We explain who Benito Juárez was and how he became president of Mexico. Also, his personal life, legal work and characteristics of him.
Benito Juárez was one of the most outstanding figures in the history of Mexico.
Who was Benito Juárez?
Known as the “Distinguished Man of the Americas,” Benito Juárez was a Mexican lawyer and politician belonging to the indigenous Zapotec ethnic group, who was president of Mexico on several occasions between 1858 and 1872.
During his years in office, Mexico went through some of the most critical times in the consolidation of the republic, which is why Juárez is often considered one of the most outstanding figures in constitutional history from the country.
His national, republican and liberal management, and his fight against foreign intervention and the Second Empire of Mexico, have been recognized in Mexico and other countries around the world over the years. He also left a very important written legal work.
Birth and early years of Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez worked as a farmhand and shepherd.
Benito Pablo Juárez García Born on March 21, 1806 in San Pablo Guelatao (present-day Guelatao de Juárez), a town in the mountain range today called Sierra Juárez, in the state of Oaxaca. His parents were Marcelino Juárez and Brígida García, farmers belonging to the indigenous Zapotec ethnic group.
They both died when Benito was three years old, so He and his brothers were left in the care of their grandparents.who also died a few years later.
Benedict He worked as a farmhand and shepherd until adolescence, when he migrated to the city of Oaxaca and entered the Santa Cruz seminary, where he began his studies in the Spanish language, Latin grammar and moral theology. He then entered the Institute of Sciences and Arts of Oaxaca, where he received a law degree.
Family life of Benito Juarez
Margarita Maza and Benito Juárez had twelve children.
Juarez He married Margarita Maza in 1843.a young Mexican woman of good economic standing and refined education, with whom he had twelve children: three boys and nine girls.
The relationship between the two was committed and firm. Margarita always supported her husband’s political cause and accompanied him in exile every time he found himself in that situation, despite the difference in age (twenty years), ethnicity and social class between them.
Five of his twelve children died prematurely., before nine years of age. Margaret died in 1871, presumably from the effects of cancer.
Political life of Benito Juárez
Benito Juarez He became rector of the Institute of Sciences and Arts of Oaxaca in 1831. That same year he was elected councilor of the city of Oaxaca by the city council.
Then He was substitute minister of the Court of Justice of the state of Oaxacaelected deputy of the local legislature and held a long series of military, political and administrative positions that led to his appointment as interim governor of Oaxaca in 1847, during the war with the United States.
After a time of exile during one of the presidential terms of his adversary Antonio López de Santa Anna in 1853, Juárez supported the Ayutla Revolution (1854-1855). He was appointed Minister of Justice during the brief interim presidency of Juan Álvarez (a time in which the Reform Laws that sought to separate the Church from the State began to be drafted), he was again governor of Oaxaca and served as interim president during the Reform War (1858-1861), after the self-coup of Ignacio Comonfort.
He began his constitutional mandate in 1861. He left again when the Second Empire of Mexico was formed, although he continued to hold the position of president recognized by the liberals. He returned to restore the republic and In 1867 he was elected president in democratic elections. In 1871 he was re-elected but died before completing his term in 1872.
Government of Benito Juárez
Juárez promoted secular education and sought the industrialization of the country.
Juárez’s first presidential term was marked by conflicts with the conservatives and, especially, by the Second French intervention in Mexico. This was due to Juárez’s decision to suspend payment of the foreign debt due to lack of resources. Thus was born the Second Empire of Mexico, which was governed by the Austrian nobleman Maximilian (supported by the conservatives) in parallel to the republic presided over by Juárez (supported by the liberals), until the republican military triumph.
During his second constitutional presidency, when the wars were behind him, Juárez affirmed that these were times of peace and harmony. Your government It was characterized by the modernization of economic and republican structures.
The liberal project of Benito Juárez promoted mass and secular education, and the industrialization of the countryfor which he resorted to private and foreign investment (mainly American) to extend the telegraph and railways throughout the nation’s territory.
In his various mandates, Juárez recognized the Mexican Constitution promulgated in 1857, which acquired national validity when the republic was restored in 1867, after the definitive dissolution of the Second Empire of Mexico. The Reform Laws drafted by Juárez, which removed jurisdictions and privileges from the ecclesiastical sectors and established freedom of religion, also remained in force and were added to the Constitution during the government of his successor, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada.
These measures They triggered conspiracies from conservative sectors, disgusted with the threat to ecclesiastical and traditional interests. Between 1868 and 1869 there were several uprisings against his government, supported by the Church and the local press. However, liberal groups who viewed his practice of running for re-election with distaste also rose up against Juárez.
Death of Benito Juárez
Benito Juarez He died of angina pectoris on July 18, 1872.a few months after having won again in the presidential elections and in a climate of questioning of his re-election led by figures such as the future president Porfirio Díaz.
He died after serving as president for fourteen years, and There was a month of solemnities in his honor. His remains are in the Panteón de San Fernando Museum in Mexico City.
Tributes to Benito Juarez
Porfirio Díaz built a marble monument in honor of Juárez.
Benito Juarez is considered a national hero in Mexico and It is commemorated with a national holiday every July 18in memory of the day of his death. In the National Palace of Mexico there is a museum in his memory, where the furniture and other objects that he used in life are exhibited.
Porfirio Díaz built in his honor The Hemiciclo a Juárez, a marble monument located in Mexico City. In addition, his portrait has appeared on the 20 Mexican pesos bills since 2000 and on the 500 Mexican pesos bills since 2018.
In countries such as Argentina, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Peru and the United States there are also monuments, cities and documents that pay tribute to his work and his memory.
Work written by Benito Juárez
The work written by Juárez consists of some autobiographical notes that were published posthumously with the title Notes for my childrenand various laws, decrees and legal treaties:
- Law on freedom of worship.
- Law on the nationalization of ecclesiastical assets.
- Announcement of the Liberal Government’s programme.
- Civil marriage law.
- Secularization of hospitals and charitable institutions.
- The clergy ceases to intervene in cemeteries and churchyards.
- Extinction of religious communities in Mexico.
- Regulations for compliance with the nationalization law.
Historical importance of Benito Juarez
Benito Juárez was a very important figure in the history of Mexico and, in particular, in the process of consolidation of the nation. He defended the liberal ideas of his time and fought against foreign intervention and the empire that wanted to install the Austrian nobleman Maximilian in power, which is why he is sometimes considered a national hero.
He promoted reforms that modernized the economy and they sought to consolidate republican institutions through respect for the Constitution. Many of his reforms affected traditional sectors that vigorously opposed him, such as the Catholic Church against measures such as: the nationalization of ecclesiastical properties, freedom of worship, civil authority over registrations of births and marriages, and the elimination of privileges and privileges of the Church.
Currently Juarez is also recognized for overcoming discrimination of which he was a victim in his youth for belonging to an indigenous ethnic group, and for having given political form to his liberal ideas. His phrase is often quoted: “Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.”
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