Liberal Party (Mexico)

Liberal Party Partido Liberal
Founded	1822–33[ left-wing
Colors	Red
Politics of Mexico Political parties Elections

The Liberal Party (Spanish: Partido Liberal, PL) was a political coalition that emerged in Mexico after independence. Strongly influenced by French Revolutionary thought, and the republican institutions of the United States, it championed the principles of 19th century liberalism, and promoted republicanism, federalism, and anti-clericalism. They were opposed by the Conservative Party.

History

The federalist

.

By the time the federalist constitution was restored during the

. Still, it ended with a decisive liberal triumph in 1867.

.

Ideology

Constitution of 1857

.

Federalism

The Liberals supported organizing the nation as a federation where each state contained an element of sovereignty shared with the federal government. The liberal Spanish

A de facto state of federalism already existed during the

Federalism would end for the moment in 1836, when the Conservatives promulgated the

Mexican American War

.

The

Constitution of 1857

would once again be federalist, and would remain in effect until the Mexican Revolution in the early twentieth century.

Anti-Clericalism

Liberal efforts at disestablishing the Catholic Church began with the liberal presidency of Valentín Gómez Farías in 1834. The government shut down church schools, assumed the right to make clerical appointments to the church, and shut down monasteries.^[7] It was at this point that the government began proposing the nationalization of church lands as well.^[8] The Liberal governor of Mexico State, Lorenzo de Zavala would also carry out anti-clerical measures, including the suppression of monasteries. Conservative backlash led to the fall of the Gómez Farías administration.

The issue of nationalizing church lands was brought up again in 1847 by Gómez Farías once more who had once again found himself in the presidency during the Mexican–American War. This time Gómez Farías urged the nationalization of church lands as a means of funding the war effort, but the efficacy and prudence of such a measure was questioned by Conservatives, even by moderate liberals.^[9] There were clashes in the cabinet over the matter,^[10] and another Conservative revolt known as the Revolt of the Polkos once again toppled Gómez Farías.

A final and ill-fated Conservative effort to fight back against the anti-clerical measures of the Liberal Party took place during the pivotal La Reforma period which was inaugurated by the Plan of Ayutla that brought the liberal Juan Alvarez to power. This time it was not only the nationalization of church lands, but the question of religious freedom, and the jurisdiction of canon law over clergy that was brought to fore during the discussions regarding the drafting of the

. Church properties not related to religious functions were nationalized, priests remained under the jurisdiction of canon law only in non-civil cases, and for the first time a Mexican Constitution did not declare Catholicism as the state religion.

Conservative backlash would trigger the Reform War, and it was during the war that the liberal president Benito Juarez went much further than the earlier reform measures by nationalizing all the remaining church properties in order to fund the war effort. The Conservatives would eventually lose the war in 1860, and the liberal measures remained entrenched.

Republicanism

Second French Intervention in Mexico aimed at overthrowing the Second Federal Republic of Mexico

and replacing it with a French aligned monarchy.

The Liberal Party was staunchly republican throughout its entire existence which did not always put it in opposition to the Conservative Party. Both parties joined in condemning José María Gutiérrez de Estrada when he suggested in 1840 that Mexico ought to invite a foreign monarch to establish a Mexican monarchy.^[11] Mexican historian Justo Sierra has argued that the unpopularity of monarchy caused the Conservatives to endorse republicanism lest the Liberal Party be perceived as the only republican party.^[12]

In 1845, the perception that President

Republican critics of Paredes also pointed out that monarchy was unsuitable to the country because Mexico had no nobility to support such an institution. "With powerful arguments they maintained that the idea of a monarchy in Mexico was not only contrary to the wishes of the Mexican people, but also one that was not at all feasible, there being no such thing as a nobility in the country."^[15] Even the Conservative statesman, Antonio de Haro y Tamariz, agreed with these points, sarcastically suggesting that the government start granting titles to generals.^[16]

Matias Romero

The Liberal Party was in power when the

was captured, tried, and executed by the Liberal government in 1867.

Liberals

Presidents

• Guadalupe Victoria – A leading insurgent commander during the Mexican War of Independence, Victoria would go on to become the first President of Mexico, and the only one to serve a full term until 1852.
• Vicente Guerrero – Second president of Mexico; also known for abolishing slavery, which had mostly ceased to exist in Mexico except for Texas.
• Valentín Gómez Farías – attempted a series of sweeping anti-clerical reforms during his first presidency in 1832, but was overthrown in response. He also briefly served as president during the Mexican–American War during which he was similarly overthrown. His reforms would later be more successfully implemented during La Reforma.
• Santa Anna – While known for repeatedly switching sides he began his public life as a liberal and was first elected to the presidency as a liberal in 1832. He also briefly returned to liberal principles at the beginning of the Mexican–American War when he played a role in restoring the Constitution of 1824.
• José Joaquín de Herrera – overthrown by hardliners in the years leading up to the Mexican–American War. The terrible results of the war vindicated his peace policy, and he was elected again immediately after the war, being the first Mexican president to complete his term since 1824.
• Mexican American War
  .
• Mariano Arista – Succeeded José Joaquín de Herrera and was also known for a peaceful, moderate era of rule, before being overthrown over sweeping budget cuts.
• Juan Álvarez – Caudillo long based in the Tierra Caliente. He helped overthrow the last dictatorship of Santa Anna through the Plan of Ayutla inaugurating La Reforma and reaching the presidency. He later resigned hoping that the more moderate Ignacio Comonfort could better implement reforms.
• Constitution of 1857 was promulgated under his rule, but the subsequent backlash caused Comonfort to support a self coup known as the Plan of Tacubaya, which triggered the Reform War
  , and then caused Comonfort to back away from the Conservatives and resign the presidency.
• Benito Juárez – Oaxacan lawyer who later became governor of that state. He was among the liberals exiled in 1853 by Santa Anna, but returned to the nation during the Plan of Ayutla and was later made president of the Supreme Court which brought him to the presidency at the resignation of Comonfort. He remained president through the Reform War and the Second French Intervention before dying in office in 1872.
• Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada – Brother of the liberal statesman Miguel Lerdo de Tejada. Succeeded Juarez upon his death but was overthrown by another liberal, Porfirio Diaz. His presidency was also known for a program of railroad construction.
• Porfirio Díaz – A leading liberal commander during the Second French Intervention. His presidency would eventually develop into a decades long dictatorship known as the Porfiriato.

Military

• Miguel Casulo de Alatriste – Lawyer and governor of Puebla who fought for the liberals during the Reform War and the Second French Intervention. He was captured and executed during the latter.
• Second French Intervention
• Ramón Corona – General who served during the Second French Intervention who later served as Minister to Spain.
• Leonardo Marquez
  shortly after the end of the Reform War.
• Luigi Ghilardi – Italian mercenary who fought in various European conflicts in the cause of republicanism. He traveled to Mexico to fight for the liberals in the Reform War and in the Second French Intervention. During the latter he was captured and executed by the French.
• Jesús González Ortega – Fiercely anti-clerical Governor of Zacatecas during the Reform War. He later fought for the liberals during the Second French Intervention and contested the claims of Benito Juarez to the presidency.
• Ignacio de la Llave – Governor of Veracruz who later fought for the liberals during the Reform War and the Second French Intervention. He died in combat during the latter.
• Pedro José Méndez – general who lead guerillas during the Second French Intervention
• Queretaro and Governor of Jalisco
  . He fought for the liberals in the Reform War and the Second French Intervention. In the latter he was captured and executed by the French.
• Tejano supporter of Federalism who opposed Santa Anna, but refused to aid the Texas Revolution. He later supported the Liberals during the Reform War and the Second French Intervention. He served as the governor of Tamaulipas
  .
• Constitution of 1857
  . He fought in the Reform War and the Second French Intervention. During the latter he was captured and executed by the French.
• José María Patoni – Governor of Durango with a background in mining who led liberal troops during the Reform War and the Second French Intervention.
• Gregorio Méndez Magaña – Governor of Tabasco during the Second French Intervention during which he succeeded in expelling the French from his state.
• Porfirio Diaz
  .
• Carlos Salazar Ruiz – General who fought in the Reform War and the Second French Intervention, in the latter of which he was captured and shot by the French.
• Ignacio Pesqueira – governor of Sonora and general who fought against the French during the Second French Intervention.
• Agustina Ramírez – Mother of twelve who sent her sons to join the military during the Second French Intervention.
• Nicolás Régules – Spanish-Mexican general who fought in the Reform War and in the Second French Intervention.
• Antonio Rosales – Brigadier general during the Reform War and the Second French Intervention.
• Nicolás Romero – Businessman and later guerilla leader who fought in the Reform War and the Second French Intervention. He was captured and executed during the latter.
• Leonardo Marquez
  .
• Ignacio Zaragoza – Liberal commander during the Reform War and the Second French Intervention. He is best known for defeating the French at the Battle of Puebla.
• Juan Zuazua – Distinguished himself during the Mexican–American War and the Reform War

Statesmen

• Manuel Doblado – Leading statesman during the Revolution of Ayutla; was later the Liberal Minister of Foreign Relations during the Second French Intervention.
• Miguel Lerdo de Tejada – Leading statesman during La Reforma. Drafted the Ley Lerdo. He was also brother of the president Miguel Lerdo de Tejada.
• José María Lafragua – Liberal congressman and later minister who served under President Ignacio Comonfort.
• Melchor Ocampo – Liberal governor of Michoacan who later joined the ministry during La Reforma. After the War of Reform, he was assassinated by the Conservative general Leonardo Marquez.
• José María Iglesias – lawyer, professor, congressman, and later Minister of the Treasury.
• Lorenzo de Zavala – Liberal writer, historian, and statesman who served as Governor of the state of Mexico. During the collapse of the First Mexican Republic, he gained infamy for supporting Texan Independence.
• Ezequiel Montes – Liberal jurist, professor, and statesman who served as foreign minister under President Ignacio Comonfort.
• Juan José Baz – governor of the Federal district and partisan of Valentín Gómez Farías.
• Angel Albino Corzo – liberal congressman and governor of Chiapas.
• Juan Antonio de la Fuente – Governor of Coahuila and served as minister under multiple presidents during La Reforma.
• Manuel Alas Sardaneta y Pompa – Governor of the state of Mexico who went on to be president of the Supreme Court.
• Manuel Gutiérrez Zamora – Governor of Veracruz who protected President Juarez during the Reform War eventually turning Veracruz into the Liberal capital.
• Second French Intervention and later minister plenipotentiary to El Salvador and Guatemala
• Constitution of 1857
• Ponciano Arriaga – Lawyer and congressman who would go on to serve as Minister of Justice and President of the Chamber of Deputies.
• Emperor Maximilian
  . After the fall of the Empire he was captured and executed by the restored republic.
• José María Lacunza – He served as a Minister during the moderate liberal presidency of Jose Joaquin Herrera. He was also a faculty adviser to the liberal writer Ignacio Ramirez. During the Second French Intervention he accepted a post under the Second Mexican Empire for which he was exiled after the fall of the Empire.

Writers

• Constitution of 1857
  .
• José María Luis Mora – priest who served as one of leading liberal intellectuals during the First Mexican Republic. He served in congress and wrote on politics and history.
• Ignacio Ramirez – Atheistic writer, who edited many liberal newspapers, and later served as president of the Supreme Court.
• Guillermo Prieto – Liberal journalist and poet who would eventually serve in the ministry of several presidents, and played a notable role in La Reforma. He saved the life of President Benito Juarez in the early stages of the Reform War when they were both imprisoned in Guadalajara.
• Ignacio Manuel Altamirano – Indigenous Chontal lawyer, novelist, and journalist who took part in La Reforma. He would eventually also serve as president of the Supreme Court.
• Florencio Maria del Castillo – liberal writer, journalist, and congressman. He began his journalistic career writing for El Monitor Republicano.
• Gabino Barreda – physician and philosopher who helped implement educational reforms based upon Positivism. He was later made ambassador to the German Empire.
• Vicente Garcia Torres – journalist and founder of El Monitor Republicano.

References