José María Luis Mora Lamadrid (12 October 1794, Chamacuero,
Guanajuato
Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...
– 14 July 1850,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
) was a
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
,
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...
,
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
,
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...
and
liberal ideologist. Considered one of the first supporters of
liberalism
Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...
in Mexico, he fought for the
separation of church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...
. Mora has been deemed "the most significant liberal spokesman for his generation
ndhis thought epitomizes the structure and the predominant orientation of
Mexican liberalism."
Early life
Born in 1794 during Spanish colonial rule of Mexico, Mora came from a prosperous American-born Spanish (''criollo'') family from the
Guanajuato
Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...
. His family lost its wealth during the 1810 revolt of Father
Miguel Hidalgo
Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), more commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican Wa ...
, but Mora gained access to the prestigious ex-
Jesuit
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, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
academy of
Colegio de San Ildefonso in Mexico City, where he studied theology. In 1820 he received his doctorate and ordination to the priesthood. He was a faculty member at the colegio and also served as librarian. He became a deacon in the archbishopric of Mexico, the seat of ecclesiastical power, but did not rise in the hierarchy. Blocked from advance within the Catholic Church, he turned in 1821 to secular political matters, becoming a journalist and following Mexican independence in September 1821, a liberal politician shaping the newly sovereign state. In 1823 Mora advocated for the curricular reform of San Ildefonso to emphasize more modern approaches to learning in Spanish, rather than rote memorization and emphasis on Latin.
Career
After the proclamation of the republic in Mexico in 1824, he was one of the drafters of the
Constitution of the State of Mexico The Political Constitution of the State of México ( es, Constitución Política del Estado de México) the constitution of the State of Mexico. The previous constitutions of 1827, 1861, and 1870 were replaced in 1917.
See also
* List of constit ...
and was a member of the state congress. He criticized the
Mexican Constitution of 1824
The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1824 ( es, Constitución Federal de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos de 1824) was enacted on October 4 of 1824, after the overthrow of the Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide. In the new Fr ...
as incoherent and because it protected Roman Catholicism as the sole religion rather than allowing for
religious freedom
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...
. He opposed the expulsion of Spaniards in Mexico, and used the newspaper he edited, ''El Observador'', funded by the wealthy Fagoaga family to support the post-independence presence of Spaniards in Mexico. As a journalist, he advocated for the
Scottish Rite Masons. He was an opponent of the populist former insurgent leader
Vicente Guerrero
Vicente Ramón Guerrero (; baptized August 10, 1782 – February 14, 1831) was one of the leading revolutionary generals of the Mexican War of Independence. He fought against Spain for independence in the early 19th century, and later served as ...
, who came to power in 1829, and therefore supported the coup of
Anastasio Bustamante
Anastasio Bustamante y Oseguera (; 27 July 1780 – 6 February 1853) was a Mexican physician, general, and politician who served as president of Mexico three times. He participated in the Mexican War of Independence initially as a royalist bef ...
to oust Guerrero from the presidency. However, when Bustamante became a military dictator, Mora opposed him too.
Mora's principal writings date from the 1820s. Mora's main sources of inspiration were initially
John Locke
John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". Considered one of ...
and
Benjamin Constant
Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (; 25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Franco-Swiss political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion.
A committed republican from 1795, he backed t ...
and later
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos. In Benjamin Constant, Mora saw a thinker who in post-revolutionary France sought to guarantee the rights of the individual against the strength of
popular sovereignty, which he opposed because it led to the bloody excesses of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
, favoring instead a Constitutionalist system. Within such a system the most important individual freedoms were protected from both the government and the whims of the masses. Mora initially saw giving political power to Mexican property-holders as a safe guard to personal liberty, but then realized that their vested interests allied them with the Church and the largely conservative Mexican army. Those interest groups were opposed to reform, so that Mora increasingly saw the use force against them as necessary.
The centralizing policies of the Spanish state during the eighteenth-century
Bourbon monarchy
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...
led Mora to take inspiration from Jovellanos. Historian Charles A. Hale contends that Mora's drive to use the strong state to effect reform undermined basic tenets of liberal thought such as individual rights and
laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...
.
Owing to ongoing political unrest Mora became disillusioned with constitutionalism and therefore increasingly focused his sights on breaking the privileged position of the Roman Church and the army. Both for fiscal and ideological reasons, he was in favor of expropriating the property of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, which controlled but did not utilize the land it owned. Mora wanted to continue reducing the privileged position of the Church in the constitution, and he sought religious freedom and secular education as well. When legislation to limit the power of the Church was defeated in 1831, the governor of Zacatecas state held an essay contest with a prize of 2,000 pesos, with contestants to write on the topic of government's right to expropriate church property, a contest Mora won.
Mora supported vice president
Valentín Gómez Farías, who was Antonio López de Santa Anna's running mate. Since Santa Anna had no interest in actually serving as president, Gómez Farías was effectively in power and initiated a reform program. Gómez Farías appointed Mora to reform education, and Mora opened the first secular school in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. However, Conservatives and the military, led by
Antonio López de Santa Anna, opposed the Gómez Farías reform program and forced the vice president to resign in early 1834.
As a result, Mora went in self-exile to live in Paris, but he continued to comment on the political events in his homeland.
In 1844 President
José Joaquín de Herrera appointed him ambassador to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
. In 1846, after returning to power, President Gómez Farías asked Mora to return to Mexico, but Mora was prevented by the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...
. The war shocked Mora, who admired the American political system. Even in 1848, after the war, he was not able to return to Mexico due to health issues, especially tuberculosis. He died on the French national holiday (July 14), 1850.
In exile, Mora began writing what was envisioned to be a four-volume history of Mexico. In it, he articulated particular views on Mexico's past with relevance to the current political situation. He was an opponent of all forms of
demagoguery but saw the 1810 uprising of Father
Miguel Hidalgo
Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), more commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican Wa ...
that sparked the
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...
as a necessary evil.
Works
* ''Memoria que para informar sobre el origen y stado actual de las obras emprendidas para el desagüe de las lagunas del valle de México''. Mexico 1823.
* ''A los habitantes del estado de México su congreso constituyente''. Texcoco 1827.
* ''Catecismo político de la federación mexicana''. Mexico 1831
* ''Disertación sobre la naturaleza y aplicación de las rentas y bienes eclesiásticas, y sobre la autoridad a que se hallan sujetos en cuanto a su creación, aumento, sustencia o supresión''. Mexico 1833.
* ''Méjico y sus revoluciones''. 3 vols. Paris 1836.
* ''Obras sueltas'', 2nd edition. Mexico: Porrúa 1963.
Legacy
Compared to Mora's contemporary,
Lucas Alamán, the chief conservative spokesman and prolific writer, Mora produced a slim output of works. He ceased writing in 1837, with the publication of his history of Mexico.
[Hale, ''Mexican Liberalism'', p. 7.] But Mora's ideas would later be followed by a generation of liberal politicians who, during the
Liberal Reform
Liberal Reform is a group of members of the British Liberal Democrats. Membership of the group is open to any Liberal Democrat party member, and is free of charge. It was launched on 13 February 2012, and describes itself as a broadly centrist g ...
following the ouster of conservative Santa Anna, changed the face of Mexico dramatically.
There is a museum in his hometown of Chamacuero (today
Comonfort
Comonfort is a Mexican town and municipality in the state of Guanajuato, declared a Pueblo Mágico since 2018. It was named after Mexican general and President Ignacio Comonfort. The municipality has an area of 485.90 square kilometres (1.60% of ...
,
Guanajuato
Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...
), in what was his home town. His remains were moved to the
Rotunda of Illustrious Persons on June 24 of 1963.
Further reading
* Arnaiz y Freg, Arturo. "El Dr. José María Luis Mora, 1794-1859," ''Memoria de la Academia Mexicana de la Historia'' 25, no 4 (1966) 405–525.
* Chávez Orozco, Luis. ''La gestión diplomática del doctor Mora''. Mexico City: Porrúa 1970.
* Costeloe, Michael. ''La primera república federal de México 1824–1835: Un estudio de los partidos políticos en el México independiente''. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica 1975.
* Costeloe, Michael. "Una curiosidad histórica: las primeras reseñas de las ''Obras Sueltas'' de José María Luis Mora 1839," ''Historia Mexiana'', vol. 37, no. 3 (Jan–Mar 1988), pp. 523–536.
* ''Espejo de discordias: La sociedad mexicana vista por Lorenzo de Zavala, José María Luis Mora, y Lucas Alamán''. Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública 1984.
* Gringoire, Pedro. "El 'Protestantismo' del Dr. Mora," ''Historia Mexicana'' 3 (1953) 328–366.
*
Hale, Charles A. "José María Luis Mora and the Structure of Mexican Liberalism," ''
Hispanic American Historical Review
''The Hispanic American Historical Review'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal of Latin American history, the official publication of the Conference on Latin American History, the professional organization of Latin American historian ...
'' 45 (1965) 196–227.
* Hale, Charles A. ''Mexican Liberalism in the Age of Mora, 1821–1853''. New Haven: Yale University Press 1968.
* Mena, Mario. ''Un clérigo anticlerical: El Doctor Mora''. Mexico 1958.
* Obregón, T. E.. (1919). "Factors in the Historical Evolution of Mexico," ''
The Hispanic American Historical Review'', ''2''(2), 135–172
Factors in the Historical Evolution of Mexico* Padilla Dromundo, Jorge, ''El pensamiento económica del doctor José María Luis Mora''. Mexico City: Instituto Tecnológico Autónoma de México 1986.
* Rojas, Rafael. "Mora en morsMoraParís (1834–1850): Un liberal en el exilio, un diplomático ante la guerra," ''Historia Mexicana'' vol. 62, No. 1 (Jul.-Sep. 2012) pp. 7–57.
* Schroeder, Susan. "Father José María Luis Mora, Liberalism, and the British and Foreign Bible Society in Nineteenth-Century Mexico" ''The Americas'', Vol. 50, No. 3 (Jan., 1994), pp. 377–397.
References
External sources
* [http://www.antorcha.net/biblioteca_virtual/derecho/mora/presentacion.html Presentacion de Chantal Lopez y Omar Cortes a la edicion cibernetica del Catecismo politico de la Federacion Mexicana de Jose Maria Luis Mora, Captura y diseño, Chantal Lopez y Omar Cortes para la Biblioteca Virtual Antorcha]
Antología de José María Luis Mora , PDF , Principios éticos , GobiernoArchivo de José María Luis Mora
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mora, Jose Maria Luis
19th-century Mexican politicians
People from Comonfort
19th-century Mexican Roman Catholic priests
1794 births
1850 deaths
19th-century Mexican historians
Historians of Mexico
Liberalism in Mexico