First Mexican Federal Republic and the Constitution of 1824

First Mexican Federal Republic and the Constitution of 1824

First Federal Republic

The First Federal Republic is a period in the history of Mexico that corresponds to the first time the federal regime was established as a form of government of the Mexican State.

First Federal Republic

The Republic was proclaimed on November 1, 1823 by the Constituent Congress, months after the dissolution of the Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide. The Republic was established formally on October 4, 1824 with the promulgation of the Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States.

First Federal Republic

The Federal Republic lasted almost twelve years, until the establishment of the Centralist Republic on October 23, 1835. The first attempt at federation in the history of Mexico was a short experience, characterized by political and social instability, and by violence.

First Federal Republic

The Republic was ruled by two triumvirs (that is, a government of three people) and nine different presidents. Guadalupe Victoria was the only president to complete his constitutional mandate during this period.

First Federal Republic

The period was also marked by several attempts at Spanish reconquest and Mexico's attempt to conquer Cuba.

The main problem for the consolidation of the federation was the division and constant confrontations between federalists and centralists.

Multiple Choice

Why was this period called the First Mexican Federal Republic?

• Because it was the first time that the monarchical republic was established in Mexico

• Because it was the first time that a federal regime was established as a form of government for a Mexican state.

• Because it was the first time that a free and sovereign state was decreed in Mexico

Multiple Choice

How long did the Federal Republic last as a form of government in Mexico?

• Twelve years

• Eight years

• Ten years

Multiple Choice

What does it mean for a government to function through a triumvirate?

• It is a government in which decisions are made by three different powers: executive, legislative and judicial

• It is a government in which decisions are made by three institutions related to the church, the elite and the military.

• It is a government in which decisions are made by three people

Birth of the Federal Republic

After the Iturbidista empire was dissolved by Congress, the republican and federal form of government was established in Mexico in July 1823. The Supreme Executive Power was created, which had the form of a triumvirate. This power ruled Mexico from April 1821 to October 1824.

Birth of the Federal Republic

The triumvirate presented (in November 1823) the Constitutive Act of the Mexican Nation, which was the first attempt to establish the lines that Congress and the General Constitution should follow.

The Second Congress was installed on November 7, 1823, and in its hands was the authority to draft a constitution.

Birth of the Federal Republic

Within the congress the two ideologies became evident: the federalist (headed by Miguel Ramos Arizpe and Lorenzo Zavala) and the centralist (headed by Servando Teresa de Mier and Carlos María de Bustamante).

The centralists

The centralists defended the position of not dividing the territory as this would weaken the country. On the other hand, the federalists argued that the best form of government was to constitute Mexico in free, independent and sovereign states. Years later, these ideologies would form the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, which would shake the political life of Mexico on several occasions.

The federalist

The federalists maintained that the best form of government was to constitute Mexico in free, independent and sovereign states.

Main articles of the Constitution of 1824

• The Mexican nation is forever free and independent from the Spanish government and from any other power.

• The religion of the Mexican nation is and will be perpetually Catholic, apostolic.

Main articles of the Constitution of 1824

• The Mexican nation adopts for its government the form of representative republic popular federal.

• The supreme power of the federation is divided for its exercise, into legislative, executive and judicial.

Multiple Choice

What were the two ideologies in which the congress was divided?

• Radicals and centralist

• Federalist and centralist

• Free Masons and the Scottish Rite

Open Ended

Explain in your own words, what were the differences between centralists and federalists?