Viva Mexico -Divergence 1821 .(Please comment if you like)

[mad orc]

Alta California

(This is a side chapter that will run in conjunction with the main story ,so even if this chapter remains incomplete ,it doesn't affect the main story ,if you wish to simply continue reading the main story ,you may read on ahead and skip this one .)

In the case of this wild untamed and distant land of Alta California, time ran funny .For example, the residents of this place found out that their nation had changed, in early 1822 .
They understood that Spain had been totally defeated only when the tax man arrived and told them .

Thus ,it would take them, some months time to be aware that they had a new monarch .

Why did this happen, obviously, there were no good roads, no good communication systems, nothing .Not like they cared anyway. To them ,as long as they got to be princes of their own domains, their own rancheros or Missions in the case of the clergy, they were fine .
As long as the nuisance value of the government was minimal, they lived on lives as if nothing had happened. In fact, in Los Angeles, only three men actually cried Viva la Mexico(Before the taxman arrived with soldiers and forced the entire town to cry out at the point of a musket's muzzle) .

And life went on ,in this untamed land.
For the Indians also ,nothing notably changed .
And life went on .

Yes ,there was some degree of jubliation .But that was mainly due to the fact, that these hard men had thought, they would get more benefits and tax cuts .
But one person here ,still in his young age started understanding the situation at this point .He would go on to play a notable part in Mexican politics in the future .

Jose Antonio Castro was born in 1808 in Montery .He was the son of a rich Ranchero who had waged a private war against an armed band of Indians in 1814 and after defeating them, had claimed the land for himself as a grant thus doubling his land .His father José Tiburcio Castro was a soldier, member of the Diputación (territorial legislature), the administrator of Mission San Juan Bautista after it was secularized, and grantee of Rancho Sausal.
Castro was known to be a vocal child and in 1824, when still 16 ,he had said to his father that "I don't see any good coming from this new political change in far off Mexico(city) " .

There were not only people ,but seemingly unimportant places which held a large significance .

Fort Ross was a Russian fort built in 1812 in California .It was the hub of the Russian American company which was in the farming and manufacturing business .
In addition to farming and manufacturing, the Company carried on its fur-trading business at Fort Ross, but by 1817, after 20 years of intense hunting by Spanish, American and British ships - followed by Russian efforts - had practically eliminated sea otter in the area.

Among the Californios, there was a growing demand, to annex or buy that fort.
The Spanish hadn't heeded to this demand and neither did Iturbide .

Thus, the seeds of future resentment were being firmly sown .

 

[mad orc]

The far south -The states of central America .

From the 16th century through 1821, Central America, apart from Panama, formed the Captaincy General of Guatemala within the Spanish Empire. In 1821 a congress of Central American Criollos in Guatemala City composed the Act of Independence of Central America to declare the region's independence from Spain, effective on September 15 of that year. The process was bloodless with no resistance from the Spanish authorities as the Governor General Brigadier Gabino Gaínza, along with all the royal governors of the five provinces, were retained in office as executive powers pending a full transition to local rule.

Independence proved short-lived, as local law and order broke down. Driven by regional rivalries, many localities refused to accept the newly formed federal powers in Guatemala—San Salvador, Comayagua, León, and Cartago were in open revolt. The ensuing anarchy prompted the land-owning wealthy and conservative class to advocate union with Mexico. On January 25, 1822 the Junta consultiva in Guatemala City voted for annexation. A few weeks later General Vicente Filísola, the envoy of Emperor Sebastian I of the Mexican Empire, arrived in Guatemala as the new ruler.

The annexation was controversial, with some seeing the Mexican constitution with its abolition of slavery and establishment of free trade as an improvement over the status quo. Central American liberals in San Salvador objected to this and refused to accept Filísola's authority. The army was ordered to quell dissent. In the case of Costa Rica, the country decided to join the Mexican Empire as part of the resolutions upon conclusion of the Battle of Ochomogo (April 5, 1823) .
However ,Iturbide's declaration of a Junta would lead to much dissent and explosion in the political condition .

But any rebellious activity was quelled with quite vigour and as many say, cruelty !
Absolute military rule was imposed beginning with the last few months of 1823 .
Thus ,more dissent was planted .

Above is a map of the Mexican empire in January 1 1824 .

 

[Southern pride]

Ok so financial/economic situation.
__________________________
Mexico was in a terrible economic situation today we shall review why Mexico is where it is today and how Iturbide just made it worse.

Mexico's economic history has been characterized since the colonial era by resource extraction, agriculture, and a relatively underdeveloped industrial sector. Economic elites in the colonial period were predominantly Spanish born, active as transatlantic merchants and silver mine owners and diversifying their investments with the landed estates. The largest sector of the population was indigenous subsistence farmers, who lived mainly in the center and south.

New Spain was envisioned by the Spanish crown as a supplier of wealth to Iberia, which huge silver mines accomplished. A colonial economy to supply foodstuffs and products from ranching as well as a domestic textile industry meant that the economy supplied much of its own needs. Crown economic policy rattled American-born elites’ loyalty to Spain when in 1804 it instituted a policy to make mortgage holders pay immediately the principal on their loans, threatening the economic position of cash-strapped land owners.

Independence was difficult for the newly formed Empire. Spanish merchants returned to Spain never to return and most of Silver mines were damaged in the war and hard to work due to the loss of Spanish mercury.

Further complicating the situation was that in 1820 Spanish liberals staged a coup and forced Ferdinand to reinstate the Spanish Constitution of 1812 passed by the Cortez de Cadiz For elites in New Spain, the specter of liberal policies that would have a deleterious impact on their social and economic position propelled former royalists to join the insurgent cause, thus bringing about Mexican independence in 1821.

A pact between former royalist officer Augustine Iturbide and insurgent Vicente Guerrero unified under the Plan de Iguana and the Army of Three garentees brought about Mexican independence in September 1821. Rather than the insurgency being a social revolution, in the end it allowed conservative forces in now independent Mexico to remain at the top of the social and economic system.

Although independence might have brought about rapid economic growth in Mexico since the Spanish crown was no longer the sovereign, Mexico's economic position in 1800 was far better than it would be for over the next hundred years. In many ways the colonial economic system remained largely in place, despite the transition to formal political independence.

At the end of the colonial era, there was no national market and only poorly developed regional markets. The largest proportion of the population was poor, both peasants, who worked small holdings for subsistence or worked for low wages, and urban dwellers, most of whom were underemployed or unemployed, with only a small artisan sector.

Although New Spain had been the major producer of silver and the greatest source of income for the Spanish crown, Mexico ceased to produce silver in any significant amounts until the late nineteenth century. Poor transportation, the disappearance of a ready source of mercury from Spain, and deterioration and destruction of deep mining shafts meant that the motor of Mexico's economy ground to a halt.

This was also exasperated by Iturbide's extravagance. Money that should have gone to repairing Mexico's mines went to funding the Emperor's court and Iturbide's wardrobe. All the while Mexican debt grew and grew.

Mexico tried its hand at selling government bonds at the London Stock Exchange. To do so though they had to give there intermediary of the bank Goldsmith and Company Theconditions were harsh in that they gave Goldsmith abusive advantages.

Where as Mexico issued debt worth the equivalent of 16 million Mexican pesos (3.2 million pounds sterling – NB: here in after, pounds sterling = £), the country actually received only 5.7 million pesos orapproximately, £1.14 million), or a mere 35% of the amount borrowed.

(Sorry if it doesn't read well)

 

[JonasResende]

Uh oh. Dissent, climbing national debt, and abusive landowners - all we need is a food shortage to get a Mexican version of the French Revolution. Although with luck it will be Agustin who loses his head and not the emperor.

 

[mad orc]

Uh oh. Dissent, climbing national debt, and abusive landowners - all we need is a food shortage to get a Mexican version of the French Revolution. Although with luck it will be Agustin who loses his head and not the emperor.

Thanks for commenting man .
It is insightful comments like yours that encourage us so much .
We both are trying our best to make it better .
Cheers
mad orc

 

[Southern pride]

Uh oh. Dissent, climbing national debt, and abusive landowners - all we need is a food shortage to get a Mexican version of the French Revolution. Although with luck it will be Agustin who loses his head and not the emperor.

Thank you for commenting

 

[JonasResende]

Thanks for commenting man .
It is insightful comments like yours that encourage us so much .
We both are trying our best to make it better .
Cheers
mad orc

Thank you for commenting

Pleasure. I think Agustin's headed for a fall unless he can find a way to smooth over differences with the Californians and the rest of non-Mexico Central America. Also, if Congress is just sitting on its ass and taking 8 months to supposedly design a constitution but actually doing nothing (sounds like the legislature at my university), is someone (hopefully Bash, but possibly someone like Agustin/Santa Ana) going to tell them to either move their asses or get the f*ck out of the way?

 

[Southern pride]

Pleasure. I think Agustin's headed for a fall unless he can find a way to smooth over differences with the Californians and the rest of non-Mexico Central America. Also, if Congress is just sitting on its ass and taking 8 months to supposedly design a constitution but actually doing nothing (sounds like the legislature at my university), is someone (hopefully Bash, but possibly someone like Agustin/Santa Ana) going to tell them to either move their asses or get the f*ck out of the way?

Well you have to understand the legislature was majority Republican leaning they wanted a Republic of Mexico also the Congress believed since they were elected by the people of Mexico there authority superseded that of the Emperor and any theoretical executive branch.

 

[JonasResende]

Well you have to understand the legislature was majority Republican leaning they wanted a Republic of Mexico also the Congress believed since they were elected by the people of Mexico there authority superseded that of the Emperor and any theoretical executive branch.

Sounds like a struggle which seldom turns out well for the monarch. In the words of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon "first the barons came to take away the monarch's rights, then the merchants, now the journalists"

 

[mad orc]

Well you have to understand the legislature was majority Republican leaning they wanted a Republic of Mexico also the Congress believed since they were elected by the people of Mexico there authority superseded that of the Emperor and any theoretical executive branch.

Sounds like a struggle which seldom turns out well for the monarch. In the words of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon "first the barons came to take away the monarch's rights, then the merchants, now the journalists"

Thanks for commenting people .
In RL something similar happened .Congress didn't actually get around to making a real constitution and just passed time .
Lets see what happens ahead !!!

 

[mad orc]

Relations .

However might have been Iturbide's shortcomings, but in the case of international relations, he was mostly good enough .He concentrated on developing relations with Latin American and European countries and trying his utmost to keep the United states out of the picture .

Soon after gaining independence in 1820's Mexican Colombian relations developed .By February 1822 the Mexican empire and Gran Colombia bordered each other in Costa Rica(A Mexican province) and Panama(A Gran Colombian province). Both nations established diplomatic relation on 3 October 1823.

In the case of Brazil, Emperor Perdo I had no real authority to take decisions separate from the crown in Lisbon(Which had been warned by Spain not to pursue diplomatic relations lest Sebastian be excommunicated), however he did pursue relations secretly .

The first official diplomatic contract between the nations of Argentina and Mexico was in 1824 when Mexican President Agustine Iturbide sent a letter to the government of Argentina stating "America(continent) has one cause: its unity and independence."

Martin Rodriguez, the then head of state of Argentina .

Diplomatic relations between Chile and Mexico were established in the 1820s soon after both nations obtained independence from Spain. Chile soon opened a consulate in Mexico City and in Mazatlán and Mexico opened a consulate in Valparaíso.

Bernardo O'Higgins, the then head of state of Chile .

In Europe ,despite Spanish attempts to stop nations from recognizing Mexico ,everyone knew that the writing was on the wall .

In 1821, soon after obtaining independence from Spain, Emperor Agustín de Iturbide of Mexico sent his foreign minister to the court of King Louis XVIII of France to ask for recognition of the newly independent nation; however, King Louis XVIII refused to recognize Mexico because of its alliance with Spain. On 26 November 1823, France proposed resolving the problem of recognition by establishing trade relations with a Mexican company, thus establishing unofficial relations with Mexico.

The United States was the first country to recognize an independent Mexico in 1821(Note) ,but Agustin kept relations with the USA cordial at best, neutral at worst .

James Madison, the the American president in 1810 .

James Monroe, American president in 1821 .

The Netherlands was the second European country to recognize Mexico soon after gaining independence from Spain in 1821.

William I, the then head of state of Netherlands .

But ah, Britain ,Britain was called in Mexico as 'Mejor amigo' or greatest friend .Britain was Mexico's best friend and greatest ally .Part of this friendship came from the fact that Britain had no reason to fear Spanish wrath .After Mexico declared its independence in 1810, Britain was the first European great power to recognize Mexican sovereignty. Soon afterwards, Emperor Sebastian I (Literally it was his regent Iturbide) sent a diplomatic envoy to London to establish diplomatic communications between the two nations.
British banks also lent a lot of money to Mexico and it was the British who had intervened in the crisis that happened between Spain and Portugal after Sebastian I was declared emperor .

George IV, the then head of state of Britain .

Spain's official stand was that, it did not recognize the Mexican empire and declared it an insurgent rebellion .However, according to the terms of the crisis treaty of 1822, it declared that Sebastian had been kidnapped and that he would be saved and exiled to Brazil when the supposed Reconquista happened .However, it was clarified that any attempts by Portugal to establish relations with the Mexican empire would grant the pope(Who was at the time ,a keen listener of Spanish demands) the authority to excommunicate Sebastian .

 

[mad orc]

Reactions of Pirates ,Apaches and bandits .

An interesting aspect of the whole situation was the reactions of the other side of the law after independence .

Word reached of a new king to the Apache leaders in 1823 .On 31st March 1823, the governor of the territory of California recieved a letter written in clear Spanish from an unknown Apache tribe who demanded a sizeable chunk of land in exchange for non aggression .The letter itself was obviously ignored, but it was preserved in the national library .In 1884, after the final surrender of the Apaches ,it was sold to an American newspaper for $10000 .

Similarly, by early 1823, the new government began a movement to pardon bandits all over the nation if they agreed to tend a small farmland in the territory of Nuevo Mexico .

Jean Lafitte and his brother along with an Italian called Vincenzo Gambi were dreaded pirates in the gulf of Mexico .The Lafittes became spies for the Spanish during the Mexican War of Independence and moved to Galveston Island, Texas, where they developed a pirate colony they called Campeche. Lafitte continued attacking merchant ships as a pirate around Central American ports until he died circa 1825, trying to capture Spanish vessels. In late 1824, they were officially paid of by the empire to stay away from Mexico, however Vincenzo Gambi stayed on in service of the empire of Mexico .

Jean Lafitte

Another pirate was Louis Michel Aury .
Aury decided to support the Spanish colonies of South America in their fight for independence from Spanish rule. In April 1813 he sailed from North Carolina on his own privateer ship with Venezuelan Letters of Marque to attack Spanish ships. He was then commissioned as a commodore in the navy of New Granada , at considerable personal expense, in December 1815 ran the Spanish blockade and evacuated hundreds of people in his vessels from the besieged fortress city of Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) to Haiti. In spite of his success in this dangerous exploit he argued with Simón Bolívar, leader of the Latin American revolutionaries, over payment for his services in organizing the unsuccessful naval expedition to Los Cayos.

Aury subsequently accepted an appointment as resident commissioner of Galveston Island, Texas, made by José Manuel de Herrera, an envoy from the fledgling Republic of Mexico, who had declared Galveston a port of the Republic. Aury established a privateering base there in September 1816.
One of Aury's privateers had captured a Spanish vessel from Tampico, and letters found on board revealed that the port of Soto La Marina on the Soto La Marina River (also called the Santander) in Mexico was undefended. Learning this, Gen. Francisco Mina and Col. Henry Perry resolved to make a descent upon the place, and Aury agreed to transport them. They sailed from Galveston April 6, 1817, and the town was taken without a fight. The three commanders squabbled, and Aury left with his ships for Galveston. Mina, whose plan was to join the southern Mexican revolutionaries led by Guadalupe Victoria, marched inland and was captured by royal Spanish troops and executed by firing squad on a hill close to the Fuerte de los Remedios.

In 1821 itself, Aury was given a salary and his ship was employed by Iturbide to help combat against any Spanish attacks .

Hipólito Bouchard was another dangerous pirate who operated in California during this period, a sizeable land grant was offered as bounty for him without result .

Hipolito Bouchard .

 

[Lenwe]

Ok I like how this is Shaping please continue

 

[mad orc]

Ok I like how this is Shaping please continue

Of course my man .The feeling of having eager readers is unlike anything one can ever experience .
Thanks so much for commenting .Your comments are like fuel to me .
Keep reading and keep commenting .

 

[mad orc]

The military .

NOTICE - Gentlemen ,i know that this ain't a very good technique ,but for now i implore you to read this excellent PDF for the military .There would be no point in copying from it (Though plans to do so are being considered) .Please read the PDF and do this favor to me .
The next chapter shall commence like any other .

Once again i apologise for having to use this technique .I swear i won't make a habit of it .

Thanks
mad orc

 

[Southern pride]

The Catholic Church
___________________

Mexico as you have saw before is a troubled nation religion was no exception to this rule of barely controlled chaotic mess. If you were a political advocate in Mexico you were ether Liberal and Anti-Clerical. Or you were conservative and you supported the Church's role in society there was no middle ground.

Before the Regent Iturbide forcefully dissolved the Congress many Liberals tried to get Anti-Clerical laws passed into the Constitution. This was to the chagrin of Conservatives who often felt embarrassed by there Liberal colleagues.

The religious issue often came to a head like when Iturbide promised to protect Church privileges or when the emperor attended mass for the first time in Mexico City's Cathedral.

When the Congress was dissolved the religious issue and many others came to a grinding halt in favor of conflict.

 

[El Terremoto]

Thus, the seeds of future resentment were being firmly sown .

B E A R

F L A G

R E P U B L I C

 

[mad orc]

B E A R

F L A G

R E P U B L I C

Y
E
A
H

Thanks for commenting man .

 

[El Terremoto]

Y
E
A
H

Thanks for commenting man .

yeah no worries

I wonder, if you're really gonna do an independent California, how the US would not annex it.

Even if there's no Gold Rush it's unlikely, it's just such a great way to get to the Pacific (I mean have you seen San Francisco Bay?!). Maybe British protection?

 

[mad orc]

yeah no worries

I wonder, if you're really gonna do an independent California, how the US would not annex it.

Even if there's no Gold Rush it's unlikely, it's just such a great way to get to the Pacific (I mean have you seen San Francisco Bay?!). Maybe British protection?

who said its gonna be independent ?Yes ,the USA could annex it .
The basic goal of this Tl is to not stray too far away from history .I want to have 80% real history .
20% divergent history .

The original name of this thread was ;Very very slightly diffrent timeline for Mexico' .

PS-I have seen the SA bay ,i live in LA .

Lastly ,thanks so much for commenting man .You made my day .