Early life
Mariano Arista was born on 26 July 1802 and in 1813 enlisted as a cadet in the regiment of provincials of Puebla. He belonged to the Veracruz Lancers, and to the Mexico Dragoons. The Mexican War of Independence had already broken out when Arista joined the military and he initially fought as a Royalist, distinguishing himself so well that in 1818 he was made an officer for the Mexican Dragoons. He was promoted to ensign in September 1820 and to lieutenant in May 1821. That same year he decided to join Agustin de Iturbide's Plan of Iguala and on 11 June 1821 presented himself before the Trigarantine Army, with a bugle, five officers and twenty dragoons of the Mexico Regiment, and fifty troops which he gathered from miscellaneous corps. He was assigned with all of them to the Libertad Regiment. He was present at the siege of Puebla by the insurgents in July, 1821. He fulfilled his orders of advancing with several dragoons up to the sentry-box of Cholula which had been repulsing all attempted attacks, and entered with his small forces close to the fortified point of San Javier. Under the command of Brigadier Pedro Zarazoa, he joined in various expeditions and offered his services during the final siege of Mexico City, forming a part of the first division. Due to his excellent service, ten days after the capture of the capital, he was granted the rank of captain, and in December, 1821 was further promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He belonged to the regiment of grenadiers that joined the command of General Echevarri and proclaimed against the First Mexican Empire in February, 1823, and was so passionate about the cause that he halted soldiers who wished to join the Emperor, and Arista followed the liberating army until it captured the capital.First Mexican Republic
During the transitional government of the Supreme Executive Power, he fought against an insurgency that had risen up against the government. He was present in June, 1824 at a battle near the Hacienda of Coamancingo not far from Apam, and having reached a partisan of Vicente Gomez, he executed him after having come into conflict with various guerilla leaders. For this service, the Executive Power raised him to the rank of effective captain. Five years later he had risen to the rank of effective lieutenant colonel. He took part in the rebellions against the election ofCentralist Republic of Mexico
TheMexican American War
But Arista once again held the post when the United States annexed Texas. As tensions between the United States and Mexico were leading to war, Arista made considerable effort to secure the frontier, and increased the division under his command to six thousand men. He then obeyed an order from President Paredes to step down from his command, retiring to an hacienda which Arista owned close to Monterey. It was there though that he received another order to return to his post in April, 1846 as news arrived that American forces under the command of Zachary Taylor were heading to Matamoros. After Resaca de la Palma, Mexico's government recalled Arista, and he was removed from command. He requested aPresidency
Campaigning for the presidential elections of 1851 began in the latter half of 1850. War Minister Arista, known for playing a guiding role in the Herrera Administration, found himself a front runner alongside men such as ex presidents Manuel Gomez Pedraza, Valentin Gomez Farias, Nicholas Bravo, and Santa Anna. The opposition attacked Arista for having interfered in the election procedure for the Mexico City ayuntamiento, but ultimately the presidential election, decided by the states went in favor of Arista. He obtained thirteen out of nineteen total possible votes. The next closest candidate was ex-Minister of War Juan Almonte, who only received three votes. Arista took office on January 15, 1851, and attracted ridicule by at once passing minor regulations for visitors to theFinancial issues
Mexico's chronic financial issues remained an imposing issue for the Arista administration. Government income stood at 8 million pesos while expenditure stood at 26 million. A goal was set to reduce the expenditure to 10 million pesos. In order to ameliorate the national finances Arista dramatically cut the salaries of public employees, up to seventy five percent in some cases but the cuts were applies unevenly many unnecessary expenditures remained. Finance Minister Payno resigned over differences on reducing the deficit. Four of his successors resigned in about a month until Finance minister Manuel Piña y Cuevas was assigned the post in May, 1851. He proposed a light series of taxes to meet the deficit, but it was met with a barrage of opposition by the states, and congress refrained from pressing the matter. In August, he summoned a council of governors to suggest better remedies. The governors’ response was to attack the administration over its alleged lack of management and presented a new calculation of the national finances which showed no deficit at all. This was based upon a decree of November 1849 which had limited expenditures to half a million pesos a month. The governors offered to increase the state contributions from seven hundred thousand pesos to one million which did not significantly contribute to controlling the deficit. The government required extra power from a hostile congress to act upon the new estimate which, in order to be valid required further budget cuts. The ministry resigned and a new cabinet was formed under Fernando Ramirez as Minister of Relations, Urbano Fonseca as Minister of Justice, Marcos Esparza as Minister of Finance, and General Robles remaining as Minister of War. The government gained some slight concessions from congress, but the legislature was largely idle, and received condemnation from the press. Certain journals floated the idea that the government should dissolve congress only to face arrest. There was friction between the federal government and that of the states on financial matters. While states were struggling from a lack of funds, congress took care to issue a decree imposing an eight percent tax on duties for the payment o fits members and of treasury officials. The states were also growing loose in their observance of the federal bond and its obligations while neglecting to pay their contingents. Minister Ramirez reached an arrangement on payments with foreign and domestic creditors who were complaining of smuggling and tariff infringement. The interior creditors had formed an association which claimed the right to be consulted in all custom house appointments. It was known as the junta de credito publico, having the right to appoint an agent to watch proceedings at custom houses. By a decree of May 19, 1852 an effort was made to carry out the provisions of November 1850 for the consolidation and settlement of the interior debt, but the funds assigned by the government proved insufficient to cover more than two thirds of the interest. Meanwhile, the government's budget cuts had resulted in a surge of crime due to a reduction in patrol services and the corruption of underpaid employees. The northeastern frontier was rife with smuggling due to the high duties the government had imposed. There was restlessness towards the policies of the federal government which had burdened the regions with troops perceived as useless who did nothing to protect the region.Assorted revolts
Revolts against the government, so common during this era in Mexico, had broken out almost immediately after Arista's election, although the government succeeded in suppressing insurrections that has broken out through 1851 in San Luis Potosí, Vera Cruz, Tlaxcala and certain parts of Jalisco In the northeastern provinces under the pretext of protesting the high tariff rates, Carbajal enlisted 500 mercenaries in Texas and crossed the border into Mexico on September 18th where was joined by 200 more troops. They took Camargo and marched on Matamoros whereupon Avalos the local prefect agreed to a reduction on duties and a removal on prohibitions, which only resulted in Mexico being flooded by American goods against which Mexican manufacturing could not compete. The government sent reinforcements against Carbajal, who in spite of the concessions continued to siege Matamoros. The local garrison held their own against him, and news of the government reinforcements finally caused Carbajal to flee on October 30th and seek refuge across the border. In February 1852, Carbajal made another incursion, but anticipated by the government this time was repulsed by which time the government had also restored the old tariffs. Ongoing revolts and rumors of revolutions caused the government to become more cautious and issue a number of arrests, and finally even the press was forbidden to criticize the government, the restriction being issued on September 21, 1852, a decree which was later declared unconstitutional on October 13th by the Supreme Court. By the middle of 1852 Rebolledo had risen in Vera Cruz over financial policy, and his views were considered moderate enough that the Arista government instructed the state authorities to negotiate with him only to be rebuffed. At Mazatlan there was an uprising over dividing the state, and in Michoacan there was an uprising over anti-clerical and other measures passed by governor Melchor Ocampo.Plan of Jalisco
In Jalisco, Governor Portillo had made himself unpopular by introducing an intrusive policy system and giving off the impression that he was merely a tool of the federalist government. He created a scandal when he arrested a hatmaker named Jose Maria Blancarte who was arrested for assaulting a police officer and expelled from the state militia, despite having been elected to the rank of colonel. On July 26th, in response to this but also taking advantage of widespread discontent, Blancarte took possession of the gubernatorial palace at the head of a self-constituted council. The council proclaimed Gregoria Davila as the new governor and called upon him to summon a legislature, to revise the state constitution and introduce reforms with Blancarte retaining the chief military command. Portillo retreated with a few loyal troops to Lagos, where he called upon the federal government for aid, but they only sent unarmed negotiators, and meanwhile the Blancarte movement increased in strength. At this point supporters of Santa Anna, known as the Santanistas reached out to Blancarte and successfully convinced the latter to increase the scope of his revolt. On September 13th, Blancarte proclaimed that Arista ought to be overthrown and that Santa Anna ought to be recalled to take a role in reorganizing the government. Davila, who up until now had been the political head of the movement stepped down rather than participate in a coup, and Santanistas replaced him with one of their own : General Yanez. A week later a modified form of the plan was placed under the head of Jose L. Uraga one of the military's generals, who was called upon to replace congress with an assembly made up of two representatives from each state tasked with electing a president, revising the constitution on a federal basis, reforming the financial and electoral systems, reorganizing the army, and reforming frontier defenses against Indian raids. Upon hearing that Uraga had been chosen as leader, the government sought to transfer him away from Guadalajara, but Uraga resigned and agreed to join the revolutionists. In late 1852, another wave of cabinet resignations led to the assumption of Mariano Yanez as minister of relations. J.M. Aguirre as minister of justice, Guillermo Prieto as Minister of Treasury, and ex-president Pedro Maria Anaya as Minister of War. As the Blancarte Revolt grew in strength, an extra session of congress was now called to consider a fresh appeal for aid, in the shape of a loan of three million pesos, additional taxes and special powers for the executive. A small advanced was secured to sustain an army against the insurrection, and congress was uneasy as only half of the governors now signaled even partial loyalty to the federal government. On December 16th, 1852 Minister Prieto made a passionate appeal before the lower house. The federal government had now lost the adherence of most of the nation. In the northeast Carbajal was once more undertaking yet another invasion and in Sonora the French adventurer Count Raousset de Boulbon was launching his own invasion. In December, the states of Tampico and Vera Cruz containing strategic ports, pronounced for the Plan of Jalisco. After government forces were repulsed at Guadalajara on December 15th, Arista addressed the chambers once they met for the new year and resigned on January 5th That midnight, Juan B. Ceballos was called to the National Palace and let known that the executive now passed on to him. Former President Arista left the Palace at half past thirty in the morning, leaving his official resignation with the Minister of Relations Arroyo to be handed over to congress. He carriage was escorted by fifty dragoons belonging to the fifth brigade, and he headed towards the Hacienda of Nanacampilpa, one of his properties. He remarked that “This office f the presidencyand its responsibilities are but a grave burden and a useless title, if they are not accompanies by the power and respect due to them.”Later life
When Santa Anna came back to power, Arista was expelled from the country. In poor health, he visited many cities in Europe before finally settling in Seville where his condition only became worse. He wished to return to Mexico, and finally got on board a ship to Lisbon, but as his health deteriorated he sought to go to Paris for medical help. He died on board the steamer Tagus on August 7, 1855, at half past ten in the evening. He was buried in the cemetery of San Juan in Lisbon, and his burial was accompanied by members of the Lisbon diplomatic corp including those of England, the United States, and Mexico. When President Ignacio Comonfort came to power, gave honors to Arista, and decreed that his ashes be brought to Mexico to be buried with other presidents.See also
*References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arista, Mariano 1802 births 1855 deaths Presidents of Mexico Mexican generals Mexican military personnel of the Mexican–American War People of Mexican side in the Texas Revolution People who were court-martialed People from San Luis Potosí City 1851 in Mexico 1852 in Mexico 1853 in Mexico 19th-century Mexican people People who died at sea 19th-century Mexican military personnel