Madero made himself out to be a representative of the working class with his political agrarian reform. As Madero pressured Diaz he gained the support of the working class and peasants throughout Mexico. Porfirio Diaz used the production of mines, railroads, and agriculture to increase foreign investments and raised the wealth of these individuals. Both the poor and the middle class were further alienated as haciendas, plots of land were sold to wealthy businessmen and foreign investors. There were serious problems for the landless impoverished peasants, as a result, lower-class Mexicans were forced to lease land from the wealthy. The rented plots were not owned, and they did not have the rights to the land that was paid for. The farmers had no way of providing for themselves or their families and often peasants were forced to seek work as laborers on the haciendas.
In 1909 Madero took on Diaz for his harsh and unfair rule. Madero neither looked nor sounded the part of an appealing leader. As he traveled the nation the crowds grew larger. His Anti-Reelection party gained popularity. Madero was then nominated as a candidate for president. Diaz soon became threatened over Madero. This resulted in Diaz throwing Madero into jail to be able to win the election. As Francisco Madero saw an opportunity to overthrow Diaz’s dictatorship to reinvent Mexican society, he then proposed a political reform called Plan de San Luis Potosi, social and economic concerns of peasants, workers, and nationalists, calling for the end of Diaz’s regime along with the redistribution of land and rule by the Mexican working class.
As Madero slogan, “Effective Suffrage no reelection” he promised to reinstate land to those who lost it to wealthy businessmen, however, he reneged on his word and said land disputes were better off settled in the courts. The peasants demanded immediate restitution and unsettled the revolutionary coalition. Madero had support from the higher- and middle-class people but was unable to satisfy the lower-class allies.
