Examines the most turbulent period in Mexican history and the revolutions that were instrumental in bringing about independence from Spain, the loss of American colonies, and other political changes.

Mexico's wars for independence were not fought to achieve political independence. Unlike their neighbors to the north, Mexico's revolutionaries aimed to overhaul their society. Intending profound social reform, the rebellion's leaders declared from the onset that their struggle would be incomplete, even meaningless, if it were merely a political event. Easily navigating through nineteenth-century Mexico's complex and volatile political environment, Timothy J. Henderson offers a well-rounded treatment of the entire period, but pays particular attention to the early phases of the revolt under the priests Miguel Hidalgo and José María Morelos. Hidalgo promised an immediate end to slavery and tailored his appeals to the poor, but also sanctioned pillage and shocking acts of violence. This savagery would ultimately cost Hidalgo, Morelos, and the entire country dearly, leading to the revolution's failure in pursuit of both meaningful social and political reform. While Mexico eventually gained independence from Spain, severe social injustices remained and would fester for another century. Henderson deftly traces the major leaders and conflicts, forcing us to reconsider what "independence" meant and means for Mexico today.

The first classroom reader devoted exclusively to nineteeth-century Mexican history, this volume brings together twenty-six essays and primary documents treating Mexico's Age of Caudillos. The readings—many by Mexican politicians, historians, and commentators and available here in English for the first time—are organized into four groups representing major eras in the early national development of Mexico: Independence, the age of Santa Anna, La Reforma and the French Intervention, and the Porfiriato. The selections range from autobiography to political and economic history, from the history of ideas to philosophy and social history. The interpretive essays represent both traditional and revisionist views, while the primary materials comprise both political documents and contemporary personal accounts.

The Mexican Revolution was a major revolution that comprised several armies' local conflicts rather than a single cohesive war. It eliminated the Federal Force and replaced it with an inventive force, transforming Mexican civilization and governance at the same time. It also resulted in the promulgation of a new constitution that included the revolutionaries' utopian ideas. Political independence was not the goal of the battle for independence. Unlike their northern counterparts, Mexican revolutionaries sought to reshape their civilization. The rebellion's leaders said from the start that if it were only a political event, it would be incomplete, if not pointless. Scott Stevenson gives a well-rounded overview of nineteenth-century Mexico's complicated and turbulent political landscape but pays special emphasis to the early phases of the insurrection under the priests Miguel Hidalgo and José Mara Morelos. Hidalgo vowed to abolish slavery immediately and focus his pleas on the poor, but he also sanctioned looting and terrible acts of brutality. This brutality would eventually cost Hidalgo, Morelos, and the entire country dearly, resulting in the revolution's inability to achieve substantial social and political progress. While Mexico achieved independence from Spain, serious socioeconomic inequities persisted and would fester for another century. Stevenson expertly recounts the important leaders and struggles, compelling us to reevaluate what "independence" meant and means now in Mexico.

In 1910 insurgent leaders crushed the Porfirian dictatorship, but in the years that followed fought among themselves, until a nationalist consensus produced the 1917 Constitution. This in turn provided the basis for a reform agenda that transformed Mexico in the modern era. The civil war and the reforms that followed receive new and insightful attention in this book. These essays, the result of the 45th annual Walter Prescott Webb Memorial Lectures, presented by the University of Texas at Arlington in March 2010, commemorate the centennial of the outbreak of the revolution. A potent mix of factors—including the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few thousand hacienda owners, rancheros, and foreign capitalists; the ideological conflict between the Diaz government and the dissident regional reformers; and the grinding poverty afflicting the majority of the nation’s eleven million industrial and rural laborers—provided the volatile fuel that produced the first major political and social revolution of the twentieth century. The conflagration soon swept across the Rio Grande; indeed, The Mexican Revolution shows clearly that the struggle in Mexico had tremendous implications for the American Southwest. During the years of revolution, hundreds of thousands of Mexican citizens crossed the border into the United States. As a result, the region experienced waves of ethnically motivated violence, economic tensions, and the mass expulsions of Mexicans and US citizens of Mexican descent.