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Central America · Independence and the federations

Centralist Mexico

1836–1846

The Centralist Republic (República Centralista), governed under the constitutional documents known as the Siete Leyes ("Seven Laws," 1836) and later the Bases Orgánicas (1843), replaced the federal system of 1824 when conservatives — led politically by Antonio López de Santa Anna — abolished the sovereign states and reorganized them as centrally controlled "departments."

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Existed
1836–1846
Shown on the map
1836–1847
Peak area
2.2M km²
Region
Central America

Overview

The Centralist Republic (República Centralista), governed under the constitutional documents known as the Siete Leyes ("Seven Laws," 1836) and later the Bases Orgánicas (1843), replaced the federal system of 1824 when conservatives — led politically by Antonio López de Santa Anna — abolished the sovereign states and reorganized them as centrally controlled "departments." This assault on regional autonomy provoked separatist revolts across the periphery, most consequentially in Texas, whose 1836 revolution succeeded after Santa Anna's defeat and capture at San Jacinto, and also in Yucatán, the short-lived Republic of the Rio Grande, and elsewhere.

Decline and legacy

The centralist era was marked by chronic political instability, coups, financial crisis, and foreign conflict, including the 1838–1839 "Pastry War" with France. Its greatest catastrophe was the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), during which the federal system was restored (1846). The war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (2 February 1848), by which Mexico ceded roughly half of its national territory — including Alta California and New Mexico — to the United States. The centralist experiment is generally judged a failure that fatally weakened Mexico and cost it its vast northern lands.

Common questions

What was Centralist Mexico?
The Centralist Republic (República Centralista), governed under the constitutional documents known as the Siete Leyes ("Seven Laws," 1836) and later the Bases Orgánicas (1843), replaced the federal system of 1824 when conservatives — led politically by Antonio López de Santa Anna — abolished the sovereign states and reorganized them as centrally controlled "departments."
When did Centralist Mexico exist?
Centralist Mexico existed 1836–1846. On this map it is drawn 1836–1847.
How large was Centralist Mexico?
At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Centralist Mexico covered about 2.2 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
How did Centralist Mexico end?
The centralist era was marked by chronic political instability, coups, financial crisis, and foreign conflict, including the 1838–1839 "Pastry War" with France. Its greatest catastrophe was the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), during which the federal system was restored (1846).

Sources

This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity and for the key figures and events as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, EBSCO Research Starters and academic sources. The article this entry is anchored on:

This entry was last updated .

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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