Update time! This one brings us through the next two Federalist presidencies, and the end of Federalist rule in Mexico, going all the way up to 1838. Also, just in case you guys are wondering, I'll be doing a series of updates that focus on individual people through to the end of their respective lives (Allende, Hidalgo, Morelos, Iturbide, etc.)...probably after I wrap up TTL's Mexican American War. Enjoy!
Author's note: Well I think you all are smart enough to figure it out on your own, but Mexico is by no means a democracy...at least not yet. It's a republic controlled by a bunch of rich white guys and a few not so white guys. The only difference with OTL is Mexico is much more stable and has a much saner leadership.
Mexico: The Rise and Fall of the Federalist Era, 1825-1837
2nd President José María Morelos y Pavón: 1825-1831
After yet another round of contested elections, the Federalist Party continued to command control of the nascent Mexican republic, the popular Independence War General José María Morelos being elected to the presidency in the autumn of 1825. Despite his background as a priest, his record of good management as an able general during the war ensured that he was still held in high esteem by the ruling Federalists. This outstanding record allowed the question of his racial identity to remain generally untouched, though that was not always the case. His indigenous and African roots did not bode will with certain elements of Mexico City’s elites, the majority of them rich whites who viewed any “lower caste” gaining power as a threat. Two major rebellions are attributed to Morelos’s presidency (which is a bit of an overstatement, since the first rebellion in question technically began under-and was mostly quelled by-Allende at the end of his term). The second rebellion occurred at the end of 1829, not long after Morelos won reelection, being orchestrated by group of rich Criollos lead by a junior member of the Bassoco family[1]. Bassoco and several of his associates were Freemasons of the Scottish Rite, and in that vein allied them with the conservative Centralist Party. Dissatisfied with continued dominance of the Federalists (who were allied with the rival York Rite, and of which Morelos was suspected of belonging to) they conspired to overthrow Morelos and install a conservative to the presidency. After it was discovered that these men intended to launch a coup d’état against the elected government, they fled into the hills in the northwest of Mexico state[2] and incited a revolt. After several months of fighting between the rebels and government forces the rebellion was crushed north of the mining town of Pachuca. Overall Mexico would continue to enjoy relative peace and prosperity unheard of since the height of the viceroyalty, until the start of the First Mexican-American War in 1845.
Part of this prosperity came in the form of human capital that made its way into Mexico between the arrival of Cornish immigrants in 1824[3] and the aforementioned Mexican-American War, which disrupted immigration. The Cornish, dealing with economic hardship in Cornwall, accompanied English investors to Mexico at the behest of President Allende. This first wave of Cornish settlers would arrive in Pachuca, north of Mexico City, and in a matter of years transform the region, introducing steam powered technology invented by famed British inventor Richard Trevithick (himself of Cornish descent) in order to revitalize the mining industry in the region (the majority of the Cornish settlers themselves being miners). Many Spanish Liberals would also sail across
el charco[4] as Spain devolved once more into rebellion and war in 1831. First initiated by President Allende, these new arrivals to Mexico would be encouraged to move to the north of the country. Though not a rapid population boom, the influx of people did propel Tejas to statehood on 12 March 1832, its capital remaining at Béxar[5]. Tejas joined a string of new states to enter into the Mexican union, such as Guatemala in 1826, Sonsonate[6] and Honduras in 1828, and Sinaloa in 1829.
3rd President Andrés Quintana Roo: 1831-1837, and First Lady Leona Vicario de Quintana
Morelos would by and large continue the policies of his predecessor, as internal and external policy remained the same. Two years into his second term, however, Morelos fell ill and his general health, which had always left much to be desired, took a sharp turn for the worst. Bedridden, Morelos allowed for his Vice President, Andrés Quintana Roo, to assume the presidency, and on 12 September 1831 he was formally inaugurated in Congress assembled. Quintana Roo, a staunch Liberal and committed Federalist, continued the same policies as his two predecessors, and then some. Upon assuming the presidency one of the issues Quintana Roo was constantly pestered with was that of the status of Alta California, an issue the territory’s single non-voting representative in Congress, José Antonio Carrillo, never ceased to remind him of. Carrillo, like many of his fellow Alta Californians, was tired of Mexico City’s policy of appointing the territory’s governors, who usually was not a native of the territory. Carrillo informed the President that the population was becoming restive over the perception that it was the “neglected stepchild” of Mexico City. Quintana Roo took heed of this warning and in April 1832 appointed native born Alta Californian Pío Pico as Territorial Governor, as well as declaring that future governors for both Californias and Nuevo Mexico should be residents of their respective territories. After winning the 1833 election in his own right Quintana Roo embarked to right a “serious wrong” within the Mexican Constitution. Namely it was the Roman Catholic clause of said document, which established Roman Catholicism as the official church of Mexico, which the President argued as undemocratic. Quintana Roo did not realize what he was coming up against when he decided to pick a fight with the Church. The Church was deeply entrenched in Congress, with support from many of its members, as well as maintaining control of the country’s education system and owning large swaths of the country’s real estate. The Federalist leadership, made up of the moderate José María Luis Mora and the more reactionary Valentín Gómez Farías forced the issue passed Congress, eliminating many of the Church’s privileges, forcing many centers of higher education to secularize and superseding the ecclesiastical courts that protected many of the corrupt within the priesthood in favor of civil courts. Many conservatives, constantly antagonized by these new policies, finally responded in the spring of 1834, when Congress began discussing the abolition of the Religious clause in the Constitution, the
diezmo[7] and the seizure of church property in the name of the state. Street fighting became common throughout the spring and summer of 1834 (though it was only really confined to Mexico City), pressuring the Quintana Roo government to abandon any more attempts to secularize the country. The remainder of his term proved to be rather fruitless, though 1835 would become known as a special year to future generations of Mexican feminists. Mexico’s First Lady, Leona Vicario de Quintana, began writing a series of letters titled
Sentimientos de una Mujer (es. Sentiments from a Woman), where she argued for women to play a larger role in the social fabric of the country, often invoking the famed 17th century female writer Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz[8]. Namely she blasted at the perceived notion that men were superior to women, and that women had no place except within the confines of the home, where even then she was at the mercy of her husband’s wishes. She argued that women were equal to, and not to be dominated by, their husband. Upon the publishing of the letters in early 1836, she was lambasted by the Church and its conservative allies, for “undermining the stability of the established order.” Undeterred by these attacks on her ideals, Vicario de Quintana would continue fighting for woman’s rights, her husband quietly at her side, giving life to a movement still very much in its infancy; a movement she would not live to see fully take off but one she would be recognized for by future generations.
The year 1837 marked the first time in Mexico’s history that an opposition party took power from the ruling class. The Federalists, weakened by their attacks on the Church, had split between moderate and radical factions, split their votes among competing candidates and thus were unable to stand against the revitalized Centralist Party. On 29 November 1837, former Royalist General and longtime figurehead of the party Agustín de Iturbide was elected President of Mexico. There were calls from disaffected Federalists of voter fraud, as an air of factional violence lingered over the capital. Any major fighting that would have taken place, however, was dispelled by Quintana Roo, stating that the transfer of power between political parties was commonplace in a democracy. The air of Mexico City would remain thick well into 1838, but for the time being political violence had been averted. After 20 years of Federalist domination, people were uncertain of what a Centralist Mexico would look like.
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[1] The Bassocos were a rich and powerful family in Mexico City during the Bourbon era and during the early republic.
[2] OTL State of Hidalgo.
[3] Just like OTL.
[4]
El Charco is a Spanish expression that translates to "the puddle." It's equivalent to how Americans and the British refer to "the pond" that separates them.
[5] OTL San Antonio, having been renamed in TTL.
[6] Alternate name for El Salvador.
[7] Spanish for Tithe. These taxes were known to be big burden on the less fortunate.
[8] Exclusive to TTL. Leona Vicario was known to be a little radical for her time, I can see her doing this TTL.
