Central America, United Provinces of
State | Defunct
1823 CE to 1840 CE
Worlds
The Far West
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Mexico's economic conditions worsen during the administration of its first president, Guadalupe Victoria, as government expenditures soar beyond revenues.
Declining economic conditions persuade the criollos that there is more behind the economic decline than bad management by peninsulares.
One of the government's major burdens is the assumption of all debts contracted during the late colonial period and the empire, a substantial sum.
The government's ability to service the debt is severely constrained by the costs of maintaining a fifty-thousand-strong standing army and the insufficiency of revenues generated by tariffs, taxes, and government monopolies.
To cover the shortfall, Victoria accepts two large loans on stiff terms from British merchant houses.
The British have supported independence movements in Spanish colonies and see the loans as an opportunity to further displace Spain as the New World's dominant mercantile power.
Mexico's new empire faces serious economic problems.
After the wars, the public coffers are empty, and the bureaucracy has grown.
Modest tax adjustments are tried, but the results are meager.
In congress, discontented factions sharply criticize the government, and Iturbide's recourse is to dissolve the legislative branch and to have all opposition delegates arrested in August 1822.
In Veracruz, the commander of the garrison, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna Perez de Lebron, rises against Iturbide and proclaims a republic on December 1, 1822.
Santa Anna is quickly joined by other revolutionaries—including a disenchanted Vicente Guerrero, Nicolas Bravo, and Guadalupe Victoria.
Together, they draw up the Plan of Casa Mata on February 1, 1823.
By mid-month, Iturbide, realizing the failure of his efforts, abdicates the throne.
Rebel forces encounter no opposition when they arrive in Mexico City.
In July the United Provinces of Central America (consisting of Spanish-speaking Central America except for present-day Panama), which had been forcibly incorporated into the empire by Iturbide, declare their independence. (The province of Chiapas, belonging to the Captaincy General of Guatemala, opts to remain a part of Mexico.)
The experience of an empire has failed, and the idea of a monarchical system for Mexico will be dismissed for four decades.
Iturbide's excesses have worked to the benefit of the republicans.
The federalist forces largely prevail in writing the new constitution, but the centralists win three major concessions.
The constitution of 1824, which is strongly influenced by the United States constitution and Mexico's legislative relationship with Spain since 1810, establishes the United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos) as a federal republic composed of nineteen states and four territories.
Power is distributed among executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.
Legislative power is wielded by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, while executive power is exercised by a president and a vice president elected by the state legislatures for four-year terms.
In spite of the liberal outlook of the constitution, certain traditional privileges are maintained: Roman Catholicism remains the official religion, the fueros are retained by the military and clergy, and in national emergencies the president can exercise unlimited powers.
After the fall of the Mexican Empire, a provisional government is installed consisting of Bravo, Victoria, and Pedro Celestino Negrete.
Delegates are elected to the Constitutional Congress that enter into session on November 27, 1823.
The congress has two major factions: the federalists, who fear control from a conservative Mexico City and are supported by liberal criollos and mestizos; and the more conservative centralists, who prefer the rule of tradition and draw their allegiance from the clergy, conservative criollos, the landowners, and the military.
The United Provinces, split by the dichotomy between liberals and conservatives, never function as the unified national unit envisioned by its founders.
Control of the federal government passes from liberal to conservative hands in 1826, only to be restored to the liberal faction under the leadership of the Honduran Francisco Morazán in 1829.
Neither faction, however, is able to assert federal control over all five Central American states.
Therefore, although the liberal governments enact political, economic, and social reforms, they are never able to implement them effectively.
The period of the United Provinces is thus one of Central American polarization impelled by deep divisions among the populace, not the unification originally anticipated by idealists.
Generally speaking, the liberals are more open to foreign ideas (particularly from the United States, France, and Britain); they welcome foreign investment and participation in a laissez-faire process of economic development; and they seek to limit the influence of the Roman Catholic Church over the lives of the people.
The conservatives' inclinations are almost diametrically opposed to those of the liberals.
Conservatives are generally more xenophobic; they advocate more protectionist economic policies; and they champion the traditional role of the church as the predominant moral arbiter and preserver of the social and political status quo.
The five provinces of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica go on to establish themselves as the United Provinces of Central America on July 1, 1823.
The United Provinces, unworkable though they prove to be, constitute the only successful political union of the Central American states in the postcolonial era.
Many optimistic residents of the region no doubt hold high hopes for this new nation at its inception.
Their sentiments are expressed elegantly, though ironically—given the subsequent course of events—by the liberator of South America, Simon Bolivar, who expounds in 1815 on the prospects for such a federation: "This magnificent location between the two great oceans could in time become the emporium of the world. Its canals will shorten the distances throughout the world, strengthen commercial ties with Europe, America, and Asia, and bring that happy region tribute from the four quarters of the globe. Perhaps some day the capital of the world may be located there, just as Constantine claimed Byzantium was the capital of the ancient world."
The colonies comprising the Captaincy General of Guatemala declare their independence from Spain on September 15, 1821.
It is not long before the new states, particularly El Salvador, have to contend with attempted annexation by another large power in the form of an independent Mexico under self-proclaimed Emperor Agustin de Iturbide.
A Mexican force dispatched by Iturbide succeeds in bringing to heel the uncooperative Salvadorans, but only briefly.
When the emperor himself falls from power in 1823, his dream of a Central American empire dies with him.
In March 1823, Iturbide is overthrown in Mexico, and the empire is replaced by a republic.
The Central American Congress, in which Comayagua but not Tegucigalpa is represented, is quickly convened.
With little debate, the United Provinces of Central America declare their independence from Mexico.
Mexico's only effort to reverse this decision consists in maintaining control over Chiapas, the northernmost of the six previous provinces of Central America.
A new Spanish administration attempts to transfer Comayagua's tobacco factory to Tegucigalpa.
This move leads to defiance by Comayagua, which refuses to acknowledge the authority of the government in Guatemala.
The weakened Spanish government is unable to end Comayagua's defiance, and for a time civil strife threatens to break out.
Conflict is averted by the decision made by all the Central American provinces on September 15, 1821, to declare their independence from Spain.
This action fails to resolve the dispute between Tegucigalpa and Comayagua, however; the former now urges the creation of a unified Central American state, while the latter favors union with the Empire of Mexico under the rule of General Augustín de Iturbide.
Comayagua's position ultimately prevails, and in early 1822 the Central American provinces declare their allegiance to Mexico.