Santa Anna's first period of rule Santa Anna dissolved the national congress, state congresses, and replaced state governors and municipal governments with loyalists. He however also maintained that the Constitution of 1824 was still in effect and held elections for a new congress before the end of the year. Santa Anna at this point retired to his estate of
Manga de Clavo to rule from the background, as he had during the Gomez Farias administration and he was replaced by
Miguel Barragán. On 23 October 1835, the newly elected bicameral congress decreed to unite and turn itself into a
constituent congress tasked with drafting a new constitution. Barragan died of typhus in February 1836 upon which he was replaced by
José Justo Corro. Spain and the Holy See recognized the independence of Mexico during the Corro administration. Meanwhile, the resulting centralist constitution which came to be known as the
Siete Leyes was formally promulgated in December 1836. The nation was reorganized along
unitary lines. The states of Mexico were replaced with departments, whose governors were to be appointed by the central government. Certain regions of the nation however, responded to the new constitution by attempting to secede.
Independence of Texas On 2 March 1836, after a decade of failing to gain provincial autonomy, Texas declared its independence at
Washington on the Brazos. Among the delegates voting for independence was the Mexican liberal statesman
Lorenzo de Zavala, who had fled to Texas in the aftermath of the fall of the First Republic. Santa Anna led his troops north to deal with the rebellious Mexican provinces of
Zacatecas and Texas. The
Zacatecas revolt was crushed, and Santa Anna then directed his forces towards Texas. The
Battle of the Alamo ended with a Mexican victory on 6 March 1836. Santa Anna, however, was routed and captured by
Sam Houston at the
Battle of San Jacinto on 21 April. Santa Anna subsequently signed a treaty recognizing Texan Independence. On 29 July 1836, the Mexican government issued a manifesto disavowing Santa Anna's recognition of Texan independence and urging a continuation of the war. Meanwhile, Corro's administration had ended and
Anastasio Bustamante, who had previously been president during the
First Mexican Republic was again elected president in 1837.
Anastasio Bustamante's rule Shortly after the inauguration, news arrived that the Spanish government had recognized Mexican independence, in a treaty concluded at Madrid with the Mexican plenipotentiary, on 28 December 1836, while Corro was still president. The treaty was ratified by the Mexican congress in May 1837.
Pastry War France had long been attempting to negotiate settlements of damages experienced by its citizens during Mexican conflicts. The claims of a French baker based in Mexico City would end up giving the subsequent conflict its name. Diplomatic talks over the matter broke down in January 1838, and French warships arrived in
Veracruz on March. A French ultimatum was rejected and France declared that it would now blockade the Mexican ports. Another round of negotiations broke down and the French began to bombard Veracruz on 27 November. The Fortress of
San Juan de Ulúa could not withstand the French artillery and surrendered the following day, and the Mexican government responded by declaring war. Santa Anna, who had been disgraced after recognizing Texan independence, emerged from his private life at
Manga de Clavo to lead troops against the French, being given a command by the Mexican government. On 5 December, three French divisions were sent to land at Veracruz to capture the forts of
Santiago, Concepcion, and to arrest Santa Anna. The forts were captured, but the division tasked with finding Santa Anna was fought off at the barracks of La Merced. Santa Anna lost a leg in the fighting which gained him much public sympathy after the disgrace he suffered for losing in Texas. Nonetheless, the French had effective control of Veracruz and the results of the war so far led to Bustamante's cabinet to resign. The United Kingdom, which also had interests in Mexico, had been feeling the effects of the French blockade, and had anchored thirteen vessels in Veracruz as a show of force. France, who did not wish either to enter a conflict with England or to further invade Mexico once again entered into negotiations. An agreement was reached in April 1838 which resulted in a French departure and a Mexican agreement to pay damages to France.
Urrea federalist rebellion In October 1838, another rebellion against the government broke out in the north of the country at
Tampico, and soon placed itself under the command of General
José de Urrea who intended to restore the federalist system. The revolt rapidly spread, and the rebels now succeeded in overthrowing the governors of
Nuevo León and
Coahuila and in March 1839 government reinforcements under General
Martín Perfecto de Cos were routed. Bustamante stepped down from the presidency and assumed command of the armed forces himself. The presidency in the meantime was held by Santa Anna who had been rehabilitated by his role in the Pastry War. Government forces led by
Gabriel Valencia defeated the rebels at the
Battle of Acajete on 3 May 1839. Urrea however escaped and retreated into Tampico which fell to government forces on 11 June with Urrea being exiled.
Independence of Yucatán Bustamante would now go on to face the most serious separatist crisis the country had experienced since the Texas Revolution. Years of frustration with excise taxes, levies, conscription, and increase of custom duties culminated in the standard of revolt being raised at
Tizimín in May 1839.
Valladolid was captured in February 1840 and eventually joined by
Mérida. The entire north-east of the Yucatan Peninsula declared itself independent until Mexico should restore the federal system.
Campeche was captured on 6 June, and now the entire peninsula was in the hands of the rebels, who proceeded to elect a legislature and form an alliance with the
Republic of Texas.
Siege of the National Palace in the wake of Farias' revolt Bustamante was not able to suppress the Yucatan movement and its success inspired the federalists to renew their struggle. General Urrea had been arrested upon attempting to return to the country but continued to conspire with his associates and on 15 July 1840, he was broken out of prison. With a group of select men, Urrea broke into the
National Palace, and took Bustamante hostage.
Juan Almonte, the minister of war had meanwhile escaped to organize a rescue.
Valentín Gómez Farías, the exiled last president of the First Mexican Republic, had now arrived in the country to take command of the revolt. Government and federalist forces now converged at the capital. Federalists occupied the entire vicinity of the National Palace while government forces prepared their positions for an attack. Skirmishes broke out the entire afternoon, sometimes involving artillery. The conflict appeared to be reaching a stalemate, and the president was released in order to try and reach a negotiation. Negotiations broke down and the capital had to face twelve days of warfare, which resulted in property damage, civilian loss of life, and a large exodus of refugees out of the city. Now news was received that government reinforcements were on the way under the command of Santa Anna. Rather than face a protracted conflict that would destroy the capital, negotiations were started again and an agreement was reached whereby there would be a ceasefire, and the rebels would be granted amnesty. It was in the aftermath of the 1840 Revolt in the capital that
José María Gutiérrez de Estrada published a pamphlet, directly addressed to President Bustamante advocating the establishment of a monarchy in Mexico headed by a European prince. The resulting outrage from both the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party was so severe that the publisher of the pamphlet was arrested, and Estrada went into hiding, subsequently fleeing the country.
Bustamante's overthrow Crises continued after the fighting in the capital had ended.
Tabasco was now trying to secede, the north was facing Indian raids, and a nascent
Texas Navy was now on the offensive against Mexico. The ever-present financial crisis had also obliged the government to raise taxes. In response to the Bustamante administration's inability to deal with these financial and political crises, general
Mariano Paredes on 8 August 1841, published a manifesto to his fellow generals, calling for the creation of a new government. He gathered an increasing number of adherents and entered the city of
Tacubaya where he was joined by Santa Anna. In September, Bustamante resigned the presidency once again to lead the troops personally and left the presidency to the finance minister
Francisco Javier Echeverría. He attempted to proclaim support for the federal system in order to divide his enemies, but the ploy failed. The insurgents were triumphant and Bustamante officially surrendered power through the Estanzuela Accords on 6 October 1841. A military junta was formed which wrote the
Bases of Tacubaya, a revolutionary plan which swept away the entire structure of government, except the judiciary, and also called for elections for a new constituent congress meant to write a new constitution. Santa Anna then placed himself at the head of a provisional government.
Santa Anna's second period of rule Unfortunately for Santa Anna and his centralist allies, the subsequently elected congress, installed on 10 June 1842 was strongly federalist. Santa Anna began to scheme to dissolve the congress, and left
Nicolás Bravo in charge of the presidency on 26 October 1842. Congress was dissolved on 19 December, and replaced by a centralist
Junta of Notables. The Junta produced a new constitution known as the on 12 June 1843. By mid 1844 there were rising tensions with the United States over the matter of Texas, and a series of forced loans had resulted in much disaffection. Paredes who had previously played a key role in overthrowing Bustamante, was considering once again leading a revolution. Paredes proclaimed against the government in
Guadalajara and gained support throughout the north of the country. Without the authorization of congress, Santa Anna led an army north against the revolt and overthrew the departmental government of
Querétaro. The nominal president in Mexico City at this time was
Valentín Canalizo, though in practice he was a puppet ruler for Santa Anna. Congress condemned Santa Anna for having assumed military command without their authority. The presidential cabinet was censured by congress for allowing Santa Anna to imprison the Departmental Assembly of Querétaro and replacing the department's governor. President Canalizo responded by having congress dissolved, and explaining that its measures were necessary given the ongoing emergency of a potential American annexation of Texas. This led to a military uprising against the government in the capital. Canalizo resigned and on 6 December 1844, congress was restored and
José Joaquín de Herrera was installed as the new president with a new cabinet. The country was now divided into three loyalties between Herrera's central government, Santa Anna's military forces, and Mariano Paredes' military forces. Paredes and Herrera joined forces and headed against Santa Anna. With the opposing forces about evenly matched, Santa Anna attempted to open negotiations, but Herrera would accept nothing less than unconditional surrender, and Santa Anna began plans to flee the country, only to be arrested near the town of
Xico.
Mexican–American War Herrera Administration As relations worsened with the United States, President Herrera had conceded the possibility of recognizing Texan independence as long as there was no annexation, but this was perceived by his opponents as an alienation of Mexican territory. Mariano Paredes issued a pronunciamiento in December 1845 calling for the overthrow of the government. President Herrera was not able to gather much support and resigned on 30 December 1845. Paredes and his forces entered the capital three days later.
Paredes Administration On 3 January, Mariano Paredes ascended to the presidency. On 26 January 1846, an official government convocation was decreed summoning an extraordinary congress with the power to make constitutional changes. It was to be made up of 160 deputies, organized on a
corporatist basis, representing not geographical areas, but nine classes: land owners, merchants, miners, manufacturers, literary men, magistrates, public functionaries, clergy, and army, elected by the members of those classes. The United States had annexed Texas in December 1845 and troops led by
Zachary Taylor had begun to patrol territory that Mexico still claimed. Mexican troops clashed with American troops through the
Thornton Affair on the
Rio Grande on 25 April 1846 and the United States declared war in response on 12 May. In the first few months of the war, the Paredes administration was confronted with a catastrophic series of losses. Mexican forces were defeated at the
Battle of Palo Alto and the
Battle of Resaca de la Palma. U.S. forces under Zachary Taylor had crossed the Rio Grande, and undefeated through a series of battles made it as far south as
Saltillo. Meanwhile, American forces were seizing
Alta California. The constituent congress met on 28 July 1846 and initially ratified Paredes as president and granted him emergency powers, but as the course of the war inflamed opposition against the government, and Paredes faced revolution, he resigned on 28 July, choosing to return to the military to help with the war effort.
Restoration of the Federalist System On 3 August, the garrisons of Vera Cruz and San Juan de Ulua revolted.
José Mariano Salas was made the provisional president, and on 22 August 1846 restored the Constitution of 1824, putting an end to Centralist Republic and inaugurating the era of the
Second Federal Republic of Mexico. ==Government==