Vagrants And Citizens

p Vagrants and Citizens

By Richard A . Warren

In the book Vagrants and citizens : Politics and the masses in Mexico City from colony to republic (Warren : 2007 ) historian Richard Warren discusses the role played by the poorer levels of Mexican society that led to the formation of the Mexican government as it exists today . The book discusses the fact that the nation of Mexico was in an almost constant state of turmoil from the beginning of the 19th Century until the Mexican-American War in 1849 (Warren :2007 :1 . Warren points out that

br control of the Mexican government changed hands more than 50 times between 1808 and 1850 , and that in many cases the coup d ' etat 's were initiated by large groups of the poor led by whomever wished to take over the Mexican government at the time . The involvement of the masses allowed for the development of the Mexican Republic

The poor have had a great deal to do with how the history of Mexican politics . Early on in the days of Bonapartist control of Mexico between 1800 and 1820 , Mexican political leaders discovered that the poor were a powerful source of political support . This was first demonstrated during the revolt against the Bonapartist government between 1808 and 1810 in which the City Council of Mexico City rebelled against the national government because they felt that they would be better leaders than the Bonapartist regime because they had been elected by the will of the Mexican people

This ability of the poor to become embroiled in political dealings became even more pronounced in 1812 when the Mexican Constitution was put in place . Soon many small political factions each supported by large segments of the Mexican population would vie for political power (Warren : 2007 :24 ) This would change yet again when Ferdinand VII of Spain regained his throne from the Bonaparte 's and once again took control of the ruling of Spain . He was responsible for discarding the Constitution and trying to force the Mexican people to accept a form of government that they did not want

Warren states , that it would soon become a battle between those who supported the Spanish Colonial government , mainly the middle and upper classes , and those who supported a more democratic and republican form of government in Mexico . This would peak in 1821 when Agustin de Iturbade staged a takeover of the Mexican government . He was primarily supported by Spanish Loyalists , and other groups that were revolting against the Mexican government , however , Iturbade would quickly be deposed once he had made the mistake of declaring himself an emperor in a nation that did not wish to have royalty (Warren : 2007 :53

The final major movement supported by large numbers of the Mexican poor was the rebellion by General Santa Ana in the late 1840 is where a large number of Mexican citizens rebelled against the current Mexican government as well as the annexation of California and Texas to the United States . This final revolt would...