The Birth of Modern Mexico, 1780–1824

273 Pages·2007·11.994 MB·English

by  Christon I. Archer (editor)

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MODERN
M E X I ( O
EDITED BY
(HRISTON I. AR(HER
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MODERN
MEXI(O
17aO-la24
ATIN AMERICAN SILHOUETTES
Series Editors: William H. Beezley and Judith Ewell
Recellt Titles ill the Series
The Birth ofM odern Mexico. 1780-1824
Edited by Christon I. Archer
s
Recollections ofM exico: The Last Ten Months of Maximilian Empire
By Samuel M. Basch, Edited and Translated by Fred D. Ullman
Plutareo Elias Calles and the Mexican Revolution
By Jiirgen Buchenau
The U.S.-Mexican Border into the Twenty-first Century
By Paul Ganster and David E. Lorey
Revolution in Mexico~' Heartlami: Politics, Uill; and State Buildillg in PUebla, 1913-1920
By David G. LaFrance
Addicted to Failure: U.S. Security Policy in Latin America and the Andean Region
Edited by Brian Loveman
The mUllell~' Revolution in Mexico. 1910-1953
Edited by Stephanie E. Mitchell and Patience A. Schell
Gringolandicl: Mexican Identity and Perceptions oft he United States
By Stephen D. Morris
Brazil in the Making: Facets ofN ational Identity
Edited by Carmen Nava and Ludwig Lauerhass, Jr.
Artjfilcts ofR evolution: Architecture, Society, and Politics in Mexico Cit)', 1920-1940
By Patrice Elizabeth Olsen
The Divine Charter: Constitutionalism and Liberalism in Nineteenth-Century Mexico
Edited by Jaime E. Rodriguez O.
Francisco Solano Lopez and the Ruination of Paraguay: Honor and Egocentrism
By James Schofield Saeger
Integral Outsiders: TheAmerican Colony in Mexico City, J876-1911
By William Schell Jr.
Hacienda and Market in Eighteenth-Century Mexico: The Rural Economy oft he
Guadalajara Region, 1675-1820
By Eric Van Young
Wlgrants and Citizens: Politics and the Masses in Me.xico City from Colony to Republic
By Richard A. Warren
On the Border: Society and Culture between the United States and Mexico
Edited by Andrew Grant Wood
State Terrorism in Latin America: Chile, Argentina, and International Human Rights
By Thomas C. Wright
For a complete listing of series titles, visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com.
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M O D E R N
M E X I ( O
1700--1024
EDITED BY
(HRISTON I. AR(HER
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham· Boulder· New York· Toronto· Plymouth. UK
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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Copyright © 2003 by Scholarly Resources Inc.
First paperback edition 2007 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the publisher.
The Scholarly Resources edition of this book was previously cataloged by
the Library of Congress as follows:
The birth of modern Mexico, 1780-1824/ edited by Christon I. Archer
p. cm. - (Latin American silhouettes: studies in history and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Mexico-History-19th century. 2. Mexico-History-Wars of
Independence, 1810-1821. 3. Social conftict-Mexico-History-19th
century. I. Archer, Christon 1., 1940-II. Latin American silhouettes.
F1232.B622003
972' .03-dc21
2002155239
ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-5602-7 (pbk.: alk. paper)
ISBN-I0: 0-7425-5602-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Printed in the United States of America
@T>, The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSIINISO Z39.48-1992.
To Carol

Contents
Foreword, ix
CHRISTON l. ARCHER, Introduction, 1
ERIC V AN YOUNG, In the Gloomy Caverns of Paganism: Popular
Culture, Insurgency, and Nation-Building in Mexico,
1800-1821,41
2 HUGH M. HAMILL, An "Absurd Insurrection"?: Creole Insecurity,
Pro-Spanish Propaganda, and the Hidalgo Revolt, 67
3 VIRGINIA GUEDEA, The Conspiracies of 1811: How the Criollos
Learned to Organize in Secret, 85
4 JOHN E. KICZA, A Mercantile Family Confronts War and Insurrec
tion: The Iturbe e Iraetas in the Era of Mexican Independence, 107
5 CHRISTON I. ARCHER, Years of Decision: Felix Calleja and the
Strategy to End the Revolution of New Spain, 125
6 ANNE STAPLES, Mexican Mining and Independence: The Saga of
Enticing Opportunities, 151
7 PAUL 1. VANDERWOOD, The Millennium and Mexican Independence:
Some Interpretations, 165
8 TIMOTHY E. ANNA, Agustin de Iturbide and the Process
of Consensus, 187
9 JAIME E. RODRIGUEZ 0., The Struggle for Dominance: The
Legislature versus the Executive in Early Mexico, 205
Bibliography, 229
About the Contributors, 245
Index, 247

Foreword
This study is dedicated to the memory of Professors Stanley R. Ross
(1921-1985) and Nettie L. Benson (1905-1993) ofthe University ofT exas,
who taught, influenced, or were colleagues of the contributors. Both of
these scholars made outstanding contributions to Mexican Studies in the
United States and throughout the Hemisphere. I first met Stan Ross in
1966 when I became a graduate student at the State University of New
York at Stony Brook. When I arrived at Stony Brook, Stan Ross was well
known and respected for his study of Francisco I. Madero and for his
other work on the Mexican Revolution. He was dean of the College of
Arts and Sciences (1963-1968), active in major scholarly foundations,
and a political force to be reckoned with on campus and in the historical
profession. Stan wanted me to work on the Mexican Revolution, but he
remained a pillar of support when I turned my research focus to the epoch
of the eighteenth-century Bourbon reforms.
During the 1960s, generous policies toward the state universities un
der Governor Nelson Rockefeller made the new Stony Brook campus a
stimulating place. Graduate students enjoyed unparalleled access to their
supervisors and professors that often was the envy of those at more estab
lished institutions. If there were weaknesses in library holdings and re
search facilities, the State University made every effort to buy books and
to find other solutions. Although it sounds incredible today after a period
of budget retrenchment and cuts at public universities, lowly graduate
student researchers were able to sign out official state cars (full-size black
Plymouths with the Seal of New York emblazoned on the doors) for trips
to the New York Public Library, Columbia University, and other research
centers. If professors wanted to go along, they got to drive and to set the
itinerary. When Stan Ross was in charge, we literally flew over the Long
Island Expressway while he regaled the passengers with stories about re
search in Mexico. One that I recall concerned the archive of Venustiano
Carranza in Mexico City that was stored in a series of wooden coffins.
When Stan was permitted to open one, exposing a motherlode of docu
ments, the archivist slammed it shut until a full inventory could be
accomplished.
At a time that I considered most inopportune, Stan moved to the Uni
versity of Texas at Austin. However, I was not orphaned, as I had feared,
since Stan with David Trask joined forces as joint supervisors to propel
ix