Benito Juárez

Enacted the Reform Laws, resisted French intervention and defended republican government.

Life

Zapotec orphan

Juárez was born into a Zapotec Indian peasant family in Oaxaca. Orphaned in early childhood, he studied and trained in law with the support of the church, becoming one of the few major figures of Indigenous origin in modern Mexican history. After independence Mexico was long politically unstable, and the church and the army held vast privileges and landholdings.

Reform and civil war

He pushed through the "Reform Laws," confiscating church lands and property and introducing the separation of church and state and civil marriage registration, which angered conservatives and sparked civil war. In 1861 he was inaugurated as president and, facing financial straits, suspended payments on the foreign debt; France seized the pretext to send troops in alliance with Spain and Britain, and then on its own set up Maximilian as emperor. Juárez led the republicans north and kept up the resistance.

Restoring the Republic

In 1867, after the French withdrew, republican government troops took Querétaro and executed Maximilian, and Juárez restored republican government. He was hailed as "the Lincoln of the Americas" and the founder of the modern Mexican state; but he also amended the constitution several times to extend his term in order to consolidate power, and is criticized for setting a precedent for later Mexican presidents to manipulate the constitution to stay in office.

Legacy

Juárez was the first president of Mexico of Indigenous origin. He carried out reforms separating church and state, led the people in resisting foreign intervention and restoring the Republic, and is revered as the founder of the modern Mexican state. His principle that "respect for the rights of others is peace" is still widely quoted in Mexico. But his repeated bids for reelection and expansion of executive power have also been criticized as setting a precedent for strongman politics.

Major works & achievements

• Enacted the "Reform Laws" and separated church and state
• Led resistance to French intervention
• Restored the Republic in 1867
• Promoted secular education

Did you know? Every March Mexico observes a national holiday commemorating his birthday (March 21).

Key dates

• 1858Becomes President of Mexico
• 1859Issued the Reform Laws, confiscating church estates
• 1861Suspends foreign debt payments, prompting foreign intervention
• 1862Resists the French at the Battle of Puebla
• 1864Maximilian proclaimed emperor
• 1867Siege of Querétaro; republic restored
• 1872Died in Mexico City