Mexico, The Porfinato's Oppoisiton And Revolution

Mexico, The Porfiriato’s Opposition & Revolution I.

The Growth of Opposition a. Success brings Dependence i. As the economy becomes increasingly centered in the north any economic hiccups effected the elite strongly ii. Dramatic disruption in trade comes with the depression in the US iii. Many entrepreneurs in the north get taken over by the US after a series of economic blows iv. Northern part of mexico – members of the elite are aliented from cientifico policy and they felt that their gov’t should do something about it v. Anti-Americanism grows in the north particularly among the elite 1. post 1890 there is frustration with the connection with exports and growing competition with the US 2. they had been growing significantly mainly from the conquest of Indian lands that were sold to wealthy people vi. Political side 1. with foreigners interfering the natural assumption is that you want the Government to intervene to help you a. can’t get change because they are outside the political process i. cientificos set policy and see foreign investment as a good thing 2. Elites decide that since they are a republic they should be able to vote someone new in a. But profirio has the elections rigged b. They call for reform that would lead to fair elections – as dictated by the constitution of 1857 3. Francisco Madero is the prominent spokesperson for fair elections a. Not the only one 4. General Reis in Mexico City wants a change a. Has support of the army b. Wants a shot at being president c. Other generals too d. Tired of waiting for Porfirio to die 5. concerns over what will happen when Porfirio dies a. will there be instability b. want a graceful transition from Porfirio to a Profirian 6. b. Elite Dissatisfaction c. Growth of Middle Class Alienation

II.

i. Have been educated and know the difference between the democracy that the constitution set up and the oligarchy that is currently in place ii. Want free elections as well iii. Due to the political limitations the middle class had little or no social/political mobility 1. only the upper fraction of the middle class that had connections (or who were previously upper class people who fell down to middle class) had a chance to move up into the elite (which was where one needed to be to have any say in politics iv. in the lower portion of the middle class you find educated people who may have been the lower end of the bureaucracy before, and knew about and believed that if one worked hard he should be able to move up 1. this isn’t happening v. the middle class isn’t the biggest group, but they are bigger than the elite, and they are often respected and are leaders intellectually vi. Ricardo Flores 1. journalist and educator 2. one of the most influential revolutionaries 3. exemplary of the frustrated middle class person, who decided to radicalize and act 4. key analysts in the Mexican revolution, and founder of the Mexican Liberal party 5. The Plight of the Masses a. Porfinarian Land Policies and Impact i. Peons – person who lives on a great estate and is bound to it by debt 1. might be 2nd or 3rd generation by this point on the same hacienda 2. Hacienda – great land holding/estate 3. Hacendado – owner of Hacienda 4. live on a debt cycle – they have to spend their earnings at the hacienda store 5. done because the hacendado needs workers ii. Rural Proletariat – wage earner 1. 2nd choice by hacendado’s for labor (cost more) 2. rural wage workers 3. group is growing because Porfirio institutes land policies to make the land productive a. consolidation of land to more efficiently produce exports iii. Land policies 1. Land Survey Law of 1893 (?)

2. Land Survey Law of 1894 3. Indian village lands were broken up and given to the families a. when a family could not keep it up they were forced to sell it b. got a lot of Indian lands bought up by the elite 4. Encroachment a. Hacendado’s would straight up encroach and take land b. When they took their deed to the judge he was connected to the hacendado and they were ignored 5. Porfirio began later selling off a lot of public land in the north to make it more productive a. He cared about mexico not about the little guy 6. Steady concentration of land in the hands of the few iv. Urban Proletariat 1. urban workers 2. made up of city dwellers and those from the rural prol that decided to move to the cities to make a better life v. Mining Proletariat 1. final area where prols can go vi. EVERYONE IS UNHAPPY vii. Some of these people were pulled into a pseudo war with the Indians in the north – they assumed they would get some land but didn’t – so these are experienced Indian fighters who are armed and some become bandits 1. Francisco “Pancho” Villa - example of bandit and one of the Indian fighters 2. wants land that he never owned viii. Example of a encroachment riser upper 1. Emiliano Zapata 2. wants land back the was taken ix. Urban and Mining prols are much more important and have an advantage because they are all concentrated in one place 1. even thought they are not the majority of prols 2. Strikes before the revolution 3. more radical than rural 4. anarchists believe that the only way to go is to get rid of the elite class all together and start something new and divide the land equally 5. movement that will lead the whole spectrum to shift left x. In the lower levels of society there is strong movement for reform xi. Last ten years get extremely bad b. Impact of Foreign Dependence i. Dependency on US and the general world economy was greater and greater

ii. iii. iv. v.

Early 1900’s is very shitty economically worldwide Impact is greater among the lower classes Most of the big money is in exports, principally to the US Less and less food for Mexicans 1. less subsistence farming 2. more people 3. more exports vi. Urban Prols know what’s going on and are concentrated and angry vii. Larger and larger group of people with no fixed income viii. When the whole economy slows down due to outside dependence mass numbers of prols are left unemployed, even local economies fail because the local people can’t buy stuff because they’re broke ix. Middle Class also affected 1. while the contraction of land (prol problems) is going on the middle class is being affected by mass inflation and the money they make is worth less than before, they can’t move up because of the problems already in place. 2. government to compensate for inflation is raising taxes c. Distinctions North and South