Rejón, Manuel Crescencio (1799–1849)

Manuel Crescencio Rejón (b. 1799; d. 1849), Mexican politician and cabinet minister, creator of the writ of amparo (protection). Rejón was born into a poor family in Bolonchenticul, Yucatán, and educated in Mérida. At an early age he entered politics and agitated for independence. Elected to the national legislature in 1822, Rejón spoke against Iturbide and for liberalism, federalism, and republicanism. Iturbide dissolved Congress and jailed Rejón in 1822. After the fall of Iturbide, Rejón served in the Constituent Congress and was one of the authors of the Constitution of 1824. Repeatedly elected to represent Yucatán in Congress from 1827 to 1834, he attempted to organize popular resistance to Bustamante's overthrow of Guerrero, and was jailed again.

Rejón returned to Yucatán in 1840 and wrote a constitution that included guarantees of individual rights and a writ of amparo to protect them. Soon afterward he returned to Mexico City, where he was first arrested and then named to a diplomatic post in Caracas. Rejón served as minister of domestic and foreign relations in 1844 and 1846 before he was exiled and fled to New Orleans. Upon returning to Mexico, he attempted to organize resistance to the United States annexation of Texas and opposed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Rejón served his final term in Congress in 1848 and died the following year.

See alsoAmparo, Writ of; Mexico: 1810–1910; Yucatán.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carlos A. Echánove Trujillo, La vida pasional e inquieta de D. Crescencio Rejón (1941); Diccionario Porrúa de historia, biografía y geografía de México, 5th ed. (1986).

Additional Bibliography

Lerín Valenzuela, Jorge. Antologia de Manuel Crecencio Rejón: Pionero del juicio de amparo Mexicano, en su esencia, 2nd edition. Puebla: O.G.S. Editores, S.A.de C.V., 2000.

Moreno, Daniel A. Manuel Crescencio Rejón, pensamiento politico. Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública, Cultura, 1986.

                                        D. F. Stevens