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| Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna |
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna served as the President of Mexico for 11 times. In the early stage of his life he served in the Spanish colonial army and fought the insurgents brought by the Hidalgo Revolt in 1810. But in 1821, he betrayed his peninsular or Spanish superiors by defecting and supporting the Plan de Iguala of Agustin de Iturbide. However, when Iturbide became the tyrannical monster that the Mexican people wanted gone, he rose up in revolt against Iturbide. In less than a decade, his tumultuous role as the Mexican President began. His life resembled a roller coaster ride with both ups and downs and twist and turns. With the excesses in his both lifestyle and exercise of power, the Mexican deposed him. Santa Anna became a chapter and major player in Mexican history for more than three decades.
In
the early stages of his life, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna served as a soldier
in the Spanish colonial army. He came from a middle class creole family, born
on February 21, 1794 in Jalapa, Veracruz. He received formal education but at
the young age of 16 he entered into service in the Spanish colonial army. He
served under the command of Joaquin de Arredondo, who highly influenced Santa
Anna, in Veracruz. At the same year of his entry in the army, Mexico plunged
into war for independence starting with the Hidalgo Revolt and the Cry of
Dolores. Of course, Santa Anna fought against this insurrections and in 1813,
he, with a position of lieutenant by then, along with his superior Arredondo,
went to Tejas (Texas) to subdue the rebellion in the province. Arredondo showed
his great military prowess and authority. He won the Battle of Medina,
resulting to an astounding Spanish victory with thousands of rebels down with
only 55 casualties in their side. Santa Anna witnessed and participated in the
victory. Santa Anna also participated and observed his superiors brutality
towards rebels and the autocratic power that his higher officials exercised
during the counter-insurgency campaign that followed the victory. His experience
in Texas had a profound effect in Santa Anna.
Mexican
Independence in 1821 became Santa Ann’s debut in the national political stage
of the country. In 1821, the moderate Plan de Iguala had been unveiled by
Agustin de Iturbide and many in both conservative and liberal and creoles and
peninsulares supported the plan. Many in the colonial army defected to
Iturbide’s side, among them, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Santa Anna then began
to besiege Spanish troops in Veracruz in the name of Iturbide. By September 28,
Mexico declared its independence and Santa Anna got promoted to the position of
General. When Iturbide became the Emperor of Mexico, corruption and abuses
plagued the new government of Mexico. Iturbide’s autocratic rule had evaporated
the support of the people and the army. Santa Anna along with other former
rebel leaders rose up against Iturbide in December 1822. In February 1823,
Santa Anna with the former revolutionary leader Guadalupe Victoria and a
general in the imperial army of Iturbide, Jose Antonio de Echavarri, signed the
Plan de Casa Mata. The Plan called for a new Congress, but it cut short in denouncing the Emperor, rather it continued to respect the Emperor. Many Mexican
supported the plan and a month later, Iturbide, with his court and government in turmoil and confusion, abdicated and went to exile. A
new Mexican constitution had been promulgated in the following year and the
Republic of Mexico was born. Meanwhile, as a reward for his efforts in deposing
Iturbide, Santa Anna became the governor of Yucatan and later on of Veracruz.
Spain’s
attempt to reconquer Mexico further increased Santa Anna’ popularity and
prestige as a great military commander. In 1829, Spain wanted to reconquer the
former colonies of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which included Mexico. In
July, with over 3,000 troops from Cuba landed in Tampico to begin the invasion.
The Mexican reacted quickly and strongly. They did not want to return to the
oppressive and discriminative rule under Spain. Mexico City sent Santa Anna to
fight the Spaniards. He then besieged the Spanish forces that had landed in
Tampico for several months. By September, the Spaniards had surrendered and the
Mexicans credited the Victory in Tampico to Santa Anna. The popularity of Santa
Anna in the public soared.
In
1833, Santa Anna became the President of Mexico. Before then, Mexico’s first
decade of being independent had been wrought by political fighting,
insurgencies. The nation had fell to utter chaos. Presidents came and went in
just months, few only survived while serving a year or two. Issues concerning
the government becoming centralist or federalist became a widely debated topic
in politics. The 1824 Constitution invoked the idea of federalism but some
Presidents utter differently and began the centralization of the country. This
issue became also a factor in the deposition of Presidents. Santa Anna played
major roles in the ousting and the placing of presidents. In 1832, Mexico had a
centralist government under Melchor Muzquiz and Anastasio Bustamante that
enjoyed little public support. Then Santa Anna joined the side of the
federalist and also liberals in 1832 and deposed the President. Congress in
1833 then made Santa Anna the President of Mexico with Valentino Gomez Farias
as his Vice President. But Santa enjoyed the life in the battlefield more than
the life in the National Palace handling the head aches and the boring life of
an administrator, so either real or made up, he made an illness a reason for
his absence and retired in his Hacienda Manga de Clavo in Veracruz living most
of his duties to his Vice Gomez Farias.
Farias
championed liberal reforms during his tenure as interim President as Santa Anna
“recuperate” from his said illness in Manga de Clavo. He promoted the spread of
public education to the provinces and to the impoverished. He also allowed
freedom of press and speech. He also began the secularization of the
government, meaning the separation of church and state. As a liberal and
anti-cleric, he attacked the wealth and privileges of the church. He ordered
the confiscation of church lands and its redistributions. He also ordered the
end of the privileges of the church. But Gomez Farias went far when he began to
reform the armed forces. He began by removing the immunity of soldiers from
facing courts during lawsuits. He also wanted to extend government control over
the army and reduce its numbers so as to reduce the huge maintenance cost from
the bankrupt state coffers. Gomez Farias reforms added generals in the list of
those who wanted him gone along with the clergy and the conservatives. Santa
Anna, with a discerning eye for opportunity for popularity supported the
bandwagon of those who wanted Gomez Farias deposed. In April 1834, Santa Anna
supported the conservative Plan de Cuernavaca. He then marched back to Mexico
City with an army, deposed Gomez Farias, removed congress, suspended the
federalist constitution of 1824, and proclaimed himself the dictator of Mexico.
The
Dictatorship of Santa Anna from 1834 resulted into massive corruption,
rebellion, and brutality. Opposition members removed from power and arrested.
Liberalist ideas disappeared and liberals became persecuted. Meanwhile, Santa
Anna enjoyed a lifestyle of a king and held lavish parties and gambled money
from the nation’s coffers while his people outside the national palace
continued to suffer poverty and chaos. Centralization became also strong under
the second term of Santa Anna. In 1835, he promulgated the constitutional
amendments known as the Siete Leyes or the Seven Laws. It centralized the power
to the President and gave him considerable power over the other two branches of
the government. Also, states became departments ruled by caudillos that
President Santa Anna appointed. As a result of Santa Anna’s centralization,
eleven states rebelled. Santa Anna, learning from his experience in Texas,
implemented brutal tactics and policies against the insurgents. For example, on
April 1834, Santa Anna crushed a rebellion in Zacatecas. Upon his victory he
allowed his troops to loot Zacatecas for two days, it became known as the Rape
of Zacatecas.
Little
did Santa Anna knew, his policy of centralization had affected one of the most
volatile regions in Mexico. Its northern province of Tejas or Texas gave Santa
Anna his most famous victory and his greatest defeat.
See
also:
Bibliography:
Galloway,
Andrew. "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de (1794-1876)." in Revolts,
Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History: An Encyclopedia
v. 1. Edited by Steven Danver. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2011.
Foster,
Lynn. A Brief History of Mexico. New York, New York: Facts On File, 2010.
Vasquez-Gomez,
Juana. Dictionary of Mexican Rulers, 1325-1997. Westport, Connecticut:
Greenwood Press, 1997.
Miller,
Robert. Mexico: A History. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985.
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