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Abstract:
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The Plan of Iguala was the outcome of the Mexican war for independence from Spain and established the short-lived Mexican Empire. The Mexican war of independence began in 1810 when Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla organized peasants in a revolt against Spanish aristocrats. Hidalgo experienced some success but failed to take Mexico City and was captured and executed for treason. In following years, the independence movement largely took the form of guerilla warfare led by Guadalupe Victoria and Vicente Guerrero. The Spanish successfully suppressed these revolutionary forces and, in December 1820, sent an army led by conservative general Agustìn de Iturbide to defeat Guerrero's forces in Oaxaca. Meanwhile, a liberal coup in Spain forced Ferdinand VII to sign the Spanish constitution of 1812. Once news of this new charter reached Mexico, Iturbide, who opposed the liberal ideas it espoused, switched allegiances and worked with Guerrero to establish Mexican independence under the Plan de Iguala. This plan satisfied liberals in its declaration of independence and equal rights for all Mexican citizens, and conservatives in its call for a constitutional monarchy to be led by either Ferdinand VII or another conservative European and the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church as the state religion. Though this Mexican Empire lasted only two years, it did inaugurate Mexican Independence as Spain was never able to reclaim it. Iturbide first proclaimed the plan on Febraury 24th, 1821 and it was ratified through the Treaty of Cordóba on August 24th, 1821. |