alternatehistory.com
Chapter 6 All Good Things
Chapter 6. All good things
"I was never a big fan of that tyrant Santa Anna, in truth i welcomed his death at first. Sadly along with his death came the death of Mexican unity"- Benito Juarez 1846
"Our pact to Mexico died within the Alamo, it is time to take the destiny of the Yucatan into our own hands."- Miguel Barbachano 1836
"For the Constitution" - Battle cry of Federalists 1836
The past 10 years for Mexico since its voluntary transition from Empire to Republic have been unstable to say the least. Originally Mexico had designed the creation of a democratic republic with its own constitution and a large amount of federalization. However, conflicts soon arose between various factions of conservatives, liberals, federalists, and centralists. Each had their own idea of how the country should be run. Fortunately, things for the most part were gearing towards a democracy that might become a US of Latin America. Fate had other plans when Santa Anna abolished the constitution in 1835 and took steps to make Mexico a unitary state. The Zacatecas rebellion and the ongoing Texas Revolution were proof enough of the people's dissatisfaction with the new government. When Santa Anna died while some were saddened many people welcomed it as the beginning for change. Many federalists called for new elections to determine a new president to fill the vacancy. These reformers would be met with conflict from the Centralist faction, specifically Jose Justo Corro. Corro was an ultra-conservative that was also a diehard supporter of Santa Anna's regime. Under Santa Anna, Corro hoped for Mexico to become a Catholic republic that would be based on conservative principles. When Santa Anna left to Texas he left one of his supporters Miguel Barragan as interim president (as one cannot be president and lead an army at the same time). Barragan however, died on March 1st of typhus, leaving Corro to fill his role as interim president. When Santa Anna died this meant that Corro's 4 day presidency should have ended and a transition to elections for the next one (as there was no vice president in the constitution). Corro refusing to see his dreams of a holy Mexico die, decided to declare himself as the rightful president of Mexico and declared that elections could not take place due to Texas's ongoing rebellion. Federalists were outraged and immediate demanded his resignation. A crowd of 5,000 gathered in Mexico City on March 23rd to protest Corro's continued rule and demand the constitution be reinstated. A group of inexperienced guards were soon ordered to contain the crowd and order them back home. Unfortunately like many such events before, it turned deadly. As the hours went on the crowd began to become increasingly more violent and soon objects were being thrown at the guards, when a rock struck a private on the head and caused him to collapse. The captain of the guard panicked and ordered his men to fire. In the ensuing chaos 18 civilians and 2 soldiers were killed, 57 were wounded. The Mexico city massacre as it would soon be called, was the last straw for the federalists. Under the leadership of Valentin Gomez Farias, the federalists advocated rebellion in order to overthrow Corro and reestablish the constitution. Corro then decided to dissolve the Mexican congress and called upon General Anastasio Bustamente to organize an army to crush the rebels. The Mexican Civil War officially began.
Jose Justo Corro (Right), Valentin Gomez Farias (left). Leaders of the respective Centralist and Federalist factions
Meanwhile far south another revolution was brewing, one for independence. The people of the Yucatan peninsula were unique in that there were a large mixture of Creole and Mayan Indians. During the rule of New Spain this region was granted substantial autonomy, and when they achieved independence as the first republic they peacefully joined the Mexican federation in 1823. For the next decade there was peace between the Yucatan and Mexico City due to the latter giving the former a great deal of autonomy. All of this would end when Santa Anna came to power in 1835, one of his several acts of centralization including increasingly limiting the autonomy of the Yucatan and taking away the rights of the Mayan peoples. Over time more and more people advocated for independence. Their answer for a course of action came with news of the Alamo and Santa Anna's death. Immediately Yucatan Federalists took control of the regions major cities and demanded that the central government reinstated the constitution. When Presidente Corro declared war on all federalists, at first the Yucatan would fight for the federalist cause. Then during a city meeting in Merida, Yucatan on April 4th, Miguel Barbachano stormed in with his supporters and declared that Yucatan should be its own independent country. Afterwords members of the city council would remove the Mexican flag and raise the flag of the Yucatan. Revolutionary fervor spread throughout the peninsula and on July 4th, the state of Yucatan declared secession and the formation of the Republic of the Yucatan.
View attachment 284374View attachment 284375
Flag and territory (lime green) of the Republic of Yucatan
During all of these activities of revolution a meeting was called on April 11th in Orevena Ranch(near present day Laredo) between important businessman, land owners, politicians, priests, and lawyers from the states of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas to discuss the possibility of secession. Here the idea of the Republic of the Rio Grande was born.
View attachment 284380View attachment 284381
Flag and territory (Red official, light red claimed) of the Republic of the Rio Grande
"I was never a big fan of that tyrant Santa Anna, in truth i welcomed his death at first. Sadly along with his death came the death of Mexican unity"- Benito Juarez 1846
"Our pact to Mexico died within the Alamo, it is time to take the destiny of the Yucatan into our own hands."- Miguel Barbachano 1836
"For the Constitution" - Battle cry of Federalists 1836
The past 10 years for Mexico since its voluntary transition from Empire to Republic have been unstable to say the least. Originally Mexico had designed the creation of a democratic republic with its own constitution and a large amount of federalization. However, conflicts soon arose between various factions of conservatives, liberals, federalists, and centralists. Each had their own idea of how the country should be run. Fortunately, things for the most part were gearing towards a democracy that might become a US of Latin America. Fate had other plans when Santa Anna abolished the constitution in 1835 and took steps to make Mexico a unitary state. The Zacatecas rebellion and the ongoing Texas Revolution were proof enough of the people's dissatisfaction with the new government. When Santa Anna died while some were saddened many people welcomed it as the beginning for change. Many federalists called for new elections to determine a new president to fill the vacancy. These reformers would be met with conflict from the Centralist faction, specifically Jose Justo Corro. Corro was an ultra-conservative that was also a diehard supporter of Santa Anna's regime. Under Santa Anna, Corro hoped for Mexico to become a Catholic republic that would be based on conservative principles. When Santa Anna left to Texas he left one of his supporters Miguel Barragan as interim president (as one cannot be president and lead an army at the same time). Barragan however, died on March 1st of typhus, leaving Corro to fill his role as interim president. When Santa Anna died this meant that Corro's 4 day presidency should have ended and a transition to elections for the next one (as there was no vice president in the constitution). Corro refusing to see his dreams of a holy Mexico die, decided to declare himself as the rightful president of Mexico and declared that elections could not take place due to Texas's ongoing rebellion. Federalists were outraged and immediate demanded his resignation. A crowd of 5,000 gathered in Mexico City on March 23rd to protest Corro's continued rule and demand the constitution be reinstated. A group of inexperienced guards were soon ordered to contain the crowd and order them back home. Unfortunately like many such events before, it turned deadly. As the hours went on the crowd began to become increasingly more violent and soon objects were being thrown at the guards, when a rock struck a private on the head and caused him to collapse. The captain of the guard panicked and ordered his men to fire. In the ensuing chaos 18 civilians and 2 soldiers were killed, 57 were wounded. The Mexico city massacre as it would soon be called, was the last straw for the federalists. Under the leadership of Valentin Gomez Farias, the federalists advocated rebellion in order to overthrow Corro and reestablish the constitution. Corro then decided to dissolve the Mexican congress and called upon General Anastasio Bustamente to organize an army to crush the rebels. The Mexican Civil War officially began.
Jose Justo Corro (Right), Valentin Gomez Farias (left). Leaders of the respective Centralist and Federalist factions
Meanwhile far south another revolution was brewing, one for independence. The people of the Yucatan peninsula were unique in that there were a large mixture of Creole and Mayan Indians. During the rule of New Spain this region was granted substantial autonomy, and when they achieved independence as the first republic they peacefully joined the Mexican federation in 1823. For the next decade there was peace between the Yucatan and Mexico City due to the latter giving the former a great deal of autonomy. All of this would end when Santa Anna came to power in 1835, one of his several acts of centralization including increasingly limiting the autonomy of the Yucatan and taking away the rights of the Mayan peoples. Over time more and more people advocated for independence. Their answer for a course of action came with news of the Alamo and Santa Anna's death. Immediately Yucatan Federalists took control of the regions major cities and demanded that the central government reinstated the constitution. When Presidente Corro declared war on all federalists, at first the Yucatan would fight for the federalist cause. Then during a city meeting in Merida, Yucatan on April 4th, Miguel Barbachano stormed in with his supporters and declared that Yucatan should be its own independent country. Afterwords members of the city council would remove the Mexican flag and raise the flag of the Yucatan. Revolutionary fervor spread throughout the peninsula and on July 4th, the state of Yucatan declared secession and the formation of the Republic of the Yucatan.
View attachment 284374View attachment 284375
Flag and territory (lime green) of the Republic of Yucatan
During all of these activities of revolution a meeting was called on April 11th in Orevena Ranch(near present day Laredo) between important businessman, land owners, politicians, priests, and lawyers from the states of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas to discuss the possibility of secession. Here the idea of the Republic of the Rio Grande was born.
View attachment 284380View attachment 284381
Flag and territory (Red official, light red claimed) of the Republic of the Rio Grande
- Kaiser Chris
- Word Count: 930