Benito Juarez

Benito Juárez was born on March 21, 1806 in a small adobe home in the village of San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca, located in the mountain range now known as the "Sierra Juárez". His parents, Marcelino Juárez and Brígida García, were peasants who both died of complications of diabetes when he was three years old. Shortly after, his grandparents died as well, and his uncle then raised him.[4][5] He described his parents as "indios de la raza primitiva del país," that is, "Indians of the primitive race of the country."[5] He worked in the corn fields and as a shepherd until the age of 12, when he walked to the city of Oaxaca de Juárez to attend school.[3] At the time, he could only speak Zapotec.

In the city, where his sister worked as a cook, he took a job as a domestic servant for Antonio Maza.[3] A lay Franciscan, Antonio Salanueva, was impressed with young Benito's intelligence and thirst for learning, and arranged for his placement at the city's seminary. In 1843 Benito married Margarita Maza. Benito was 37 and Margarita was 17. With a height of 1.37 m (4 ft 6 in), Juarez is considered one of the shortest presidents in world history.[6][better source needed]

Political career[edit]

Juárez became a lawyer in 1834 and a judge in 1841.[7] He was governor of the state of Oaxaca from 1847 to 1852; in 1853, he went into exile because of his objections to the corrupt military dictatorship of Antonio López de Santa Anna.[8] He spent his exile in New Orleans, Louisiana, working in a cigar factory.[9] In 1854 he helped draft the Plan of Ayutla, a document calling for Santa Anna's deposition and a convention to implement a new constitution.

Faced with growing discontent, Santa Anna resigned in 1855 and Juárez returned to Mexico. The winning party, the liberales (Liberals) formed a provisional government under General Juan Álvarez, inaugurating the period known as La Reforma. The Reform laws sponsored by the puro (pure) wing of the Liberal Party curtailed the power of the Catholic Church and the military, while trying to create a modern civil society and capitalist economy based on the model of the United States. The Ley Juárez (Juárez Law) of 1855 declared all citizens equal before the law and severely restricted the privileges of the Catholic Church. Juarez was a Free Mason and founded the Rito Nacional Mexicano lodge in which he held the symbolic name of Guillermo Tell.

Supreme Court[edit]

Benito Juárez with his sister Nela (left) and his wife Margarita (right), 1843

Oil painting of Benito Juarez.

A new liberal constitution, the Constitution of 1857, was promulgated, under which Juárez became President of the Supreme Court of Justice, under moderado (moderate) president Ignacio Comonfort. Conservatives led by General Félix María Zuloaga, with the backing of the military and the clergy, launched a revolt under the Plan of Tacubaya on December 17, 1857. Comonfort sought to placate the rebels by appointing several conservatives to the Cabinet, dissolving the Congress, and implementing most of the Tacubaya Plan. Juárez, Ignacio Olvera, and many other deputies and ministers were arrested. These actions did not go far enough for the rebels, and on January 11, 1858 Zuloaga demanded Comonfort's resignation. Comonfort then re-established the Congress, freed all prisoners and then resigned as President. The conservative forces proclaimed Zuloaga as President on January 21. Meanwhile, under the terms of the 1857 Constitution, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice became interim President of Mexico until a new election could be held - Juárez was thus acknowledged as President by liberals on January 15, 1858 and assumed leadership of the Liberal side of the civil war known as the Reform War (Guerra de Reforma).

As Zuloaga's troops were in control of Mexico City, Juárez and his government fled, first to Querétaro and later to Veracruz, whose customs revenues were used to fund the government's expenditure. The Conservatives were supported by the Catholic Church (in 1859, during the war, Juarez ordered the confiscation of Church propertie(s) and the regular army, but the Liberals had the support of several state governments in the north and central-west, as well as the administration of US President James Buchanan. A treaty between the two governments, the McLane-Ocampo Treaty, was signed in December 1859, although Buchanan was unable to secure ratification of the treaty by the US Congress. Nevertheless, the aid received enabled the liberals to overcome the conservatives' initial military advantage; Juárez's government successfully defended Veracruz from assault twice during 1860 and recaptured Mexico City on January 1, 1861.

President[edit]

Monument to Benito Juarez.

In March 1861, Juárez was finally elected President in his own right under the Constitution of 1857. However, the Liberals' celebrations of 1861 were short-lived. The war had severely damaged Mexico's infrastructure and crippled its economy. While the Conservatives had been defeated, they would not disappear and the Juárez government had to respond to pressures from these factions. One of these concessions was amnesty to captured Conservative guerrillas who were still resisting the Juárez government, even though these same guerrillas were executing captured Liberals, which included Melchor

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