Mexican+Revolution+Group+6

**The Porfiriarto: Porfirio Diaz's Regime 1876-1910**
Conditions under President Porfirio Díaz:
 * Major industries were controlled by foreign interests,
 * allowed foreigners to own subsoil minerals, meaning that mines and oil fields were under foreign ownership.
 * the illiteracy rate was 80 percent,
 * infant mortality averaged 439 per thousand,
 * life expectancy was 30 years,
 * 50 percent of all houses were classified as unfit for human habitation
 * in Mexico City 16 percent of the population was homeless. (Tuck)
 * 75% of population considered peasants
 * Productive wealth concentrated in hands of few ( approximately 3%)
 * Most of this was owned by less than 1%, and mostly in hands of foreign absentees
 * Economic repression and USA depression of 1906-1907
 * Food crisis due to crop failures in 1906- 1910 --production had shifted to export crops like coffee and sugar. As Mexico tried to comply, they became less able to feed themselves, having to frequently import even basic food commodities, like corn.
 * solid banking system, and effective tax collection system was created
 * balanced Mexico's budget for the first time in the nation's history.(Mabry)
 * railroads created by foreign companies, not to create national railroad network but to allow easier exportation of goods and minerals abroad

A large part of the population was under peonage to large Haciendas. Approximately half of the entire population was under peonage by the end of the 19th century. The owners of the haciendas, called hacendados, were able to keep the peons in a constant state of indebtedness, because the wages paid to them were rarely currency that could be used any where else. Rather the peons were paid with certificates or metal discs that could only be redeemed at the local tienda de la raya, a company store located on the hacienda complex. Peons would be perpetually locked into an hacienda complex and debt didn't leave with death; it was passed on to the children. If a peon happened to escape it would be almost impossible to get different work, as a law had been passed, making it illegal to hire an indentured peon. By 1910 the average Mexican Peon was twelve times poorer than the average United states farm laborer. (Meyer, Sherman)

During the Diaz regime, work to develop the economy went under way. A large part of the work went into its industry. A visit to the United States showed Diaz how that it would be necessary to make Mexico more open to foreign investors. Soon after laying down his strategy, foreign companies from the US, Britain, and Brazil came to play very dominant roles in the nation's transportation, mining and oil industries.Some Mexicans complained that their country had become "the mother of foreigners and the stepmother of Mexicans." Many of these companies were those of mining and oil. Of the 31 major mining companies in operation during Diaz's later years, the US owned 17 and held 81% of the total capital in the industry, and Britain owned 10 of the companies and held 14.5% of the total capital. (Hart)

By the end of the Porfiriarto Regime, The combined internal and external debt of Mexico was about $250 million. Most of the land was held in the hands of foreigners and the rich, elite hacendados. This created a feeling of anger and resentment in the majority of the population. The ejidos had been taken from their traditional owners to satisfy the foreign companies and the hacienda owners. Many of the old ejidatarios had become peons to the hacendados who had taken their land, and weren't able to support themselves anymore, required to farm the Hacendado's fields before there own very insufficient plot given them. Although the economy overall grew at an annual rate of 2.6% the income per capita had only recovered to the pre-1821 levels by 1911. Unemployment in cities increased as mechines replaced the work previously done by artisans. (Merrill, Miro)

Constitution of 1917: Important Articles
=Article 27=

Many matters of public policy are explicitly stated in the constitution of 1917. One of which, being article 27, placed fairly strict restrictions on the ownership of foreign property by the church and foreigners and also declared that the country’s natural resources would be under national ownership. This also granted the government a broad power to expropriate private property appropriate to the public’s interests, and then redistribute land to peasants and Mexicans by birth. Stated in the article….

> Transfers of lands and waters by any local officials. > Any concessions or sales of lands and waters made by any federal authority from December of 1876 to present.
 * Only Mexican’s by birth and Mexican companies are allowed to acquire ownership of lands, waters, and their appurtenances, or to obtain concessions for the explorations of mines or waters.
 * Any religious institutions such as churches may not hold or administer real property or hold moorages irrelevant of creed.
 * Public or private charitable institutions may not hold more land than is necessary for their purpose.
 * It also declared various transactions null and void, such as:
 * Centers of populations which lack communal lands will be sufficient lands or waters to constitute them.
 * The Federal Congress and State legislature will enact laws to carry out the subdivisions of land.
 * Petitions for a restitution or grant of lands or waters will be submitted directly to the state and territorial governors
 * The agency of the Executive and the Agrarian Advisory Board will report all changes made by local governments to the President of the Republic, who as the supreme agrarian authority will render a decision. [[image:http://www.graphicwitness.org/undone/wind12.jpg width="343" height="415" align="right" caption="Rancheros" link="http://www.graphicwitness.org/undone/wind13.htm"]]
 * Landowners affected by decisions granting or restoring communal lands and waters to villages, or who may be affected by future decisions, will have no ordinary legal right or recourse and cannot institute amparo proceedings. (amparo: Juicio por medio del cual se impugnan los actos de autoridad (Decisions by which authority is implemeneted)
 * The Federal Congress and the State Legislature will enact laws to fix the maximum area of rural property and to carry out the subdivision of the excess lands.
 * All contracts and concessions made by former Governments since the year 1876, which have resulted in the monopolization of lands, waters, and natural resources of the Nation, by a single person or company, are declared subject to revision, and the Executive of the Union is empowered to declare them void whenever they involve serious prejudice to the public interest.(Becker)

=Article 3=

It restricted any religious groups from any sort of political activity and participation in public education. This was a subject that Obregon tended to ignore because he believed that children should be taught, whether it is by a public school or a school under church influence. “Better to learn under church influence, than to not learn at all.” Also, for the clergy to conduct services outside of church, or to dress in clerical clothes in public. Things stated in the article….

> o It will be democratic > o It will be national: including the understanding of their problems, the utilization of their resources, the defense of their political independence, etc. > o It will contribute to better human relationships including rights of all men, avoiding privileges of race, creed, class, sex, or persons. > =Article 123=
 * The education implemented by the Federal State will be designed to develop harmoniously all the faculties of the human being and will foster in him/her, at the same time, a love of country and a consciousness of international solidarity, in independence and justice.
 * Freedom of religious beliefs are guaranteed by Article 24, the standard which will guide education and be maintained completely separate from any religious doctrine. These include….
 * Private persons have the right to engage in education of all kinds and grades.
 * Religious corporations which exclusively engage in educational activities will in no way participate in institutions giving elementary, secondary and normal education, and education for laborers or field workers.
 * The State, at its own discretion, can at any time remove the official validity of studies conducted in private institutions.
 * Elementary education will be compulsory.
 * All education given by the State will be free.
 * The Congress of the Union will issue the necessary laws for dividing the social function of education among the Federation.(Becker)

The constitution has a charter of individual rights, but it also provides several social rights for peasants, workers, and their organizations. This has to do with article 123, which has been proclaimed as “the most advanced labor code in the world at its time.” (Coutsoukis) It provides workers….

> Workers shall be entitled to a participation in the profits of enterprises, regulated in conformity. But the right of workers to participate in profits does not imply the power to intervene in the direction or administration of an enterprise.
 * The right to organize.
 * An eight hour work day.
 * Seven hour work night.
 * 20 days of vacation a year.
 * Minors under 14 are prohibited from work.
 * Minors less than 16 years of age allowed to work will have a maximum of a six hour work day.
 * For every six days of work, there must be at least one day of rest.
 * Special maternity conditions and rest.
 * That minimum wage be appropriate for the living conditions of the workers.
 * And that irrelevant to age, race, gender, or nationality, that all workers be paid equal amounts for equal work.
 * Minimum wage will not apply to attachment, compensation, or deduction.
 * Wages must be paid in legal tender, not goods, tokens, or vouchers.
 * Overtime must be paid 100 percent in addition to regular pay.
 * In any agricultural, industrial, or mining enterprise or in any other kind of work, employers will be obligated to furnish workmen with comfortable and hygienic living quarters from which they can collect rent.
 * Employers will be responsible for labor accidents and for occupational diseases of workers.
 * Lockout shall be legal only when an excess of production makes it necessary to suspend work to maintain prices at a level with costs.
 * The right to strike when it is to “establish equilibrium between the diverse factors of production, harmonizing the rights of labor with those of capital”
 * An employer who dismisses a worker without justifiable shall be required either to fulfill the contract or to compensate him the amount of three months' wages.
 * A worker alone shall be responsible for debts contracted by himself and payable to his employer, his associates, etc.
 * Every labor contract made between a Mexican and a foreign employer must be notarized by a competent municipal authority.
 * Enforcement of the labor laws belongs to the authorities of the States, in their respective jurisdictions.
 * Members of a worker's family shall be entitled to medical attention and medicines in the proportions specified by law.
 * That the arbitration and conciliation boards made up of equal number of management, labor representatives, and one government representative.(Becker)

[|The Mexican Constitution of 1917]

Carranza


Before this Amended Constitution was formed, in the Constitutional convention of 1917(The Convention of Aguas Calientes), Carranza presented a draft of recommendations that showed little social change, no agrarian reform, and a limited regard for labor. This would have taken a huge toll and Mexico economically, stalling them even longer to reach a productive stand. But to Mexico’s advantage, the control of the convention was taken by the radicals. This ended in a constitution much more liberal than Carranza had intended, addressing land reform, secular education, workers rights, and laws relating to religious worship.(Haynes)

It was in the same year as the constitution was put in place that Carranza was legally elected. And even though the Constitution conveyed many changes, Carranza did not fully implement them. He returned many confiscated haciendas to their original owners and also gave many of them to his favorite generals. It was for these reasons that the working class suffered severe repression under his rule. The promises of free education were ignored and he resisted U.S. pressure to invest in foreign interests.(Keen)

One thing that could be labeled as an advancement that Carranza did do was that he legitimized civil divorce, established alimony rights, and allowed women to own and manage property. He also signed a law guaranteeing women equal rights to exercise guardianship and child custody, file lawsuits, and sign contracts. He was very concerned with women’s rights, if anything else.

And then, as his rule came to an end (1920), he tried to sway the election toward Bonilla, which was unsuccessful. Failing at establishing a man in office that would follow his influence, he decided to try and escape with half of Mexico’s National Treasury. It was obviously a huge failure, which could be said to be his biggest, because in the end it cost him his life.



Obregon
It was during the time of his ruler ship that true peace came to Mexico. The rule of Mexican society was held by millionaire socialists, such as wealthy generals, capitalists, and landlords. He provided land and pueblos for workers and peasants, but he did not give them seeds, implements, or adequate credit facilities; leaving them with no modern agricultural training.(Keen) One economic foundation for the working class which he organized and formed was CROM (Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana), in the year of 1918. Labor was something that was tightly controlled during Obregon’s rule, and he emphasized culture and education in order to develop national consciousness. One way that he did this was, at least influentially, was that his secretary of education, Vasconcelos, created a program of cultural missions designed to bring literacy and health to indigenous villages. Apart from that, Vasconcelos created training colleges, agricultural schools, and other specialized schools. Having to do with the implementation of the constitution, Obregon failed to enforce article 3, which banned religious primary schools. He did not enforce it because he believed that in the absence of resources it was better that Mexican children receive instruction from priests than remain illiterate. He also signed an agreement that renewed Mexico’s foreign debt payments. He returned the national railway to private ownership, and resolved various indemnity claims.(Haynes) But there was another article that he did not bother to implement, article 27. He distributed some land to pueblos, which only ended in angering owners. Many things relating to land were lacking: ¾ were population farmers, ½ of the country was mountainous, and the other half lacked adequate supply of water. In all, his “land reform” was ineffective. It was a system in which 90% of Mexican land was owned by less than 5% of the community. He later passed a law that entitled each family to a parcel of land, but this expropriation proved difficult because Hacendados fought back legally, and when that wasn’t enough, even violently. One other important economic problem would have had to have been the failing treasury under Obregon’s rule. A great economic fall which meant that the Haciendas former tax source was bankrupt, forcing him to return railroads, pay debts and indemnities. His philosophy was “tax and spend to produce and collect...”, and with this philosophy he created a banking system which would enable the community with easy currency. This allowed Mexican owned enterprises to rise with an increase in production and consumption. This was the beginning of a new middle class, a chance of posterity and economic opportunity. (Keen)

=Lazaro Cardenas: Actual Change=

Under the Cardenas Regime of 1934-1940, change as it was promised in the constitution was finally started. Cardenas instituted his Six-Year Plan: Strengthen ejidos, build schools, develop workers cooperatives. Land distribution to villages went underway on a massive scale, acconanied by efforts to raise agricultural productivity and improve rural life. 45 million acres went to 12000 villages in order to form ejidos, ranchos, and cooperative farms, according to the necessities of the region. From the Banco de Credito Ejidal, the new land enterprises were given seeds, machinery, and credit. The average agricultural production from1939-1941 was higher than it had been since the start of the revolution. Labor reform was also revitalized. In 1936 a new labor federation was formed, other than CROM, called the CTM. The official party of Mexico was reorganized in1938, and Cardenas claimed th e three main pillars of the party were labor, peasantry and the army. The most important reforms came in the form of the nationalization of resource industries. On March 18, 1938, Cardenas announced that the property of foreign oil companies was expropriated and returned to the hands of Mexicans. He favored Mexican industries with government loans and protective tariffs. In 1934 he established the Nacional Finencería, a government bank and investment corporation. Under Cardenas industrial capitalism made significant growth. By 1940, through the land reform and the schools, medical care, and roads provided to villages, the quality of life for the peasantry rose. In turn, these changes contributed to the growth of the internal market and the Mexican industry. (Haynes, Keen) Lasaro Cardenas was the only president of the PRI who did not use his status as president for personal gain.

=Works Cited=

Organized by Becker, Mark. "1917 Constitution of Mexico." Washington D.C.: Pan American Union, General Secretariat, Organization of American States,, 1968.http://www.ilstu.edu/class/hist263/docs/1917const.html Coutsoukis, Photius. "Mexico Constitution of 1917." __Countries of the World__ 14 Sep. 2008 . Calvert, Peter. __The Mexican Revolution 1910-1914__. New York, NY: Cambridbe University Press, 1968. Hart, John M. __Revolutinary Mexico:The Coming and Process of the Mexico Revolution__. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1987. Haynes, Keith, and Benjamin Keen. __A History of Latin America__. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Mabry, Donald J. "Porfirio Diaz (1830-1915)." __Historical Text Archive__ (1 2003): 13 Sep. 2008 . Merrill, Tim L., and Ramon Miro, eds. __Mexico: A Country Study__. Washington DC: Department of the Army, 1997. Meyer, Michael C., and William L. Sherman. __The Course of Mexican History__. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. Tuck, Jim. "The Mexican Revolution: A Nation in Flux - Part One 1910-1920." __Mexico Connect__ 13 Sep. 2008 . "Lazaro Cardenas del Rio Biography." __BiographyBase__ 14 Sep. 2008 .