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Mexico and the United States each have a constitution and a federal
system of government. This fact has led many historians to assume
that the Mexican system of government, established in the 1820s, is
an imitation of the U.S. model. But it is not. In this
interpretation of the independence movement, Nettie Lee Benson
tells the true story of Mexico's transition from colonial status to
a federal state. She traces the Mexican government's beginning to
events in Spain in 1808-1810, when provincial juntas, or
deputations, were established to oppose Napoleon's French rule and
govern the country during the Spanish monarch's imprisonment. These
provincial deputations proved so popular that ultimately they
became the established form of government throughout the provinces
of Spain and its New World dominions. It was the provincial
deputation, not the United States federal system, that provided the
model for the state legislative bodies that were eventually formed
after Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821. This
finding-the result of years of painstaking archival
research-strongly confirms the independence of Mexico's political
development from U.S. influence. Its importance to a study of
Mexican history cannot be overstated.
Few developments in the history of the Spanish colonial system in
Mexico have been more carelessly treated or more often
misinterpreted than the attempt to establish constitutional
government in New Spain under the Spanish monarchy during the
1809–1814 and 1820–1822 periods. Yet the broad outlines of the
Mexican constitutional system were laid then, largely through the
insistent efforts of the Mexican deputies to the Cortes, the
Spanish legislative body. Some of the delegates also grasped this
opportunity to inform their countrymen and train them in the
effectiveness of parliamentary debate and resolution as a more
intelligent road to democratic and representative government. The
70 Mexican deputies (of the 160 elected) who actively participated
in the sessions of the Cortes either helped draw up the
Constitution of 1812, which initiated provisions for many needed
reforms relating to military, religious, economic, educational,
judicial, and governmental affairs in Mexico, or contributed to the
enabling acts consequent to these provisions. The prime reason for
calling the Cortes, however, and especially for inviting the
participation of the Mexicans, was to attempt to maintain New
Spain’s loyalty to the mother country, an unrealized objective in
the long run, although much constructive discussion of this goal
was offered by the Mexican delegates. These eight essays trace the
establishment and implementation of the Mexican electoral system,
both national and municipal, and of reforms in the economic,
journalistic, religious, and military systems. They serve as an
informative introduction to the revolutionary role the Cortes of
Spain played in Mexican history and as a record of the contribution
of Mexican delegates to the beginning of liberal reform in their
country.
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