Domínguez, Miguel (1756–1830)

Miguel Domínguez (b. 20 January 1756; d. 22 April 1830), precursor of Mexican independence. A distinguished lawyer born in Mexico City, Domínguez was named corregidor of Querétaro in 1802. His opposition to the Law of Consolidation of vales reales (royal bonds) (1805) gained him the enmity of Viceroy José de Iturrigaray, who had him replaced, although he was eventually restored to his post. With his wife, Josefa Ortiz, he took part in the Querétaro conspiracy of 1810 against the colonial regime. When the plot was discovered, Domínguez, constrained by his office, locked his wife in their house and arrested some of the plotters. But she managed to notify others, causing Miguel Hidalgo to begin the revolution on 16 September. Domínguez was detained the same day; shortly thereafter he was released and restored to his post, although he was ousted again in 1820. He became a member of the Supreme Executive Power in 1823. At the end of 1824, he became president of the Supreme Court, a position he held for the rest of his life. He died in Mexico City.

See alsoAcademia Literaria de Querétaro; Allende, Ignacio; Ortiz de Domínguez, Josefa.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

José María Miguel I. Vergés, Diccionario de insurgentes (1969), pp. 175-176.

Hugh M. Hamill, Jr., The Hidalgo Revolt, 2d ed. (1970); Diccionario Porrúa de historia, geografía y biografía de México, 5th ed. (1986), vol. 1, p. 922.

Additional Bibliography

Agraz García de Alba, Gabriel. Los corregidores Don Miguel Domínguez y Doña María Josefa Ortiz y el inicio de la independencia. Mexico City, 1992.

Archer, Christon I. The Birth of Modern Mexico, 1780–1824. Wilmington: Scholarly Resources Inc., 2003.

                                       Virginia Guedea