Francisco I. Madero (B1)
Three of the reasons for the Mexican Revolution were the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, the abuse and exploitation of workers, and the inequality of wealth between the rich and poor. Francisco I. Madero and his middle-class supporters envisioned the Revolution as the only way to bring political stability and administrative efficiency to Mexico. Their campaign was based on three principles, no-reelection, decentralization, and free-market capitalism. Campesinos, laborers, and other lower-class participants were also interested in those base principles, but they also wanted the redistribution of land and resources that were taken away from them. During this political campaign against the Porfiriato, Madero is incarcerated by Diaz, but he is released on bail. Madero runs to hide in Texas and during his exile he wrote the Plan de San Luis Potosi. This plan was like a call for the Revolution to begin, it called for the annulation of recent elections, proclaimed the no re-election principle, and most importantly for the campesinos, laborers, and other lower-class participants, it promised them that the land would be reinstated. This plan brought him the support of many villagers, rebels, and revolutionary groups, while others considered him an opportunist. Once the support from these groups brought Madero to the presidency, they expected him to keep his word and redistribute the land, but it did not happen. According to Gonzales (2002), “Madero’s insistence that land disputes should be settled within the courts, rather than through forced redistribution, disappointed land-hungry peasants who demanded immediate redress and unsettled the revolutionary coalition” (p.74).
These diverging goals created problems because the campesinos, laborers, and other lower-class participants perceived Madero’s insistence as treason and made them think that he only used them to get to power. Madero’s actions worried revolutionaries, as he was not sticking to what he had promised them and seemed to continue favoring the members of the old regime. Due to this, “disappointed and angered…social revolutionaries in Morelos and Chihuahua who had brought Madero to power now sought to overthrow him” (Gonzales, 2002, p.87). These diverging goals caused an agrarian revolution led by Emiliano Zapata. Zapata played a very important role during the revolution and counterrevolution, as he led and fought for a land reform and the return of lands that had been taken from the campesinos. Thus, he had a lot of support from campesinos, laborers, and other lower-class participants. Although the counterrevolution groups did affected Madero’s presidency, it was Huerta, Madero’s own commander of army forces who betrayed him by removing him from power and by having people from his circle kill him. Huerta had the support of “Porfirian elites, Catholic Party members, wealthy businessmen, and federal officials who assumed that ironed-fisted rule would bring peace and prosperity” (Gonzales, 2002, p.99). Along with them, the American ambassador, Henry Lane Wilson also wanted Huerta to be president, as he thought that Huerta would support U.S. interests in Mexico. After Madero’s assassination, Huerta was now in power and as Gonzales (2002) explains, “Mexico became militarized and political discourse was reduced to assassination, intimidation, and capriciousness” (p.93), like during the Porfiriato. This brought Huerta opposition like revolutionaries who opposed the Porfiriato, workers, campesinos, intellectuals, and foreign opposition, like the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson who did not recognized Huerta as the president.
The early period of the Mexican revolution and counterrevolution were significant because they showed that the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, specifically Diaz was not the only one leading and feeding into the abuse and exploitation of workers, and the inequality of wealth between the rich and poor. But it was like a chain with many opportunists trying to benefit from the power imbalance. Also, it showed that people needed to stick together, as they broke the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, but the abuse and exploitation of workers, and the inequality of wealth between the rich and poor was still an issue. I truly believe that the early period of the Mexican Revolution and counterrevolution created the foundation that later transformed the country and forced politicians to respect campesino’s rights and agrarian reforms and eventually brought with it universal education, labor rights, and the nationalization of some industries.
References
Bain News Service, P. (1911) Madero & Advisors. 1911. date created or published later by Bain. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2014691328/
Gonzales, M. J. (2002). The Mexican Revolution, 1910–1940. University of New Mexico Press.
