Mexican War of Independence

1. Mexican War of Independence Slideshow by Anders Dernback 2022, Text Wikipedia

2. Mexican War of Independence

3. Mexican War of Independence The coat of arms of Mexico (Spanish: Escudo Nacional de México, literally "national shield of Mexico") depicts a Mexican (golden) eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake. The design is rooted in the legend that the Aztec people would know where to build their city once they saw an eagle eating a snake on top of a lake. The image has been an important symbol of Mexican politics and culture for centuries. To the people of Tenochtitlan, this symbol had strong religious connotations, and to the Europeans, it came to symbolize the triumph of good over evil (with the snake sometimes representative of the serpent in the Garden of Eden). The Law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem regulates the design and use of the arms. They feature in the centre of the flag of Mexico, are engraved on the obverse of Mexican peso coins, and are the basis of the Seal of the United Mexican States.

4. The Mexican War of Independence (Spanish: Guerra de Independencia de México, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional struggles that occurred within the same time period, and can be considered a revolutionary civil war. Independence was not an inevitable outcome, but events in Spain itself had a direct impact on the outbreak of the armed insurgency in 1810 and its course until 1821. Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Spain in 1808 touched off a crisis of legitimacy of crown rule, since he had placed his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne after forcing the abdication of the Spanish monarch Charles IV. In Spain and many of its overseas possessions, the local response was to set up juntas ruling in the name of the Bourbon monarchy. Delegates in Spain and overseas territories met in Cádiz, Spain, still under Spanish control, as the Cortes of Cádiz, which drafted the Spanish Constitution of 1812.

5. Prior challenges to crown rule There is evidence that from an early period in post-conquest Mexican history that some began articulating the idea of a separate Mexican identity, though this was reserved to elite Creole circles. Despite that, challenges to Spanish imperial power before the insurgency for independence were rare, though some are of note. One early challenge was by Spanish conquerors whose encomienda grants from the crown, rewards for conquest were to be ended following the deaths of the current grant holders. The encomenderos' conspiracy included Don Martín Cortés (son of Hernán Cortés). The marquis was exiled, other conspirators were executed. Another challenge occurred in 1624 when elites ousted the reformist viceroy who sought to break up rackets from which they profited and curtail opulent displays of clerical power. Viceroy Marqués de Gelves was removed, following an urban riot of Mexico City plebeians in 1624 stirred up by those elites. Before the events of 1808 upended the political situation in New Spain, there was an isolated and abortive 1799 Conspiracy of the Machetes by a small group in Mexico City seeking independence.[

6. Mexican War of Independence

7. Mexican War of Independence In September 1808 peninsular-born Spaniards in New Spain overthrew the rule of Viceroy José de Iturrigaray (1803–08), who had been appointed before the French invasion. In 1810, American-born Spaniards in favor of independence began plotting an uprising against Spanish rule. It occurred when the parish priest of the village of Dolores, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, issued the Cry of Dolores on September 16, 1810. The Hidalgo revolt began the armed insurgency for independence, lasting until 1821. The colonial regime did not expect the size and duration of the insurgency, which spread from the Bajío region north of Mexico City to the Pacific and Gulf Coasts. With Napoleon's defeat, Ferdinand VII succeeded to the throne of the Spanish Empire in 1814, and promptly repudiated the constitution and returned to absolutist rule. When Spanish liberals overthrew the autocratic rule of Ferdinand VII in 1820, conservatives in New Spain saw political independence as a way to maintain their position. Former royalists and old insurgents formed an alliance under the Plan of Iguala and forged the Army of the Three Guarantees. The momentum of independence saw the collapse of royal government in Mexico and the Treaty of Córdoba ended the conflict. The mainland of New Spain was organized as the Mexican Empire. This ephemeral Catholic monarchy was overthrown and a federal republic declared in 1823 and codified in the Constitution of 1824. After some Spanish reconquest attempts, including the expedition of Isidro Barradas in 1829, Spain under the rule of Isabella II recognized the independence of Mexico in 1836.

8. Mexican War of Independence, Bonaparte invaded Spain

9. Mexican War of Independence José Joaquín Vicente de Iturrigaray y Aróstegui, KOS (27 June 1742, Cádiz, Spain – 22 August 1815, Madrid) was a Spanish military officer and viceroy of New Spain, from 4 January 1803 to 16 September 1808, during Napoleon's invasion of Spain and the establishment of a Bonapartist regime in Spain. His plans to form a provisional autonomous government led to his arrest and deposition. After serving as governor of Cádiz from 1793 to 1798, Iturrigaray was named viceroy of New Spain by Godoy. Iturrigaray arrived in the colony in 1803 with his wife, María Inés de Jáuregui y Aróstegui. She was the daughter of Agustin de Jaúregui y Aldecoa, Viceroy of Peru, born in Lecároz, Valle de Baztán, Navarra, and María Luisa de Aróstegui y Bassave, born in Habana, Cuba, a first cousin of José de Iturrigaray y Aróstegui. On September 21, 1808, Iturrigaray was sent as a prisoner to Spain. He was brought to trial in Cádiz for disloyalty. The charges were not proven and he was freed under the amnesty granted by the Cortes in 1810.

10. Mexican War of Independence Portrait of family Fagoaga Arozqueta 1730 Spanish (español) father, Mestiza (mixed Spanish- Indian) mother, and their Castiza daughter. Miguel Cabrera, 1763.

11. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), more commonly known as Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo (Spanish pronunciation: [miˈɣel iˈðalɣo]), was a Criollo Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican War of Independence and recognized as the Father of the Nation. He was a professor at the Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo in Valladolid and was ousted in 1792. He served in a church in Colima and then in Dolores. After his arrival, he was shocked by the rich soil he had found. He tried to help the poor by showing them how to grow olives and grapes, but in New Spain (modern Mexico) growing these crops was discouraged or prohibited by the authorities so as to avoid competition with imports from Spain. In 1810 he gave the famous speech, "Cry of Dolores", calling upon the people to protect the interest of their King Fernando VII (held captive by Napoleon) by revolting against the European-born Spaniards who had overthrown the Spanish Viceroy.

12. José María Morelos José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815 was a Mexican Roman Catholic priest and revolutionary rebel leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in 1811. Morelos and Ignacio López Rayón are credited with organizing the war of independence. Under Morelos the Congress of Anáhuac was installed on 13 September 1813, and in 6 November of the same year congress declared the country's independence. On 22 October 1814, a constitution, Decreto Constitucional para la Libertad de la América Mexicana, was drafted by the Congress which declared that Mexico would be a Republic. After a series of defeats he was captured by the royalist military, tried by the Inquisition, defrocked as a cleric, and executed by civil authorities for treason in 1815. Morelos is a national hero in Mexico and is considered a very successful military leader despite the fact that he never took a military career and was instead a priest.

13. Mexican War of Independence Congress of Anahuac the day of the writing of Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America

14. Mexican War of Independence The Congress of Chilpancingo also known as the Congress of Anáhuac, was the first, independent congress that replaced the Assembly of Zitácuaro, formally declaring itself independent from the Spanish crown. It was held in Chilpancingo, in what is the modern-day Mexican state of Guerrero, from September 1813 to November 1813. It was here where the first national constitution was ratified. It was composed of representatives of the provinces under its control and charged with considering a political and social program which it outlined in a document entitled Sentimientos de la Nación (Feelings of the Nation) which expressed the sentiment of Creole Nationalism. According to historian D. A. Brading, "Creole patriotism, which began as the articulation of the social identity of American Spaniards, was transmuted into the insurgent ideology of Mexican nationalism. On November 6, the deputies to the Congress signed the first legal document where the separation of the New Spain with respect to the Spanish rule is proclaimed. The name of this document is Acta Solemne de la Declaración de Independencia de la América Septentrional (Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America). Interpretation of the National War Flag given in the decree of July 14, 1815 by the Supreme Mexican Congress.

15. Age of Revolution, Spain and New Spain The eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Age of Revolution was already underway when the 1808 Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula destabilized not only Spain but also Spain's overseas possessions. In 1776 the Anglo-American Thirteen Colonies and the American Revolution successfully gained their independence in 1783, with the help of both the Spanish Empire and Louis XVI's French monarchy. Louis XVI was toppled in the French Revolution of 1789, with the aristocrats and the king himself losing his head in revolutionary violence. The rise of military strong man Napoleon Bonaparte brought some order within France, but the turmoil there set the stage for the black slave revolt in the French sugar colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) in 1791. The Haitian Revolution obliterated the slavocracy and gained independence for Haiti in 1804. Colonial rule was not based on outright coercion, until the early nineteenth century, since the crown simply did not have sufficient personnel and fire-power to enforce its rule. Rather, the crown's hegemony and legitimacy to rule was accepted by all and it ruled through institutions acting as mediators between competing groups, many organized as corporate entities. These were ecclesiastics, mining entrepreneurs, elite merchants, as well as indigenous communities. Lucrative overseas trade was in the hands of family firms based in Spain with ties to New Spain. Silver mining was the motor of the economy of New Spain, but also fueled the economies of Spain and the entire Atlantic world.

16. Religious, Racial and Cultural Tensions Within the Spanish Empire there was an unofficial yet apparent racial hierarchy which affected the social mobility of those not at the top of society. White, spanish-born Peninsulares were at the top where many occupied the highest levels of government. This was followed by Mexican-born pure Spanish descendents, who also occupied most government positions, and Creoles. Below this were indigenous groups, African-Mexicans and mixed race Mexicans. Many Creole elites deeply resented the lack of social mobility this brought as only Peninsular-born Spaniards could occupy the highest levels of government. This contributed to their reasoning behind backing the move for independence, to achieve power. They did not wish to overthrow the status quo entirely, as this would threaten their lucrative position in Mexican society. Instead, they wished to move up the social ladder, unable too under the unspoken racial hierarchy of the regime. The ruling white spanish elite and the majority of the country had very different views not only in culture and religion but on the role of government and social relations, with many elites viewing the government as a tool for progressing their own power, while indigenous groups saw the government as a communal vessel. Leading up to the crisis in 1808 both Creole and Mexican-born Spaniards, and indigenous and mixed groups had come to dislike the colonial regime for different reasons.

17. French invasion of Spain and political crisis in New Spain, 1808–09 The Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula destabilized not only Spain but also Spain's overseas possessions. The viceroy was the "king’s living image in New Spain. In 1808 viceroy José de Iturrigaray (1803–1808) was in office when Napoleon's forces invaded Iberia and deposed the Spanish monarch Charles IV and Napoleon's brother Joseph was declared the monarch. This turn of events set off a crisis of legitimacy. Viceroy Iturrigaray had been appointed by Charles IV, so his legitimacy to rule was not in doubt. In Mexico City, the city council (ayuntamiento), a stronghold of American-born Spaniards, began promoting ideas of autonomy for New Spain, and declaring New Spain to be on an equal basis to Spain. Their proposal would have created a legitimate, representative, and autonomous government in New Spain, but not necessarily breaking from the Spanish Empire. Opposition to that proposal came from conservative elements, including the peninsular-born judges of the High Court (Audiencia), who voiced peninsulars’ interests. Britain and British North America, towns in Spain and New Spain had elected representative ruling bodies, the cabildos or ayuntamientos, which came to play an important political role when the legitimate Spanish monarch was ousted in 1808. The successful 1809 elections in Mexico City for delegates to be sent to Spain had some precedents.

18. Mexican War of Independence Entrance of Agustín de Iturbide to Mexico City in 1821. Unknown artist, no date.

19. The Hidalgo revolt (1810–1811) Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla is now considered the father of Mexican independence. His uprising on 16 September 1810 is considered the spark igniting the Mexican War of Independence. He inspired tens of thousands of ordinary men to follow him, but did not organize them into a disciplined fighting force or have a broad military strategy, but he did want to destroy the old order. Fellow insurgent leader and second in command, Ignacio Allende, said of Hidalgo, "Neither were his men amenable to discipline, nor was Hidalgo interested in regulations." Hidalgo issued a few important decrees in the later stage of the insurgency, but did not articulate a coherent set of goals much beyond his initial call to arms denouncing bad government. Only following Hidalgo's death in 1811 under the leadership of his former seminary student, Father José María Morelos, was a document created that made explicit the goals of the insurgency, the Sentimientos de la Nación ("Sentiments of the Nation") (1813). The captured rebel leaders were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death, except for Mariano Abasolo, who was sent to Spain to serve a life sentence in prison. Allende, Jiménez, and Aldama were executed on 26 June 1811, shot in the back as a sign of dishonor.

20. 1810–11 Towns on the Route of Hidalgo's campaign and the regions where the insurgency took hold. From a small gathering at the Dolores church, other joined the rising including workers on local landed estates, prisoners liberated from jail, and a few members of a royal army regiment. Many estate workers' weapons were agricultural tools now to be used against the regime. The religious character of the movement was present from the beginning, embodied in leadership of the priest, Hidalgo. They were not organized in any formal fashion, more of a mass movement than an army. Hidalgo inspired his followers, but did not organize or train them as a fighting force, nor impose order and discipline on them. A few militia men in uniform joined Hidalgo's movement and attempted to create some military order and discipline, but they were few in number. They killed more than 500 European and American Spaniards, and marched on toward Mexico City.

21. Mexican War of Independence Despite apparently having the advantage, Hidalgo retreated, against the counsel of Allende. This retreat, on the verge of apparent victory, has puzzled historians and biographers ever since. They generally believe that Hidalgo wanted to spare the numerous Mexican citizens in Mexico City from the inevitable sacking and plunder that would have ensued. His retreat is considered Hidalgo's greatest tactical error and his failure to act "was the beginning of his downfall. The royalist forces, led by Félix María Calleja del Rey, were becoming more effective against disorganized and poorly armed of Hidalgo, defeating them at a bridge on the Calderón River, forcing the rebels to flee north towards the United States. The captured rebel leaders were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death, except for Mariano Abasolo, who was sent to Spain to serve a life sentence in prison. Hidalgo, as a priest, had to undergo a civil trial and review by the Inquisition. He was eventually stripped of his priesthood, found guilty, and executed on 30 July 1811. On September 28, 1810, Hidalgo led the siege of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato

22. Insurgency in the South under Morelos, 1811–1815 Warfare in the northern Bajío region waned after the capture and execution of the insurgency's creole leadership, but the insurgency had already spread to other more southern regions, to the towns of Zitácuaro, Cuautla, Antequera (now Oaxaca) towns where a new leadership had emerged. Priests José María Morelos and Mariano Matamoros, as well as Vicente Guerrero, Guadalupe Victoria, and Ignacio López Rayón carried on the insurgency on a different basis, organizing their forces, using guerrilla tactics, and importantly for the insurgency, creating organizations and creating written documents that articulated the insurgents' goals. In an important step, Rayón organized the Suprema Junta Gubernativa de América (Supreme National Governing Junta of America), which claimed legitimacy to lead the insurgency. Rayón articulated Elementos constitucionales, which states that "Sovereignty arises directly from the people, resides in the person of Ferdinand VII, and is exercised by the Suprema Junta Gubernativa de América. Morelos was not ambitious to become leader of the insurgency, but it was clear that he was recognized by insurgents as its supreme military commander.

23. Mexican War of Independence Mariano Matamoros y Guridi (August 14, 1770 – February 3, 1814) was a Mexican Roman Catholic priest and revolutionary rebel soldier of the Mexican War of Independence, who fought for independence against Spain in the early 19th century. Matamoros was removed from the priesthood and tried for treason. He was executed by firing squad in Valladolid, Michoacán on February 3, 1814. Félix María Calleja del Rey y de la Gándara was a Spanish military officer and viceroy of New Spain from March 4, 1813, to September 20, 1816, during Mexico's War of Independence. For his service in New Spain, Calleja was awarded with the title Count of Calderon. Captain Calleja del Rey accompanied the Count of Revillagigedo to New Spain in 1789, when Revillagigedo took up the position of viceroy.

24. Insurgency under Vicente Guerrero, 1815–1820 With the execution of Morelos in 1815, Vicente Guerrero emerged as the most important leader of the insurgency. From 1815 to 1821 most of the fighting for independence from Spain was by guerrilla forces in the tierra caliente (hot country) of southern Mexico and to a certain extent in northern New Spain. In 1816, Francisco Javier Mina, a Spanish military leader who had fought against Ferdinand VII, joined the independence movement. Mina and 300 men landed at Rio Santander (Tamaulipas) in April, in 1817 and fought for seven months until his capture by royalist forces in November 1817. In what was supposed to be the final government campaign against the insurgents, in December 1820, Viceroy Juan Ruiz de Apodaca sent a force led by a royalist Colonel Agustín de Iturbide, to defeat Guerrero's army in Oaxaca. Iturbide, a native of Valladolid (now Morelia), had gained renown for his zeal against Hidalgo's and Morelos's rebels during the early independence struggle. A favorite of the Mexican church hierarchy, Iturbide symbolized conservative creole values; he was devoutly religious and committed to the defense of property rights and social privileges. He also resented his lack of promotion and failure to gain wealth

25. Mexican War of Independence Painting by Luis Coto at the National Museum of Art in Mexico City of The Collegiate Church of Guadalupe La Pascua de Maria, 1698.

26. Guerrero, Iturbide, and the Plan of Iguala Iturbide's assignment to the Oaxaca expedition in 1820 coincided with a successful military coup in Spain against the monarchy of Ferdinand VII. The coup leaders, part of an expeditionary force assembled to suppress the independence movements in the Americas, had turned against the autocratic monarchy. They compelled the reluctant Ferdinand to reinstate the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812 that created a constitutional monarchy. When news of the liberal charter reached New Spain, Iturbide perceived it both as a threat to the status quo and a catalyst to rouse the creole elites to gain control of Mexico. Independence was achieved when conservative Royalist forces in the colonies chose to rise up against the liberal regime in Spain; it was an about-face compared to their previous opposition to the peasant insurgency. The royalist army was demoralized and the insurgents were unable to oust them. With the re-imposition of the Spanish Constitution, the relationship between newly elected town councils (ayuntamientos) and the military meant that councils could put limits on taxation and many voted to cease exacting taxes to support the royalist army. Álvarez, Ascencio and Guzmán declined to join the Army of the Three Guarantees, the military force created by Iturbide and Guerrero, but did continue to fight the royalists. Flag of the ThreeGuarantees

27. Mexican War of Independence A representation of mestizos in a "Caste Painting" from the colonial era.

28. Collapse of imperial rule and independence Iturbide had to persuade royalist officers to change sides and support independence as well as the mixed-race old insurgent forces. For some royalist commanders, their forces simply left, some of them amnestied former insurgents. The high military command in Mexico City deposed the viceroy, Juan Ruiz de Apodaca in July 1821, replacing him with an interim viceroy, royalist general Francisco Novella. By the time that the new viceroy Juan O'Donojú, practically the whole country supported the Plan of Iguala. Most soldiers had defected to Iturbide's Army of the Three Guarantees and the Spanish cause was lost. On August 24, 1821, representatives of the Spanish crown, including the new viceroy Juan O'Donojú and Iturbide signed the Treaty of Córdoba, which recognized Mexican independence under the Plan of Iguala. O'Donojú then resigned as viceroy. The Spanish government denied that O'Donojú had the authority to sign the treaty, but events on the ground saw Iturbide and the Army of Three Guarantees march into Mexico City in triumph on 27 September 1821. The next day, the Mexican independence was proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire. The Plan of Iguala and the Treaty of Córdoba had rapidly brought about an alliance of insurgents and former royalists turned autonomists resulting in the rapid achievement of independence virtually without further military conflict. Once independence was achieved, the fissures between different interests rapidly re-emerged.

29. Las castas. Anonymous, 18th century, Museo Nacional del Virreinato, Tepotzotlán, Mexico.

30. Agustín de Iturbide Agustín de Iturbide 27 September 1783 – 19 July 1824), full name Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu and also known as Augustine of Mexico, was a Mexican army general and politician. During the Mexican War of Independence, he built a successful political and military coalition that took control in Mexico City on 27 September 1821, decisively gaining independence for Mexico. After securing the secession of Mexico from Spain, Iturbide was proclaimed president of the Regency in 1821; a year later, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico, reigning briefly from 19 May 1822 to 19 March 1823. In May 1823 he went into exile in Europe. When he returned to Mexico in July 1824, he was arrested and executed. He designed the Mexican flag.

31. Mexican War of Independence The hacienda owner and his mayordomo (painting by Carl Nebel, litografía de Lemercier y Lassalle).

32. Timeline of Mexican War of Independence 1799 1799 November 10. Thirteen young men of modest means and humble families, led by Pedro de la Portilla, were ordered arrested by Viceroy Miguel José de Azanza in Mexico City on grounds of fomenting a 105th rebellion against Spanish rule. 1808 1808 June 6. Napoleon Bonaparte of France installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain. August 25. A Peruvian-born priest, Melchor de Talamantes, wrote a paper to the city council of Mexico City asserting reasons that justified a colony claiming independence from its home country. September 16. Viceroy Iturrigaray was deposed in a coup d'etat by the peninsulares. Although born in Spain. 1809 1809 December 21. The Mexican authorities uncovered the "Conspiracy of Valladolid" in what is today Morelia, Michoacan. 1812 1812 January 2. Félix María Calleja led royalist troops in an attack on Rayón's stronghold of Zitacuaro. January 5. With the conquest of Zitacuaro, Calleja ordered all the inhabitants to leave and burned the city to the ground. Rayón escaped from the royalist army and took refuge in Tlalpujahua, Michoacan. February 19. The siege of Cuautla began. Morelos had 4,000 soldiers to defend the town; the royalist Calleja had about double that number of men. April 30. Rayón forwarded to Morales a copy of a constitution that he and other members of the Junta de Zitacuaro had written. The draft constitution acknowledged the Spanish king, Ferdinand VII, as the titular head of Mexico, but otherwise advocated full independence for Mexico, plus advocating the abolishment of slavery and the rigid caste system, and establishing freedom of the press. May 2. The Siege of Cuautla ended with Morelos fighting his way out of the town with his army. Morelos and part of his army escaped but 3,000 of the insurgents and their civilian supporters were killed by the royalists. 1810 1810 September 9. The colonial government of New Spain heard glimmerings of the Queretaro conspiracy. September 15. La Corregidora in Queretaro learned the government had begun arresting conspirators. September 16. At 2 a.m. Hidalgo and Allende were awakened by Aldama and advised that the conspiracy was in danger of being quashed by the government. Meeting with other conspirator. 1811 January 8. A priest from Guadalajara and former supporter of Hidalgo published a manifesto in Mexico City. January 21. The Casas Revolt in Texas overturned royalist rule and the insurgents ruled Texas for 39 days before a counter-coup upset them. January 24–25. In flight after the Battle of Calderon Bridge.