws, arresting priests on the slightest pretext, and then judging them in civil courts. [24] Opponents of the measure accused government deputies of hypocrisy for claiming to support equality before the law while maintaining their own immunity. [25]
The Archbishop protested against the measure and suggested that the question of the ecclesiastical fuero should be submitted to the pope, a suggestion which was rejected by the government. The conservative generals Santa Anna and Blanco were officially stripped of their charges and the liberals Degollado and Moreno were commissioned as generals. Comonfort was now threatening to resign and only keep the office of general in chief. Álvarez directed his secretaries to lay before him proposals on how to proceed, he also directed his council to prepare a draft of the organic statute. Meanwhile, the conservatives began to favor the moderate Comonfort for the presidency. [26]
Resignation
Álvarez seriously considered stepping down from the presidency and handing it over to Comonfort, but the latter's enemies urged Álvarez to stay in office. On 4 December, Álvarez summoned a meeting of the most prominent members of the liberal party for advice on how to proceed. He wavered on the matter and on the following day accepted the resignation of his entire ministry and summoned Luis de la Rosa in organizing another. The portfolios would remain empty for the rest of Álvarez' presidency. [27]
In Guanajuato, Manuel Doblado pronounced against the government of Juan Álvarez on 6 December, holding up the moderate Ignacio Comonfort as the new president. His proclamation accused Álvarez of attacking religion, the one thing that bound Mexicans together. [28] This would prove to be redundant, as before news of the revolt even reached the capital, the elderly President Álvarez who was not enjoying administrative tasks or the climate of Mexico City, decided to step down, and he announced as such on 8 December. [29] Álvarez met with Comonfort and officially transferred the presidency to him on 11 December. [30]
Later life
Álvarez left the capital on 18 December, with a military escort and headed to Guerrero where he fought against uprisings opposed to the Comonfort administration. He continued to fight for the liberal cause during the Reform War having the southern states as his base of operations. During the Second French intervention which began in 1861, he counseled President Juarez to keep the struggle alive, and Juarez gave orders for his Eastern forces to obey Álvarez in case they lost contact with the central government. He lived long enough to see the retreat of the French in 1866 and the fall of the Second Mexican Empire in June 1867. Álvarez died the same year on 21 August. [31]
See also
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References
- ↑ Peter Guardino, "Juan Álvarez" in Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 1, p. 73. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
- ↑ Rivera Cambas, Manuel (1873). Los Gobernantes de Mexico: Tomo II (in Spanish). J.M. Aguilar Cruz. p. 477.
- ↑ Rivera Cambas, Manuel (1873). Los Gobernantes de Mexico: Tomo II (in Spanish). J.M. Aguilar Cruz. p. 478.
- ↑ Rivera Cambas, Manuel (1873). Los Gobernantes de Mexico: Tomo II (in Spanish). J.M. Aguilar Cruz. p. 478.
- ↑ Rivera Cambas, Manuel (1873). Los Gobernantes de Mexico: Tomo II (in Spanish). J.M. Aguilar Cruz. p. 478.
- ↑ Rivera Cambas, Manuel (1873). Los Gobernantes de Mexico: Tomo II (in Spanish). J.M. Aguilar Cruz. p. 478.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 647.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. pp. 648–649.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. pp. 648–649.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 651.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 652.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 665.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 667.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 667.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 668.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 667.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 669.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 669.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 669.
- ↑ Zamacois, Niceto (1881). Historia de Mexico Tomo XIV (in Spanish). JF Parres. p. 119.
- ↑ Zamacois, Niceto (1881). Historia de Mexico Tomo XIV (in Spanish). JF Parres. p. 120.
- ↑ Zamacois, Niceto (1881). Historia de Mexico Tomo XIV (in Spanish). JF Parres. p. 120.
- ↑ Zamacois, Niceto (1881). Historia de Mexico Tomo XIV (in Spanish). JF Parres. p. 127.
- ↑ Zamacois, Niceto (1881). Historia de Mexico Tomo XIV (in Spanish). JF Parres. p. 127.
- ↑ Zamacois, Niceto (1881). Historia de Mexico Tomo XIV (in Spanish). JF Parres. p. 128.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 671.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 672.
- ↑ Zamacois, Niceto (1881). Historia de Mexico Tomo XIV (in Spanish). JF Parres. p. 130.
- ↑ Zamacois, Niceto (1881). Historia de Mexico Tomo XIV (in Spanish). JF Parres. p. 132.
- ↑ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 673.
- ↑ Rivera Cambas, Manuel (1873). Los Gobernantes de Mexico: Tomo II (in Spanish). J.M. Aguilar Cruz. p. 484.
Further reading
- Bushnell, Clyde G. "The Military and Political Career of Juan Álvarez, 1790-1867". PhD dissertation, University of Texas 1958.
- Guardino, Peter. "Juan Álvarez" in Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, vol. 1, p. 73. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.
- (in Spanish) De la Cueva, Mariano, ed. et al., Plan de Ayutla. Mexico 1954.
- (in Spanish) Díaz Díaz, Fernando. Caudillos y caciques: Antonio López de Santa Anna y Juan Álvarez. 1952.
- (in Spanish) García Puron, Manuel (1984). México y sus gobernantes, Vol. 2. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrúa.
- (in Spanish) Muñoz y Pérez, Daniel. El general don Juan Álvarez. 1959.
- (in Spanish) Orozco Linares, Fernando (1985). Gobernantes de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial. ISBN 968-38-0260-5.
External links
- Biographical details at Letras Libres (in Spanish).
Juan Álvarez | |
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 Portrait made by an unknown artist, oil on canvas, Museo Nacional de Historia | |
| 24th President of Mexico |
| International | |
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| National | |
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