Trials of the Young Republic

Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1807 and the toppling of the Bourbon monarchy removed the primary factor that had given legitimacy and cohesion to the Spanish colonial system—the Crown. The early nineteenth century in Mexico would be characterized by government penury, political instability and corruption, peasant unrest, civil wars, and foreign invasions. Ideological differences arose between Conservatives, who wished to preserve and ennoble Spanish institutions, such as monarchy, hierarchy, Roman Catholicism, and centralism, and Liberals, who favored a sweeping move in the direction of republicanism, egalitarian opportunity, federalism, and secularism. As the readings in part IV illustrate, not until the last quarter of the century was peace and a modicum of conciliation achieved. Even then, social problems seethed beneath the surface of an entrenched “order and progress” regime, led by President Porfirio Díaz. Many of these problems would eventually erupt in the epic Revolution of 1910.