Out of the tumultuous history of early 19 th -century Mexico, a period of war, economic collapse and political corruption, Benito Juarez emerged as an unlikely leader and reformer, a politician who faced seemingly unsurmountable odds and is honored among the greatest of Mexicans. His legacy, beginning as a humble indigenous lawyer who rose to be the most revered 19 th -century political leader of Mexico, is much debated by historians because of his controversial nationalist agenda against the backdrop of deep economic, racial and social divisions.
By the time Juarez died Mexico was in its sixth decade of independence, and the country was still plagued with financial instability, severe racial and cultural divisions and protracted political chaos.
Benito Juarez was born into a family of Zapotec Indians and benefitted from an education provided by local church authorities. The truth is that he was the beneficiary of middle-class support, primarily lay Franciscan Catholics who saw his potential and provided Benito with educational opportunities seldom available to Mexican Indians. Attending the relatively prestigious Seminario Conciliar de la Santa Cruz , Juarez pursued a broad range of liberal arts studies, including Latin, theology and metaphysics.
After securing a judgeship, he married Margarita Maza, a young woman from a prominent Italian family from Oaxaca. Dating from his early formal education, Juarez, despite his Indian origins, evolved into a Mexican firmly entrenched in the middle class, adopting Spanish as his first language and strongly attracted to politics.
While lacking the intellectual acumen that characterized many early 19 th -century Mexican politicians, Juarez possessed formidable character traits that suited him well for political leadership. Often stubborn and intractable, he also tolerated opposing ideas and was willing to compromise to achieve his goals. He met adversity with a strength of character rare in Mexican leaders of the time, being especially cognizant of the need for honesty and transparency.
He was throughout steady, never shrinking from the challenges of leadership during the most frightful years of early Mexican nationhood. It is hard to imagine another leader who could have measured up to his grit and determination through decades of financial collapse, civil war, intra-party factionalism and foreign domination.
Juarez embraced the Liberal Party of Mexico and became increasingly active in politics. Following two separate terms as Governor of Oaxaca ss , he was appointed Secretary of the Interior under President Ignacio Comonfort and, briefly, President of the Mexican Supreme Court in late before succeeding Comonfort as President of Mexico in January Juarez was either actual or ex-facto President of Mexico until his sudden death Along with Melchor Ocampo, a scientist and scholar, Juarez revitalized the Liberal Party, a faction historically opposed to the pro-European conservatism led by arch-conservative politico Lucas Alaman and supported by the traditional forces of Mexico, primarily the large landowners, the military and wealthy merchants.
Juarez and his Liberal colleagues laid down a program of reform focused on middle class capitalism and a federal government that encouraged state prerogatives and the decentralization of governance. However, the Liberal movement reflected a significant division characterized by the moderados , those who were willing to work with conservatives for gradual changes, and the puros , reformers intent upon divesting the privileged elements of the Mexican church, higher clergy and the latifundistas large landowners.
Videos Beyond Hollywood Hungerlust Pioneers of love. Lauren Cocking. Early Life. Give us feedback. Read Next View. H21 Hospedaje Boutique. Hotel Boutique Casa Bella. Mayan Sun Bed and Breakfast. MO17 Hotel Boutique. He exiled the archbishop of Mexico, five bishops, and the Spanish ambassador, all of whom had aided the Conservative cause.
The new government strictly enforced the anticlerical codes of the constitution, seizing for the nation Church lands and monastic buildings.
The government, seeking to develop a large agrarian middle class, tried to distribute the lands to those working them. However, the Liberals needed money to pay the army bureaucracy and the national debt. Pressed for funds, public officials allowed these lands to go to those who could pay for them immediately, mostly rich speculators and foreigners. The land reform did not create a large yeoman class but instead allowed secular individuals to monopolize the large former Church estates and to gain control of Indian communal lands, also abolished by the reform laws and the Constitution of The same financial exigencies which forced the government to curtail its ambitious land reform program caused it in to declare a 2-year suspension of the external debt.
This gave England, France, and Spain the excuse to intervene in Mexico. The English and Spanish soon withdrew, but the French emperor, Louis Napoleon, attempted to establish a client Mexican empire under the Austrian archduke Maximilian. The years to determined the future of Mexico and the Liberal reforms.
He retreated north with his cabinet and a small bodyguard in his famous black coach. The imperialists controlled the cities, but the countryside remained in a state of insurrection. Faced with mounting costs in men and money and the rise of Prussia, the French withdrew from Mexico. In the empire collapsed. The government began to build railroads and schools; the military budget was cut; and the Church was stripped of its large landholdings.
Most important, Mexico had its first effective government, based upon the Constitution of , which guaranteed free speech, free press, right of assembly, and the abolishment of special legal privileges. He obviously sincerely believed that he alone could govern Mexico, but many now saw him as a dictator. Furthermore, he had failed to abolish internal tariffs or to curb large secular landholdings.
On July 18, , the President died at his desk.
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