By: Dr. R. Bruce Winders, Alamo Director of History and Curation
Mexico’s adoption of the Plan de Iguala was a critical step in the nation’s history. As a document, it is the equivalent of the United State’s Declaration of Independence in which the colonies severed ties with Great Britain. In this case, though, Mexico severed its ties to Spain. Like its American counterpart, the Mexican document not only officially instituted autonomy, the plan also laid out important principles to guide the new nation. As an unintended consequence, though, the Plan de Iguala unleashed political and social currents that would be felt throughout Mexico for decades to come.
Spanish Mexico had a well entrenched caste system that ensured social order. The most privileged were the peninsulares (European-born Spaniards) while Mexico’s least privileged were Africans and those with African blood. Criollos (Mexican-born Spaniards), the mestizos (mixed Spanish and Indian), and Indians fell between the former two aforementioned groups in the order listed. Thus, racial biology determined one’s place in Mexico’s rigid societal rankings.
By 1821, Mexico had experienced more than ten years of civil war ignited by Father Miguel Hidalgo’s 1810 Grito de Dolores. In the beginning the revolt was largely a peasant movement led by criollo priests and mestizos that targeted all Spaniards. Hence, the conflict had forced a closer bond between Mexico’s two upper classes as a means of preserving the existing royal order as well as their lives. Although small pockets of resistance remained, after Hidalgo’s capture, trial, and execution, Spain’s hold over Mexico was secure as long as the majority of the criollo class supported the peninsulares in maintaining power. However, a change in the relationship between these two factions would uproot the status quo.
Dissatisfaction with this state-imposed hierarchy existed among a majority of native-born Mexicans. Hidalgo’s revolt had capitalized on this anger, drawing tens of thousands of Indian villagers into his insurgent army. Criollos, forced into a coalition with the peninsulares for self preservation, gradually began to question their continued alliance to the gachupines (a derogatory term for peninsulares). If both classes were Spaniards, why should Spanish-born subjects have more opportunities that those born in Mexico? This questioning would lead to major changes in Mexico.
Many people worked for Mexican independence but one man made it a reality. Colonel Agustin de Iturbide, a criollo serving in the Royalist Army in Mexico, created a political solution that brought an end to the conflict between royalists and rebels. Reviewing the situation, Iturbide realized that all Mexicans had suffered under the Spanish, meaning that the peninsulares were the real enemy of Mexico’s indigenous population. He crafted a framework that offered Mexicans three guarantees: independence, equality, and religion. Iturbide met with insurgents and explained its benefits and secured their cooperation.
Spanish power, after years of contesting the French at home and rebels throughout the Americas, was waning. By banding together against the European Spanish, Mexicans could claim Mexico for their own without any real threat from the weakened Spanish Army. Convinced that the plan had merit, rebel leaders agreed with Iturbide to set aside their differences so all Mexicans could work for the common good. Meeting at the town of Iguala on February 24, 1821, Iturbide (acting for the criollos) and Vicente Guerrero (acting for the former insurgents) signed the plan. Their combined forces, called the Army of the Three Guarantees, pushed aside the remaining royalist army, entering Mexico City in August. On the 24th of that month, Spanish Viceroy Juan O’Donojú added his signature to the plan, agreeing in the Treaty of Córdoba to recognize Mexico’s independence from Spain. Although officials in Spain refused to recognize the treaty until 1836, Mexico had in fact gained its independence.
In addition to promising independence and equality and enshrining Catholicism as the state religion, the plan also looked towards Mexico’s future government. Mexico was to become a constitutional monarchy. As odd as it seems, the Spanish king — Ferdinand VII — would be offered the Mexican crown if he would come to Mexico City. Should he decline, or until the position was filled, a junta would rule in the name of the monarch, organizing government and paving the way for the creation of a constitution for the newly established Mexican nation. All that remained was the task of building a nation, a task that Mexicans found much harder than throwing off the yoke of Spain.
This article originally appeared in the October 2015 edition of “The Alamo Messenger”, a monthly history publication of the Alamo’s education department. Join the Alamo’s email list.
