Independence to Revolution: Mexican Legal History 1810–1910
Introduction
The century from Mexico’s independence (1810–1821) to the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution (1910) was a period of intense legal and constitutional experimentation. Mexico adopted multiple constitutions, experienced foreign interventions, enacted landmark reform laws, and consolidated a centralized state under the Porfiriato. This period established the liberal constitutional framework that the 1917 Constitution would substantially modify.
Independence and the First Federal Republic
Following independence in 1821, Mexico adopted the Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States in 1824, establishing a federal republic modeled on the United States Constitution. The 1824 Constitution created a bicameral Congress, a presidency, and a federal judiciary headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution was suspended in 1835 with the establishment of a centralized republic under the Siete Leyes (Seven Laws).
The 1857 Constitution and Reform Laws
The Constitution of 1857 was a landmark liberal constitution that established: individual rights (including freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion); the federal republic; the separation of church and state; and the amparo remedy. The Reform Laws (Leyes de Reforma, 1855–1863) implemented liberal reforms including: the confiscation of church property (Ley Lerdo and Ley de Desamortización); the establishment of civil marriage (Ley Juárez); the creation of the civil registry; and the secularization of education.
The Porfiriato
The dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz (1876–1911) maintained the 1857 Constitution in form while concentrating power in the executive. Legal developments during this period included: the codification of commercial law (Commerce Code of 1884); the development of mining law; the expansion of the railway and infrastructure legal framework; and the consolidation of the amparo remedy through Supreme Court jurisprudence under Chief Justice Ignacio Luis Vallarta.
Legal Codification
The late 19th century saw the codification of Mexican law: the Commerce Code (1884, replaced in 1889), the Federal Civil Code (1870, replaced in 1884 and 1928), the Federal Code of Civil Procedure (1897), the Federal Criminal Code (1871, the Martínez de Castro Code), and the Federal Code of Criminal Procedure (1880). These codes established the systematic legal framework characteristic of the civil law tradition.
Social Unrest and Legal Change
The social and economic inequalities of the Porfiriato generated legal demands that would be addressed by the 1917 Constitution: land reform, labor rights, education reform, and democratic political participation. The 1906 Cananea strike and the 1907 Río Blanco strike highlighted the absence of labor protections, while the concentration of land ownership in large haciendas motivated demands for agrarian reform.
Conclusion
The period from independence to revolution established Mexico’s liberal constitutional framework, codified its legal system, and created the institutions of the modern Mexican state. However, the gap between constitutional guarantees and social reality — particularly regarding land, labor, and political participation — set the stage for the Mexican Revolution and the transformative Constitution of 1917.