Anna, Timothy. "The Independence of Mexico and Central America", In The Cambridge History of Latin America, Vol. 3, From Independence to c.1870, edited by Leslie Bethell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

Anna, Timothy. "The Independence of Mexico and Central America", In The Cambridge History of Latin America, Vol. 3, From Independence to c.1870, edited by Leslie Bethell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

• Modern-day Mexico was part of the colonial territory of Nueva Espana, which stretched from Oaxaca and Yucatan to the Sabine River in the east and, theoretically, north across the Rockies and the Great Plains. Approximately 6 million people lived in Nueva Espana, accounting for one-third of the total population of the Spanish Americas (51).
• Nueva Espana was the wealthiest Spanish colony, with the majority of commerce passing through the port of Veracruz. Agriculture employed around 80% of the population, although it was often inefficient compared to mining and small-scale manufacturing (51). Approximately 10% of all revenues were collected as taxes by either the colonial government or the Church, and half of those tax revenues were shipped back to Spain (53).
• The colonial government imposed a number of economic restrictions on Nueva Espana, including prohibiting Nueva Espanol merchants from trading at foreign ports, royal monopolies on gunpowder, tobacco, mercury, and paper, and heavy tariffs (54).
• Nueva Espanol society was divided into three racial groups: Whites, Mestizos, and Amerindians. These groups had different legal rights under the colonial regime. Approximately 60% of the total population were Amerindian, 22% Mestizo, and 18% White (54).
• Whites were in turn divided into Criollos, of whom there were approximately 1 million, and Peninsulares -- also called Gachupines in Mexico -- who numbered only 15,000. The tiny Gachupin minority dominated the higher levels of the military, the Church, and the colonial government, as well as most major positions in industry and commerce (54-55).
• The majority of positions in the bureaucracy, the military and Church hierarchy, as well as most commercial positions, were occupied by Criollos. These positions were rarely in the upper levels of any field, however, generating resentment among the Criollo population (55).
• Many Criollos in Nueva Espana developed a distinct identity as Mexicans during the late 18th Century, often influenced by the writings of Francisco Javier Clavijero, an exiled Jesuit priest (56). Rediscovery of the history of the Aztec Empire and the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe both produced a sense of pride and confidence in Mexico, establishing an identity separate to that of Spain (57).
• Amerindians and Mestizos were prohibited from holding government or church offices, were restricted from certain professions by guild laws, and faced widespread discrimination. Amerindians and those living in Amerindian areas were subject to double normal tribute payments and were governed by separate legal codes (56).
• Epidemics were frequent in colonial Nueva Espana, occurring once or twice every 30 years, and sometimes killing as many of half of all poor urbanites. These plagues disrupted agriculture and led to skyrocketing grain prices, generating popular unrest, unemployment, and mass migration to cities. The civil war beginning in 1810 occurred during one of these inflationary crises (56).
• Spanish government in Nueva Espana collapsed with the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1808. News that Carlos IV had forced to abdicate in favor of Fernando VII reached Mexico City on 9 June; news that Fernando VII had been replaced by Napoleon Bonaparte's brother Joseph on 16 July. Two Juntas, one in Oviedo and one in Sevilla, both claimed to be the legitimate Spanish government and asked for Nueva Espana's support (58).
• The audiencia in Mexico City, controlled by Peninsulares who supported monarchal absolutism, argued that both Juntas were illegitimate and that the viceroy, Jose de Iturrigaray, should simply keep all officials in their current positions (58).  
• On 15 July 1808, the city council of Mexico City, primarily composed of Criollos, called on Viceroy de Iturrigaray to assume direct control of the Nueva Espanol government, with the expectation that he should call a representative assembly of Nueva Espanol cities afterward to assist in governance (58).
• Viceroy de Iturrigaray supported this idea and called on the major chartered guilds in Mexico City to help him plan the governance of the colony. Fearing that this would lead to independence, the Peninsular minority sought to remove the Viceroy (59). On 16 September, Gabriel de Yermo, a Peninsular farmer and merchant, led a group of around 300 Peninsular conspirators into the palace and arrested Viceroy de Iturrigaray; they then arrested all the major Criollo councilmen who had advocated for home rule (60).
• Viceroy Francisco Javier Venegas gave medals and honors to Gabriel de Yermo upon his arrival in Mexico City in 1810, creating a lasting hostility towards Mr. Venegas from the Criollo supporters of Viceroy de Iturrigaray (69).
• The Nueva Espanol audiencia voted to remove Viceroy de Iturrigaray from power and replaced him with Pedro de Garibay, an 80-year-old former field marshal, who they believed could be easily controlled (60).
• One of the core tensions between the Criollo and Peninsular positions during this crisis was whether Nueva Espana was a colony or a constituent part of Spain, like Aragon. The latter had the right to form provisional governments in times of crisis. But recognizing this right would bring into question the unequal treatment of Nueva Espanol by the Spanish crown, threatening the advantageous position of the Peninsulares in government and commerce (59-60). 
• The absolutist faction remained in power for two years after the initial crisis, under Archbishop Fransisco Javier Lizana y Beaumont from July 1809 to May 1810, under direct rule by the audiencia from May to September, and under Francisco Javier Venegas thereafter. These governments refused to recognize any non-monarchical Spanish government, including the Junta Central (60).
• Viceroy Venegas had previously been the Governor of Cadiz and had many connections with the Peninsular merchants that dominated trade with Nueva Espana. This also afforded him good relations with the Cortes, which settled in Cadiz after 1810. He was generally supported by the Criollo elite because of his stellar military record, good leadership, and affable manner (68-69).
• In 1809 and 1810, a group of Criollo conspirators in Queretaro planned to overthrow the audiencia government in Mexico City. Its leaders were Ignacio Allende, a wealthy cavalry officer; Juan de Aldama, a militia officer; Mariano Abasola, a militia officer; Miguel Dominguez, the corregidor -- royal administrator -- of Queretaro; and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the parish priest of Dolores (61).
• Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who would become the leader of the conspiracy, had been deeply influenced by Enlightenment philosophy and dedicated much of his parish work to organizing and improving the living standards of Amerindians and Mestizos in his parish. His support for the plot gave the Criollo conspiracy a base of support among Mestizos and Amerindians (61).
• The conspiracy in Queretaro and Guanajuato was driven by the special social situation in that area, known as the Bajio. Development of mining and agriculture in the region had made it much wealthier than most of Nueva Espana, and migration to work in mines and commercial farms meant that over half of all Amerindians and Mestizos lived outside of traditional communities, much higher than in the rest of Nueva Espana. The wealth of the region just made it more resentful of the restrictions on further growth imposed by the colonial government and its high levels of labor mobility meant that this economic resentment was more widespread among the population (62).
• The uprising was originally planned for October 1810, but colonial agents caught wind of the conspiracy and arrested Miguel Dominguez in September, prompting Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla to start the revolt early. On 16 September, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called on Amerindians and Mestizos at Sunday markets to rise up against the government, initiating a riot (62).
• Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called on the people to revolt in the name of the Catholic Church, which he argued was persecuted by the colonial government, against the domination of the Peninsulares, and for the restoration of Fernando VII. He later called for the abolition of slavery, the return of land to Amerindian communities, and independence from Spain (62).
• The Amerindian and Mestizo population of Guanajuato seized San Miguel de Allende on 16 September, then went on to captured Celaya on the 18th, and took control of Guanajuato itself on the 28th. The rebels were mainly unarmed and looted any property they came across, often killing its Criollo or Peninsular owners. By October, the rebel army was some 60,000 men and it took Morelia on 17 October (63).
• The massacre of Whites at Guanajuato on 28 September condemned the revolt in the eyes of most Criollos, who viewed it as threatening their interests as much as Peninsular interests. The Criollo-dominated city council of Mexico City promised their full support to the government in crushing the rebellion, and the Church condemned the rebels and those who supported them (63).
• Viceroy Venegas mustered an army of 22,000 militiamen and 10,000 regular soldiers and instructed Brigadier General Felix Maria Calleja, a Peninsular, to end the rebellion. General Calleja abolished tribute demands on Mestizos and Amerindians on 5 October 1810, and began a propaganda campaign to smear the rebels as a threat to all citizens (63-64).
• Viceroy Venegas and General Calleja made some major reforms to the army to more effectively fight the rebellion. appointing Peninsulares and Criollos to positions of command based on merit and introducing conscription in 1811 (70).
• The rebel army of 80,000 approached Mexico City on 28 October. On 30 October, they fought their first skirmish with Spanish troops; the rebels won the battle, but almost 40,000 men deserted the army due to fear of combat. Faced with a diminished force, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and Ignacio Allende decided to bluff the government into surrendering, but when they did not, they retreated towards Queretaro on 2 November (64).
• General Calleja's army advanced after the retreated rebels and engaged them at Aculco on 7 November, delivering a devastating defeat to the rebellion. In the wake of the defeat, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and Ignacio Allende divided their forces, with the former going to Morelia and Guadalajara, and the latter to Guanajuato (64).
• As they retreated, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and Ignacio Allende massacred Peninsular prisoners taken in Morelia, Guadalajara, and Guanajuato. General Calleja matched these with reprisals on the citizens of Guanajuato, as did Jose de la Cruz, another commander, on villages in Queretaro (64).
• There was a final battle on 17 January 1811 between the -- largely untrained and frequently unarmed -- rebel army of 80,000 and General Calleja's forces at a bridge over the Calderon River outside of Guadalajara. The rebels were badly beaten and fled north (64-65).
• Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was removed from command by his own military staff after the defeat at Calderon Bridge. No real command of the army existed anymore and most of central and western Mexico was recaptured by General Calleja over the course of March. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and other leading conspirators were captured in Coahuila in late March, and sent to Chihuahua, where they were tried and executed on 30 July 1811; the heads of the captured conspirators were displayed at the site of a massacre of Whites in Guanajuato (65)
• The Hidalgo Revolt was a tactical failure and set back the revolutionary cause in Mexico by frightening Criollos into siding with Peninsulares against the Amerindian and Mestizo majority (65). 
• Viceroy Venegas organized counterinsurgency efforts beginning in April 1811, after he uncovered a plot by prominent Criollos to kidnap him and demand the release of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (70). Another plot in August 1811 caused Viceroy Venegas to create a system of internal passports and reorganize the police to give them more power, including the right to try and punish prisoners through its own court system, which was only dismantled on orders from Spain in 1813 (71).
• The presence of priests among the conspirators created an issue for the colonial government, because both the Church and the government claimed jurisdiction over the matter. Priests arrested in a conspiracy in August 1811 were exiled to avoid this conflict, but the issue persisted, prompting Viceroy Venegas to revoke clerical immunity for priests guilty of treason, in a decree on 25 June 1812 (71).
• The expanded police and military required additional funds, which Viceroy Venegas raised initially through donations from wealthy Peninsulares and Criollos. By February 1812, the government began using forced loans and a tax on food. General Calleja also instituted his own taxes, including new sales taxes, grain levies, and an income tax on those making more than 300 pesos per year (71).
• The civil war in Nueva Espana from 1810 onwards disrupted trade in the colony, causing food prices to increase and depressing tax revenues. Although new taxes allowed the colonial government to remain solvent, it was heavily indebted. Its measures of taxation and forced debts also deprived industry of credit, resulting in general economic stagnation (71-72).
• The economic depression particularly affected the mining industry, who saw their profits fall sharply from new taxes, the need for extra security on transport routes, the cost of quartering soldiers in mining towns, and very limited mercury supplies. Capital fled the industry, making recovery even more difficult. Overall, silver output halved during the 1810s (72).
• Governance in Nueva Espana was further complicated by a series of liberal reforms made by the Cortes between 1810 and 1814, including the abolition of tribute from Amerindians, equality of all Spanish subjects, ending the Inquisition, restrictions on the power of the Jesuits and other religious orders, freedom of the press, and -- in March 1812; proclaimed in Mexico City in November -- a constitution that constrained monarchial powers and mandated elections for provincial and city governments (73).
• These reforms were supported by the majority of Criollos, who send a number of prominent delegates to Cadiz to represent the Americas in the Cortes. None of their initiatives, including liberalization of trade and equal representation in the Cortes, were supported by the Cortes, because, although liberal, many of its members depended on unequal trade between Cadiz and the Americas to fund the government or for personal livelihood (44).
• The Cortes was disliked by the conservative faction in Nueva Espana, partially because it was so popular among the Criollos. Viceroys Venegas and Calleja both selectively adopted and applied its policies -- this created resentment, though, since many politically active people knew about the law and that it was being ignored. The law creating a free press on non-religious matters, passed in November 1811, was, for example, totally disregarded by the Nueva Espanol government until it was confirmed by the Constitution of 1812 (44).
• The Constitution of 1812 was a special matter, since Viceroy Venegas initially felt that he could not ignore the measure. The Constitution was thus adopted in Nueva Espana. The provision for a free press in Article 371 was, however, suspended on 5 December 1812, demonstrating the supremacy of the viceroys over Nueva Espana (45). 
• Provisions like the voting for city and provincial councils in the Constitution of 1812 were also outright ignored by the viceregal government. Although he initially allowed elections in Mexico City in November 1812, Viceroy Venegas became concerned that pro-independence Criollos would win and annulled the election results the following month (75).
• Viceroy Calleja was more open towards elections and allowed them to occur across all cities and provinces in 1813. He greatly distrusted the elected officials, however, and believed them to be covertly supporting the rebels. He, therefore, ignored their advice and actively intervened in the election process in some areas (75-76).
• The Constitution, as well as all other laws passed by the Cadiz Cortes, were annulled on 4 May 1814 following the restoration of Fernando VII to the throne; this news reached the Americas in August. By 1815, Fernando VII had abolished the elected councils, restored viceregal powers, and reinstituted the full authority of Inquisitiontion and the Jesuits (76-77). Thereafter, Viceroy Calleja arrested a number of elected officials for conspiring with the rebels, including several city councilmen and members of the Cortes (76).
• The remaining rebels continued to fight the colonial government through local insurgencies. Control over the overall rebellion fell to Ignacio Lopez Rayon, a Criollo officer who commanded remaining rebels in the Bajio, and Jose Maria Morelos, a Mestizo priest who started a rebellion in the south. After Ignacio Lopez Rayon lost a battle in Zitacuaro in January 1812, his prestige was destroyed and Jose Maria Morelos was generally recognized as the leader of the rebellion (66).
• Jose Maria Morelos was the more radical of the rebel leaders. He called for complete independence from Spain, land redistribution, and the abolition of slavery, tribute, and the entire racial caste system. He was totally opposed to continued Spanish rule, but advocated the continued primacy of the Catholic Church (66).
• The rebellion in the south, under Jose Maria Morelos, was attacked and defeated by the colonial army in Spring 1812 at Cuautla Amilpas, but managed to escape with the majority of its force and rally to capture Oaxaca in November 1812 and Acapulco in Summer 1813 (66-67).
• The government victory at Cuautla Amilpas was pyrrhic and widened a growing gulf between General Calleja and Viceroy Venegas, over what General Calleja saw as the Viceroy's refusal to fully prosecute the war by introducing measures like conscription of all Peninsulares. General Calleja was forced to resign in May 1812 and returned to Mexico City, where both ultraroyalists and Criollo liberals tried to recruit him to their factions (70). He managed to get appointed Viceroy of Nueva Espana on 4 March 1813 (72).
• Feeling that Jose Maria Morelos was susceptible to critiques of being a military dictator, his advisors urged him to establish a formal government to manage civilian affairs. He called this congress at Chilpancingo on 13 September 1813. After conferring full executive power on Jose Maria Morelos, the Chilpancingo Congress endorsed Mexican independence on 6 November (67).
• The rebels under Jose Maria Morelos faced a number of military setbacks in 1813, beginning with a failed attempt to captures Morelia in December 1813. He then suffered a serious defeat at Puruaran on 5 January 1814, during which one of his top commanders, Mariano Matamoros, was captured and executed. This defeat also forced the Congress to flee from Chilpancingo (67).
• The Chilpancingo Congress began to fall apart as soon as Jose Maria Morelos faced military defeats in Winter 1813. Ignacio Lopez Rayon began to challenge Jose Maria Morelos's authority through the Congress, causing it to bicker and never resolve anything (67).
• Jose Maria Morelos surrendered his executive power to the Congress on 22 January, and was replaced by Ignacio Lopez Rayon, Jose Maria Cos, and Juan Nepomuceno Rosains. This military leadership was not more successful and lost the city of Oaxaca to colonial forces (67).
• In the Summer of 1814, the Congress settled in Apatzingan. In October 1814, under the influence of Ignacio Lopez Rayon, Carlos Maria Bustamante, Andres Quintana Roo, and others, they decided to win the support of liberal elites by writing a constitution (67).
• The Constitution of Apatzingan created a three-person executive committee and prohibited government officials from simultaneously holding military rank, ending fears of a military dictatorship under Jose Maria Morelos (67).
• The promulgation of the Constitution did not have the desired effect on raising elite support for the rebellion, however, as the rebels did not have access to sufficient printing presses to make the document widely distributed (67-68).
• The rebellion in the south became increasingly precarious throughout 1814 and 1815, and in September 1815, the Congress decided to move to the east coast to avoid detection. On 5 November, a detachment of 600 colonial soldiers intercepted the rebels as they marched through government-controlled territory and Jose Maria Morelos was captured as the Congressional deputies fled (68).
• Jose Maria Morelos was transferred to Mexico City, where he was convicted of treason by the government and formally defrocked by the Inquisition. On 22 December 1815, he was taken to San Cristobal Ecatepec and executed by firing squad (68).
• After Jose Maria Morelos's execution by the Calleja government in 1815, the rebellion in Nueva Espana had been almost totally defeated. Only a few prominent leaders survived, like Guadalupe Victoria or Vicente Guerrero, but these had few followers; most rebels were reduced to banditry (81).
• Felix Maria Calleja stepped down as viceroy on 16 September 1816 and returned to Spain, being replaced by Juan Ruiz de Apodaca. Viceroy de Apodaca's main initiative was an amnesty program that granted reprieve to thousands of former rebels who laid down their arms (81).
• The main preoccupation of Viceroy de Apodaca's term prior to 1820 was the threat of a possible invasion by the United States. In 1816, when Juan Ruiz de Apodaca was Captain General of Cuba, there were threats war over the treaty ceding the Floridas to the USA. He was even more concerned about the vulnerability of the Texas border to American aggression (81).
• Felix Maria Calleja had also recognized the threat posed by the United States and had proposed settling Nueva Espanol militiamen as farmers in Texas to combat the threats. This plan was never carried out under either the Calleja or de Apodaca governments (82).
• Between 1816 and 1820, there was only a single major instance of rebellion in Nueva Espana: Martin Javier Mina y Larrea, a Spanish liberal wanted for trying to overthrow the monarchy there, landed 300 men at Soto la Marina; he was captured by colonial soldiers and executed (81).
• The Mexican War of Independence was fought with very little assistance or interference from Spain. The colonial government fought the rebellion using locally-recruited militias, primarily Criollos and Mestizos, only occasionally augmented by small Spanish forces. The policies of Nueva Espana were decided by the Viceroy, who sometimes ignored orders from Madrid. The War of Independence is better imagined as a civil war than a fight against a foreign invader: Spain (69).
• The War of Independence took a heavy toll on Mexico. As many of 600,000 people may have died during the 20 years of war, and per capita income declined by a quarter during that time. Disruptions to credit networks and mercury supplies caused a mining collapse of approximately 75%, matched by a 50% decline in agricultural productivity and a 66% reduction in manufacturing output (93).

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• The Captaincy General of Guatemala, which included Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua -- Costa Rica was administratively part of Nicaragua at this point -- had a population of around 1.25 million, of which over half were Amerindian and the majority of the remainder Mestizo, also called Ladino. Like elsewhere, politics and the economy were dominated by a tiny White elite (77).
• Whereas previously, the entire region had been governed by the Captain General in Guatemala City, from 1786 onwards several intendants were appointed to govern Chiapas, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua on behalf of the Spanish crown. This reorganization helped created distinct regional identities between the regions of Central America (77).
• The elites of Central America never expressed a desire for independence, instead calling for more freedom in trade and local investment. Most were strongly opposed to the revolution in Mexico, and Antonio Gonzalez Mollinedo y Saravia, president of the Guatemalan audiencia from 1801 to 1811, actually died fighting against the Hidalgo Revolt (78).
• The blanket conservative sentiment began to break after the Constitution of 1812 was promulgated. Jose de Bustamante y Guerra, Captain General of Guatemala from 1811 to 1818, attempted to resist implementing the document, specifically ignoring freedom of the press and delaying or nullifying elections for local and provincial assemblies (78).
• Anger at Captain General de Bustamante y Guerra for refusing to implement the liberal measures in the Constitution reinvigorated the liberal movement in Central America. He was forced to concede to some demands and provincial assemblies were established in Leon and Guatemala City, and a university founded in Leon (78).
• Some Central American delegates attended the Cortes in Spain. Some delegates advocated for liberal causes, but many demands were more related to neglected infrastructure in the region (78-79).
• The liberal movement in Central America was largely based around the interests of major Criollo landowners and merchants, especially the Aycinena family. They were opposed by a conservative faction composed of the Peninsulares and small farmers and textile manufacturers, both of whom would suffer from competition with British goods in a free market (79).
• There were 4 minor insurrections during the period of Cortes rule, but they were all minor and rapidly suppressed by the colonial government: riots in San Salvador in November 1811 over demands for a separate bishopric; a revolt in Grenada against the intendant of Leon in December 1811; a conspiracy among Bethlemite monks in Guatemala City in December 1813; and an independence revolt by Manuel Jose Arce in San Salvador in January 1814 (79).
• The Cortes had actually called for Captain-General de Bustamante y Guerra's dismissal in 1814, but this was ignored by the colonial government in Guatemala (79).
• After the restoration of Fernando VII in 1815, Captain-General de Bustamante y Guerra began to take action against all the liberal forces active during the Cortes period. Many members and prominent supporters of the Aycinena family and the membership of the city council of Guatemala City were arrested during this period or removed from power and persecuted by the government (80).
• This was possible because of the backing of the reactionary government in Spain, which assisted the government in Guatemala by arresting Antonio Larrazabal, a Cortes deputy from Guatemala City (80).
• The poliical power of the de Bustamante y Guerra government in Central America was broken in 1818 due to the influence of the Aycinena family; the family had many allies among prominent Spanish merchants and one of its members, Jose de Aycinena, was a member of the Council of the Indies. They contrived to have Jose de Bustamante y Guerra removed and replaced by Carlos Urrutia y Montoya (80).
• Captain General Urrutia y Montoya was not a strong leader and frequently adopted measures that suited his Criollo advisors. These included legalizing trade with Belize under the pretense that this would provide an alternative to smuggling -- in reality, this only increased total trade with no effect on smuggling (80).

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• On 1 January 1820, an expeditionary force of 14,000 soldiers in Cadiz under General Calleja, assigned to reconquer the Rio de la Plata, revolted against their commander and demanded that Fernando VII restore the Constitution. Large numbers of soldiers declared their support for the revolt throughout early 1820 (82).
• Fernando VII agreed to their demands, submitting to a restoration of the 1812 Constitution and the recreation of the Cortes. The new Cortes was generally liberal, but disorganized, including liberals who were part of the Cadiz government, Republicans and other extremist liberals, French collaborators, and Freemasons (83).
• Although Spanish Americans generally supported the 1812 Constitution, they had no affection for the Cortes. The Cortes had never supported any of the free trade measures nor equal treatment of colonial subjects advocated by American delegates; it remained deeply attached to the economic exploitation of the Americas (85).
• Royal support, albeit coerced, for the 1812 Constitution meant that colonial administrators had to implement its measures fully (83). This included measures for free elections, in which Viceroy de Apodaca and Captain General Urritia y Montoya did not interfere. As a result, the members of the city and provincial councils, and American delegates to the Cortes, were almost entirely liberals who advocated more autonomy from Spain (84).
• Many initiatives of the Cortes were deeply unpopular in the Americas, particularly measures against legal immunities taken in September 1820. Measures to reduce the power and wealth of monastic orders, suppress the Jesuits, outlaw additional property sales to monastic orders, and abolish the legal privileges of soldiers in the Americas and the clergy, were all deeply unpopular, especially among the clergy and military officers (85).
• Many of these measures did end up being adopted after independence by the Mexican government, which abolished the Inquisition, disbanded the Jesuit and Hospitaler orders, seized the property of many other monastic and religious charities, and ended legal privileges for soldiers (85-86).
• Fernando VII exercised his executive powers to the greatest possible extent allowed by the Constitution and ignored the advice of the Cortes whenever legally possible. This included the appointment of Captains General and Viceroys, who were consistently conservative figures (83).
• The new revolt against Spain began on 24 February 1821, when Agustin de Iturbide -- a Criollo military officer who had previously fought the rebels, had been dismissed for abuse of power in 1816, and then reinstated and assigned to fight Vincente Guerrero in the south in 1820 -- and Vincente Guerrero released the Plan of Iguala, which called for Nueva Espana to be established as a separate monarchy, still under Fernando VII or one of his brothers, governed by the 1812 Constitution and having its own Cortes (86-87).
• The demands made by Mr. Guerrero and Mr. de Iturbide were summarized as the 'Three Guarantees': religion, independence, and union. This referred to the continued supremacy of the Catholic Church, an independent Nueva Espanol government, and the recognition of unity between Spaniards and Americans (87).
• The Three Guarantees movement was deeply conservative and designed to appeal to disaffected elites. It promised that any members of the government or military who joined the revolt would keep their position, and proposed that the new Sovereign Junta be composed of current government officials; this included offering the position of chairman to Viceroy de Apocada, though he refused (87).
• Beginning with the defection of both Vicente Guerrero's rebels and Agustin de Iturbide's colonial forces in the south, garrisons throughout Nueva Espana declared their support for the Three Guarantees. By June, the major cities of the Bajio had all defected to the Three Guarantee forces, and by July only Mexico City and Veracruz remained loyal to Viceroy de Apodaca, although even they experienced widespread desertion among their garrisons (88).
• Viceroy de Apodaca responded to the threat posed by the Three Guarantees revolt by suspending several civil rights in the Constitution in an attempt to stop the dissemination of the Plan of Iguala. This only turned more people against him, as it demonstrated the willingness of the colonial government to disregard the Constitution (88).
• On 5 July 1821, a group of Peninsular officers deposed Juan Ruiz de Apodaca and appointed Francisco Novella, an artillery officer, to replace him. Viceroy Novella was no more successful in suppressing the revolt than his predecessor (88).
• The newly appointed Captain General of Nueva Espana, Juan O'Donoju, arrived in Veracruz in July 1821. Seeing the war as already lost, Mr. O'Donoju offered to negotiate with Agustin de Iturbide. They met in Heroica Cordoba, and, on 24 August, signed a treaty recognizing the independence of the Empire of Mexico; Juan O'Donoju had never asked for nor received permission to agree to the terms in the Treaty of Cordoba (88-89).
• Viceroy Novella surrendered the garrison in Mexico City to Juan O'Donoju's command on 13 September. Agustin de Iturbide took the position of President of the Regency of the Mexican Empire on 27 September (89).
• The reestablishment of the 1812 Constitution reinvigorated the liberal movements of the Spanish Americas by allowing a free press and elections for city and provincial councils (83, 89-90).
•  In Yucatan, the city councils of Merida and Campeche and the provincial assembly were firmly liberal. In June 1820, the liberals convinced Captain General Miguel de Castro Araoz to resign in favor of Mariano Carrillo, a liberal and a Freemason (89).
• In January 1821, a new Captain-General was appointed by the Cortes: Juan Maria Echeverri, a conservative who refused to recognize the popular opposition to colonial rule despite the success of the Three Guarantees movement elsewhere in Nueva Espana (89).
• From 1820 onward, the provincial assembly in Yucatan had been ignoring directives from the government in Mexico City and passing its own laws to legalize trade with Jamaica and end the royal monopoly on tobacco (89).
• Yucatan did not join the Three Guarantees revolt occurring elsewhere in Nueva Espana, but when the Treaty of Cordoba was announced in late August 1821, they supported the Mexican Empire. The provincial assembly declared independence from Spain on 15 September, although retaining Juan Maria Echeverri as head of government, and joined the Mexican Empire in November on the condition that the constitutional provisions in the Plan of Iguala be respected (89-90).
• In Central America, tensions over free trade came to the fore again. The more radically liberal faction was led by the Aycinena family and other large merchants, while the more protectionist, but still liberal, faction was led by Jose Cecilio del Valle (90).
• Cohesion in Central America disintegrated under the Cortes. The establishment of the provincial council heightened tensions between the different regions of Central America, and the suppression of the Bethlemite Order by the Spanish Cortes caused outrage in Guatemala, where the order had been founded (90).
• Captain General Urrutia y Montoya retired in March 1821, just before the outbreak of the declaration of the Plan of Iguala in Mexico, and passed control of Central America to Gabino Gainza, who had only recently arrived from Chile (90).
• Although it originally did not prepare a position on the Plan of Iguala, the colonial government in Central America was forced to when Chiapas announced its support in August 1821, thereby joining Mexico. A meeting was called on 15 September to determine the government's response (91).
• Although the protectionist faction led by Jose Cecilio del Valle originally opposed independence, the assembly believed that this position would mean war with Mexico. Under these circumstances, the majority of deputies voted in favor of declaring independence (91).
• The decision to declare independence on the basis of the 1812 Constitution was taken in Guatemala City without any strong input from the other regions of Central America. As a result, the other provinces did their own thing. El Salvador, led by Manuel Jose de Arce and Jose Matias Delgado declared its own independence on 29 September 1821; Nicaragua did the same on 28 September, with Costa Rica echoing this and deposing the Spanish governor on 1 November; and Honduras split between Tegucigalpa, which wanted to remain part of Guatemala, and Comayagua, which wanted to join Mexico (91).
• In Winter 1821, Agustin de Iturbide threatened to invade Central America, forcing a resolution on whether Guatemala would join the Mexican Empire. Gabino Gainza opened the issue to public debate in all city councils (91).
• Backed by the Aycinena family, Archbishop Ramon Casaus of Guatemala, and Bishop Nicolas Garcia Jerez of Nicaragua, most councils decided to join the Mexican Empire. On 29 December, Guatemala City and Quetzaltenango independently announced their union with Mexico, and on 9 January 1822, Captain General Gainza announced the accession of all of Central America into the Mexican Empire (92).
• The decision to join Mexico was not supported, however, by the new government in El Salvador. The Mexican army, which arrived in Central America in June 1822 under Brigadier General Vicente Filisola, invaded and annexed El Salvador in January 1823 (92).
• By late 1822, it became clear that Spain would not recognize Juan O'Donoju signing the Treaty of Cordoba and that no member of the Bourbon dynasty would take the Mexican throne. The army nominated Agustin de Iturbide for the position and he was confirmed by a frightened Congress on 19 May 1822 as Agustin I, Emperor of Mexico (92).
• Emperor Agustin I's style of rule was autocratic and alienated most of the population, even more so after he dismissed Congress in October. A revolt protesting his dismissal of Congress began under the command of Guadalupe Victoria and Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (92).
• By February 1823, the opposition had united under the Plan of Casa Malta, which demanded the restoration of the Congress and greater autonomy for provinces in the Empire (92).
• In March 1823, Agustin I abdicated the throne and went into exile in Italy and Britain. He returned to Mexico in July 1824, where he was imprisoned and executed in Tamaulipas (92).
• The abdication of Agustin de Iturbide, and the retreat of Mexican forces from Guatemala in late March 1823, distanced the Central American provinces from Mexico; only Chiapas declared it wished to remain in the Empire. On 1 July 1823, the remaining provinces declared themselves independent of Mexico under a provisional junta; this would be reorganized into a constitutional republic in 1824 (92-93).
• In 1823, King Louis XVIII of France sent an army into Spain to support King Fernando VII against the Cortes and restore his absolutist powers. The Cortes fled, first to Sevilla and then to Cadiz, taking Fernando VII as a prisoner. In August 1823, the Cortes surrendered Fernando VII to French forces at Cadiz, whereupon he restored the absolutist monarchy (83-84).
• Many conservative parts of Spain welcomed the French force as liberators from the liberal government (83).
• The remainder of Fernando VII's reign, from 1823 to 1833, featured a vicious reactionary terror against liberals. Liberal leaders were imprisoned and often executed throughout the decade (84).
• The chaotic period of Spanish politics from the imposition of the Constitution in 1820 to the restoration of absolutism in 1823 demonstrated to the American colonies the absolute state of Spain. It was clear that no one in Spain had any idea what was going on, that both the Cortes and the monarchy were untrustworthy, and remaining tied to the Spanish Empire would only hold the Americas back (84, 86).
• Mexico and Central America were drained economically during the Wars of Independence, a situation exacerbated by the free trade initiatives undertaken by the new governments. British and American merchants filled the void left by Spanish merchants, outcompeting most Mexican and Central American manufacturers (93).
• The decline of the Mexican and Central American economies and their trade deficit with Britain and America caused budgetary issues for the new countries. In 1824, Mexico negotiated a loan with British banks to secure liquidity until tax revenues could be raised; Central America contracted a similar loan in 1825 (93).