Independent Mexico.—The first government of independent Mexico consisted of a council of six, with Gen. Augustin Iturbide, the com mander of the revolutionary army, as presi dent. On 19 May 1822 Iturbide was proclaimed emperor, and on 21 July he and his wife were crowned in the cathedral of the capital. But dissensions soon set in and Iturbide was forced to abdicate and to leave the country. On re turning to Mexico in 1824 he was arrested, tried and shot as a traitor. Then followed many kaleidoscopic political changes in which the personal ambition of military leaders played the foremost part.
Santa Anna, who became President in 1833, and who was looked upon as a good soldier, took the field against the Texas revolutionists with an army of 6,000 trained men. Successful at first, he was defeated in 1836, captured and taken to the United States, but was allowed to return to Mexico the following year. For more than a generation, from the first days of the republic to the middle of the 19th century, the figure of Santa Anna appears ever in the fore ground of the political life of Mexico guiding the destinies of the nation or watching polit ical moves from either voluntary or forced retirement. Shortly after his return from the United States the French government sent a squadron to Vera Cruz to enforce the payment of claims against Mexico held by French citi zens. Santa Anna, who had gone into one of his periodical retirements, came forth and placed himself at the head of a force to oppose the French, who finally withdrew. Santa Anna claimed the honor of having driven them from the country. This claim and the fact that he lost a leg in the encounter made him once more a national figure and a popular hero, al though Mexico had been forced to comply with the French demands.
Bustamante, recalled from exile, became President in 1837, on the outbreak of the revo lution in Texas. The struggle between am bitious military leaders became more intense. Santa Anna, Paredes, Bustamante, Farias, Her rera, Nicolas Bravo and others played their several parts on the constantly changing stage. The admission of Texas to the American Union as a State, 29 Dec. 1845, roused the resentment of Mexico against the United States to a high pitch. James K. Polk, who succeeded Tyler U as President of the United States, was an ardent expansionist and included in his plan of expansion the acquisition of California, Ari zona and New Mexico, then Mexican territory. Claims amounting to several million dollars were held by American citizens against the Mexican government, which was unable to meet them. Polk proposed to settle these claims in exchange for Mexican territory, pay ing, in addition, to Mexico $25,000,000 in cash. In November 1845, John Slidell was sent as diplomatic representative to Mexico City, with instructions to press the matter of cession of Mexican territory to the United States. But the Mexican authorities, having learned in ad vance of Slidell's commission, did not receive him. Polk was ready to ask Congress to de clare war against Mexico in May 1846 when the news reached Washington that armed Mex icans had already crossed the border and killed a number of Americans. War was declared
against Mexico, 13 May. General Taylor, in command of American forces on the Rio Grande, was ordered into Mexico. In Septem ber 1846 he defeated a Mexican army and cap tured Monterey and, on 22 February, he fought a drawn battle at Buena Vista (Angostura). A month later Gen. Winfield Scott arrived at Vera Cruz, which he captured, 29 March, and began the long and toilsome march toward the upland plateau and the capital of Mexico, which he reached six months later. After the capture of Molino del Rey, Churubusco and Chapulte pec, fortresses defending the capital, Scott's army entered the City of Mexico. In the mean time American forces had taken possession of California and New Mexico without opposition. In February 1847 a treaty was signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo, near the Mexican capital, between representatives of Mexico and the United States by the provisions of which Cali fornia and New Mexico were ceded to the United States.
Santa Anna, who had 'again become dictator of Mexico while the country was at war with the United States, retired to Jalapa, and Gen eral Herrera became President, 3 June 1848. He was succeeded (January 1851) by General Arista, who was forced out of office by Santa Anna.
A new constitution for the republic which became law on 5 Feb. 1857 figured in every Mexican conflict during more than half a cen tury. President Comonfort repudiated it, thus estranging his own following without gaining the support of his opponents. He was forced to flee the country, and his departure gave rise to internal dissensions not finally settled for years. Benito Juarez, president of the Supreme Court, claimed the presidency in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. War divided the people and devastated the land and the reactionary party forced Juarez from the capital. In the midst of all this civil trouble, a real danger threatened the republic from without. In 1861 England, France and Spain entered into an agreement known as the Treaty of London, by which they were to send a three fold fleet to Vera Cruz to demand of Mexico guarantees for the payment of her foreign debt and for the safety of their subjects in Mexican territory. This fleet, which appeared at Vera Cruz on 8 Dec. 1861, captured the port and proceeded to Orizaba, where a conference was held with Juarez, who agreed to comply with the demands of the powers. England and Spain at once withdrew their troops from the country. But the French, who had a secret understanding with the Mexican reactionary party, at the head of whom was Miram6n, who had disputed the presidency with Juarez, re mained in Mexico with the avowed purpose of settling its social and political difficulties. The French army soon began its march toward the uplands, but it was defeated before the walls of Puebla and forced to retreat to Orizaba (1862).