Mexico Today; Social, Political and Religious Conditions (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: APPENDIXES APPENDIX A1 Constitution And Government Mexico was annexed to the Spanish crown by conquest in 1521, and for three centuries continued to be governed by Spain. In 1810 the rule of the Spanish viceroys had become so tyrannical that it caused an outbreak headed by the patriot priest Hidalgo, who on September 15, 1810, declared the independence of Mexico. In 1821 General Augustin Iturbide declared himself Emperor of Mexico, but in 1824 he had to flee, and the Republic was established. Several Presidents ruled the destinies of this country with more or less severity until 1864, when the throne of Mexico was offered to Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria. He was executed in 1867, and Juarez, who had been President in the northern part of the country, took the reins of government. He was followed by Lerdo de Tigada, who in 1876 fled, and General Porflrio Diaz made his entry into Mexico City. He ruled the country with the exception of 1880-4 (General Manuel Gonzalez) until May, 1911, when he presented his resignation to Congress. Sefior F. de la Barra acted as President ad interim until the elections had taken place. The present Constitution of Mexico bears date of February 5, 1857, with subsequent modifications down to May, 1908. By its terms Mexico is declared a federative republic, divided into states?19 at the outset, but at present 27 in number, with three territories and the Federal District ?each of which has a right to manage its own local affairs, while the whole are bound together in one body politic by fundamental and constitutional laws. The powers of the supreme government are divided into three branches, the legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative power is vested in a Congress consisting of a House of Representatives (233 members) a...