Plan of Casa Mata

Plan of Casa Mata, a political proposal leading to the establishment of a federal republic in Mexico. After independence, conflict ensued between the executive and legislative branches of the new government. Emperor Agustín de Iturbide jailed dissenting legislators and ultimately dissolved Congress on 31 October 1822. The generals sent to crush the opposition instead "pronounced" against the emperor, issuing the Plan of Casa Mata on 1 February 1823. The plan, which insisted on the election of a new constituent congress, did not contemplate fundamental change. Indeed, it did not even seek the emperor's removal. But the plan proved revolutionary because it included a provision granting authority to the Provincial Deputation of Veracruz. That offered the provinces an opportunity for home rule, something they pursued immediately. When Iturbide abdicated on 19 March 1823 rather than provoke a civil war, the provinces insisted upon the election of a new congress and ultimately established a federal republic in 1824.

See alsoIturbide, Agustín de; Mexico, Wars and Revolutions: War of Independence.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nettie Lee Benson, "The Plan of Casa Mata," in Hispanic American Historical Review 25 (February 1945): 45-56.

William Spence Robertson, Iturbide of Mexico (1952), esp. pp. 221-260.

Timothy E. Anna, The Mexican Empire of Iturbide (1990), esp. pp. 189-216.

Jaime E. Rodríguez O., "The Struggle for the Nation: The First Centralist-Federalist Conflict in Mexico," in The Americas 49 (July 1992): 1-22.

Additional Bibliography

Arenal Fenochio, Jaime del. Agustín de Iturbide. México: Editorial Planeta Mexicana, 2004.

Vaile, Rafael Heliodoro. Iturbide, varón de Dios. Tegucigalpa, Guatemala: Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán, 2005.

Vázquez, Josefina Zoriada. El establecimiento del federalismo en México, 1821–1827. México, DF: Colegio de México, 2003.

                                   Jaime E. RodrÍguez O.