Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...
ruled
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
as president in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, coined by Mexican historian
Daniel Cosío Villegas
Daniel Cosío Villegas (July 23, 1898 – March 10, 1976) was a Mexican prominent economist, essayist, historian, and diplomat.
Cosío Villegas was born in Mexico City. After studying one year in engineering and two years of philosophy, he receiv ...
. Seizing power in a coup in 1876, Díaz pursued a policy of "order and progress," inviting foreign investment in Mexico and maintaining social and political order, by force if necessary. There were significant economic, technological, social, and cultural changes during this period. As Díaz approached his 80th birthday in 1910, having been continuously elected since 1884, he still had not put in place a plan for his succession. The fraudulent 1910 elections are usually seen as the end of the Porfiriato. Violence broke out, Díaz was forced to resign and go into exile, and Mexico experienced a decade of regional civil war, the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
.
Porfiriato as a historical period
Historians have investigated the era of Díaz's presidency as a cohesive historical period based on political transitions. In particular, this means separating the period of "order and progress" after 1884 from the tumultuous decade of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) and post-Revolution developments, but increasingly the Porfiriato is seen as laying the basis for post-revolutionary Mexico. Under Díaz, Mexico was able to centralize authority, manage political infighting, tamp down banditry, and shift tendencies of economic nationalism to embrace foreign investment. That major economic shift allowed rapid economic and technological change, an openness to cultural innovation, increasing urbanization, and shifts in societal attitudes of elites. The benefits of economic growth were unevenly distributed and social ills increased, including
debt peonage
Debt bondage, also known as debt slavery, bonded labour, or peonage, is the pledge of a person's services as security for the repayment for a debt or other obligation. Where the terms of the repayment are not clearly or reasonably stated, the per ...
of the peasantry and child labor in new industrial enterprises. The defeat of Mexican conservatives in the
War of the Reform
The Reform War, or War of Reform ( es, Guerra de Reforma), also known as the Three Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Tres Años), was a civil war in Mexico lasting from January 11, 1858 to January 11, 1861, fought between liberals and conservativ ...
and the French intervention in Mexico cleared a path for liberals to implement their vision of Mexico.
Díaz, after whom the period is named, was a liberal Mexican army general who had distinguished himself during the War of Reform and the French intervention. He had aspirations to be president of Mexico, which came to fruition when he rebelled against
Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada
Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada y Corral (; 24 April 1823 – 21 April 1889) was Mexican liberal politician and jurist who served as the 27th president of Mexico from 1872 to 1876.
A successor to Benito Juárez, who died in office in July 1872, Le ...
under the
Plan of Tuxtepec
In Mexican history, the Plan of Tuxtepec was a plan drafted by General Porfirio Díaz in 1876 and proclaimed on 10 January 1876 in the Villa de Ojitlán municipality of San Lucas Ojitlán, Tuxtepec district, Oaxaca. It was signed by a group of m ...
. He initially ruled from 1876 until 1880. Díaz's first term is sometimes treated separately, as he consolidated power and sought the U.S. government's recognition of his regime. The Plan of Tuxtepec explicitly called for no reelection of the president, so at the end of Díaz's term, a political ally from the Federal Army, General Manuel González, became president for one term. In 1884, Díaz abandoned the principle of no reelection and returned to the presidency, not relinquishing it until 1911.
Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'etat in February 1 ...
challenged Díaz in 1910, campaigning under the slogan "Effective suffrage, no reelection."
Political order
Starting with Díaz's second term (1884–88), following the interregnum of President González, the regime has been characterized as a dictatorship, with no opponents of Díaz elected to Congress and Díaz staying in office with undemocratic elections. Congress was Díaz's rubber stamp for legislation. Internal stability, sometimes called the Pax Porfiriana, was coupled with the increasing strength of the Mexican state, fueled by increased revenues from an expanding economy. Díaz replaced a number of independent regional leaders with men loyal to himself, and quelled discontent by coopting political "outs" by making them intermediaries with foreign investors, allowing their personal enrichment. To further consolidate state power, Díaz appointed ''jefes políticos'' ("political bosses") answerable to central government, who commanded local forces. The policies of conciliation, cooptation and repression allowed the regime to maintain order for decades. In central Mexico, indigenous communities that had exercised political and economic control over their lands and populations were undermined by the Díaz regime through expropriation of lands and weakening or absence of indigenous leadership. Expropriation of village lands occurred as landed estates ''( haciendas)'', often owned by foreign investors, expanded. Díaz used coercion to repress democratic power, using ''pan o palo'' or "bread or bludgeon" policy. This allowed him to appoint state governors who could do what they wanted to local populations, so long as they did not interfere with Díaz’s operations. This process is known for the state of Morelos before the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
when
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the ins ...
emerged as a leader in Anenecuilco to defend village lands and rights. Since the Díaz regime aimed to reconcile foreign investors and large estate owners, foreign and domestic, indigenous villages suffered politically and economically.
When Díaz came to power in 1876, the northern border of Mexico with the U.S. became a region of tension and conflict, which had to be resolved in order for Díaz's regime to be recognized as the sovereign government of Mexico. Indigenous groups and cattle thieves marauded in the border region. The Apache did not recognize the sovereignty of either the U.S. or Mexico over their territories, but used the international division to their advantage, raiding on one side of the border and seeking sanctuary on the other. Thieves stole cattle and likewise used the border to escape authorities. The U.S. used the border issue as a reason to withhold recognition of Díaz's regime and a low-level international conflict continued. The issue of recognition was finally resolved when Díaz's government granted generous concessions to prominent U.S. promoters of investment in Mexico, who pressured President
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...
to grant recognition in 1878. It was clear to Díaz that order was to be maintained over all other considerations.
The turmoil of over a decade of war (1857–1867) and economic disruption gave rise to banditry. To combat this, during the administration of civilian president
Benito Juárez
Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec, he was the first indigenous pre ...
, a small, efficient rural police force under his control, known as the ''
Rurales
In Mexico, the term ''Rurales'' ( Spanish) is used in respect of two armed government forces. The historic Guardia Rural ('Rural Guard') was a rural mounted police force, founded by President Benito Juárez in 1861 and expanded by President Po ...
'', was a tool to impose order. When Díaz became president, he expanded the size and scope of the ''Rurales''; they were under his command and control in a way the Mexican army was not. The slogan of the Porfiriato, "order and progress," affirmed that without political order, economic development and growth—progress—was impossible. Investors would be unwilling to risk their capital if political conditions were unstable.
The construction of railways gave the government more effective control of many regions of Mexico that had maintained a level of independence due to their distance from the capital. The construction of telegraph lines alongside railroad tracks further facilitated the government's control, so that orders from Mexico City were instantly transmitted to officials elsewhere. The government could respond quickly to regional revolts by loading armed ''Rurales'' and their horses on trains to quell disturbances. By the end of the 19th century, violence had almost completely disappeared.
Philosophy
Díaz himself was a pragmatic politician, but Mexican intellectuals sought to articulate a rationale for their form of liberalism. The advocates were called ''
Científico
The ''Científicos'' ( Spanish: "scientists" or "those scientifically oriented") were a circle of technocratic advisors to President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz.
Steeped in the positivist "scientific politics", they functioned as part of his prog ...
s'', "men of science." They found a basis for such a philosophy by crafting to Mexico French philosopher
Auguste Comte
Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense ...
Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism. Spencer originated the expression " survival of the fi ...
’s
social Darwinism
Social Darwinism refers to various theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economics and politics, and which were largely defined by scholars in We ...
. Positivism sought to ground knowledge on observation and empirically-based knowledge rather than metaphysics or religious belief. In Mexico, liberal intellectuals believed that Mexico’s stability under Díaz was due to his strong government. In Social Darwinism and Positivism intellectuals saw the justification of their rule due to their superiority over a largely rural, largely indigenous and mixed-race (mestizo) Mexican population. Liberals sought to develop Mexico economically and sought to implement progress by an ideology promoting attitudes that were "nationalist, pro-capitalist, and moral tenets of thrift, hard work, entrepreneurialism, proper hygiene, and temperance."
Economy
Mexico at the beginning of the Porfiriato was a predominantly rural nation, with large estate owners controlling agricultural production for the local and regional food market. The largest groups of Mexicans involved in agriculture were small-scale ranchers and subsistence agriculturalists along with landless peasants tilling lands they did not own. Patterns of land ownership were shifting in the nineteenth century. The Liberal Reform had sought to eliminate corporate ownership of land, targeting estates owned by the Roman Catholic Church and indigenous communities, forcing them to be broken up into parcels and sold. Despite liberals’ hopes, this did not result in the creation of a class of yeoman farmers, but it did undermine the integrity of indigenous communities and undermine the economic power of the Church. These landholdings were deemed "vacant," even if others were living on them. Their ownership would be invalidated in the government courts to make room for Díaz’s allies. ''Rurales'' would be utilized to dispose of peasants, and the peasant effort to reclaim native land would be severely weakened given that they were often illiterate and could not hire lawyers.
Construction of railway lines was a major factor in transforming the Mexican economy. Mexico is not endowed with a navigable river system that would have allowed for cheap water transport, and roads were often impassable during the rainy season, so the construction of railway lines overcame a major obstacle for Mexican economic development. The first line to be built was from the Gulf port of Veracruz to Mexico City, begun during the French intervention, but the rapid expansion of lines in central Mexico and northward to the U.S. border lowered transportation costs for passengers and freight, opened new regions, such as the Comarca Lagunera in northern Mexico, to agricultural development. The capital for railways as well as tracks and rolling stock were foreign. Investment in such capital demanding infrastructure is an indicator that foreign investors had confidence in Mexico’s stability. Construction of the railways was an effect of stability, but there was a significant decrease in banditry and other unrest because of the railways. The ''Rurales'' and their horses could be loaded on trains and dispatched to impose order.
Along with the construction of railways, telegraph lines were built next to the tracks. This allowed instant communication between capital and distant cities, increasing the power of the central Mexican state over distant regions. Dispatching ''Rurales'' quickly to troubled areas was a direct effect of more efficient communication.
An industry that expanded significantly during this time was mining. In the colonial era, Mexico had mined and refined silver, minting silver coinage that became the first global currency. This silver industry had declined after independence, as the prevalent refining processes in the early 19th century (the
patio process
The patio process is a process for extracting silver from ore. Smelting, or refining, was necessary because silver does not occur by itself in a natural state like some metals. Instead, it is made up of a larger ore body. Thus, smelting, or refin ...
and later the
pan amalgamation The pan amalgamation process is a method to extract silver from ore, using salt and copper(II) sulfate in addition to mercury. The process was widely used from 1609 through the 19th century; it is no longer used.
The patio process had been used t ...
process) required mercury; during the colonial era, this was imported from Spain, which had been one of the world's leading producers of mercury since Roman times. However, the Spanish refused to sell the reagent to its former colonies and it was not available locally in industrial quantities. Silver mining later revived with new processes not requiring mercury, but during the Porfiriato, mining of industrial minerals became the core of the industry. The world price of silver dropped in 1873, while at the same time economies in developed countries needed industrial minerals for their manufacturing. As with other aspects of the Mexican economy, the growth in the mining sector was predicated on the stability established by the government. The expansion of the railway network meant that ore could be transported cheaply and the telegraph network allowed investors to have efficient communications with the mining sites. Foreign investors, particularly from the U.S., had confidence in risking their capital in mining enterprises in Mexico. Mining enterprises for copper, lead, iron, and coal in Mexico’s north, especially Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato and Coahuila, with Monterrey and Aguascalientes becoming especially prominent.
The development of industrial manufacturing aimed at a domestic market, primarily in textiles. Factories were built in urban areas by Mexican entrepreneurs in Orizaba and Guanajuato, which provided opportunities for workers to earn wages. These factories, many owned by French nationals, supplied domestic textile needs. Furthermore, these factories were steam-powered, capitalizing on modern invention.
Labor
Craft artisan organizations already existed when Díaz came to power in 1876, as mutualist organizations or worker benevolent societies, and conducted strikes. The Gran Círculo de Obreros de México had nearly 30 branches in Mexico, calling for benefits beyond aiding of workers when they were sick, injured, or died. In 1875, the ''Congreso Obrero'' sought broader goals, including education for adult workers, compulsory education for children, and representation of their goals to authorities. The labor movement was not unified, including on whether to take political positions. During the late 1870s and early 1880s, journeyman artisans could no longer successfully aspire to being master artisans owning their own shop. Their discontent led to agitation, but the formation of combative industrial labor organizations in the later nineteenth century can be seen as roots of the modern labor movement in Mexico. After 1900, as Mexico’s economy was expanding dramatically with the infusion of foreign capital and the growth of various industries, organized industrial labor grew as well. Workers resisted mechanization of such industries as textiles, where owners sought higher productivity per worker. Strikes in cotton textile mills took place, with the
Río Blanco strike
The Río Blanco strike of January 7 and 8, 1907, was a workers' riot related to a textile strike that occurred in the town of Río Blanco near Orizaba in the Mexican state of Veracruz.
Background and early stages
Following a two-week railroad ...
being the best known. Railway workers were the best unionized in the late Porfiriatio, with some 50% of them being unionized. There was not a single union, but rather split along particular tasks, such as engineers and firemen. More highly skilled jobs were dominated by U.S. workers, and Mexican laborers were paid less for the same work. Mine workers also organized, with the Cananea Strike in 1906 the most widely known, since the mine was owned by U.S. interests and armed men from Arizona crossed into Mexico to suppress the strike. Although the
Liberal Party of Mexico
The Mexican Liberal Party (PLM; es, Partido Liberal Mexicano) was started in August 1900 when engineer Camilo Arriaga published a manifesto entitled ''Invitacion al Partido Liberal'' (Invitation to the Liberal Party). The invitation was addr ...
(PLM) advocated radical changes in favor of labor, most industrial workers were reformist not revolutionary. As the Díaz regime failed to respond to calls for reform, many workers saw regime change as desirable. With the expansion of the railway network, workers could seek work far away from their homes. In Mexico City, the development of a streetcar system, initially mule-drawn cars, and later electric ones, allowed for mass transportation. Street car companies employed a variety of workers to build the tracks, maintain the cars and mules, and serve as conductors.
Urban women were able to obtain office employment in both government and private enterprises. Although women’s presence in the home rather than working outside the home was a marker of middle class status, in the late nineteenth century respectable women were increasingly were employed outside the home as office workers. During the Liberal Reform in the mid-nineteenth century, women began entering the workforce as public school teachers and in charitable work. The Díaz regime opened opportunities for women as government office workers in the 1890s. The creation of a Mexican government bureaucracy largely staffed by women at the lower levels occurred in similar fashion to other nations as educated women dealt with the expansion of official paperwork and the introduction of new office technology of the typewriter, telephone, and telegraph. Women also engaged in certain types of manual labor, including factory work in paper mills, cotton textiles, chocolate, shoes, and hats.
Social class, gender roles, citizenry
The increase of wealth due to the growth of export agriculture and industrialization largely benefited urban elites and foreigners, with the income and cultural gap with the poor widening. By far the largest sector of the Mexican population was rural and indigenous, with Mexico's cities, especially the capital, having the largest concentration of wealthy elites. Peasant men tilled land that was generally owned by others, while peasant women raised children, cooked and cleaned. In the cities, plebeian women were domestic servants, workers in bakeries, and factories, while plebeian men pursued a whole variety of manual tasks. In central and southern Mexico, the state increasingly undermined the political structure of rule and the loss of community land had a significant impact, but traditional ways persisted, especially in places that produced for the regional rather than the export market.
The liberal project sought to nurture a citizenry that adhered to civic virtues through improved public health, professional military training for men, a rehabilitative penal system, and secular public education. The state sought to replace traditional values based on religion and local loyalties with abstract principles shared by all citizens.
The Porfiriato saw the growth of the urban middle class, with women entering the work force as teachers and office workers. Women's new roles not only added to household income but also contributed to major cultural changes as they shaped the identity of a middle-class household and as some became visible as activists for women’s rights.
Middle class Mexican women began addressing gender inequality before the law, as well as other issues.
Feminism in Mexico
Feminism in Mexico is the philosophy and activity aimed at creating, defining, and protecting political, economic, cultural, and social equality in women's rights and opportunity for Mexican women. Rooted in liberal thought, the term feminism cam ...
emerged during the Liberal Reform and Porfiriato, with adherents critiquing inequality in Mexican society, as happened elsewhere in the hemisphere and Western Europe. A few women formed all-women's groups to discuss issues of inequality, they founded literary journals, and attended international congresses on women's rights. Although there was some political pressure for
women's suffrage in Mexico
The struggle for women's suffrage, women's right to vote in Mexico dates back to the nineteenth century, with the right being achieved in 1953.
Late nineteenth century
The liberal Mexican Constitution of 1857 did not bar women from voting in Mexic ...
, it did not come to fruition until 1953.
Although there was a societal shift in attitudes toward women’s roles, sexual diversity did not change as rapidly. Homosexuality remained clandestine and private in general. In November 1901, however, there was a public scandal about a police raid of a gathering of gay and cross-dressing men in Mexico City, known as the
Dance of the Forty-One
The Dance of the Forty-One or the Ball of the Forty-One (Spanish: ) was a society scandal in early 20th-century Mexico, during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz.
The incident revolved around an illegal police raid carried out on 17 November 1901 ...
. Caricaturist José Guadalupe Posada made a broadside of the incident. Rumors abounded that the son-in-law of Porfirio Díaz was one of those arrested, but released. A list of those arrested was never published and the government neither confirmed nor denied.
Education
Liberals created a secular educational system to counter the religious influence of the Roman Catholic Church. Public schools had been established during the period of Benito Juárez, but expanded during the Porfiriato after the defeat of the French monarchy and their Mexican Catholic allies. Schools did not just teach literacy and numeracy, but also aimed at creating a workforce guided by principles of punctuality, thrift, valuable work habits, and abstinence from alcohol and tobacco use, and gambling. Even so, illiteracy was widespread, with the 1910 census indicating only 33% of men and 27% of women were literate. However, the government's commitment to education under
Justo Sierra
Justo Sierra Méndez (January 26, 1848 – September 13, 1912), was a Mexican prominent liberal writer, historian, journalist, poet and political figure during the Porfiriato, in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth ...
was an important step, particularly in higher education with the establishment of the secular, state-controlled
Universidad Nacional de México
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
. The
Pontifical University of Mexico
A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy O ...
, founded in the early sixteenth century under religious authority, was suppressed in 1865. Teaching school was one of the few honorable professions open to women. Urban, educated women school teachers were in the forefront of feminists in Mexico.
Public health
Public health became an important issue for the Mexican government, which viewed a healthy population as important for economic development. Government investment in public health was seen as part of Mexico's overall project of modernization. In Mexico City, the government invested in large-scale infrastructure project to drain the central lake system, the ''desagüe'' in an attempt to prevent frequent flooding in the capital. Canals in Mexico City still had considerable boat traffic, such as on the Canal de la Viga, but canals were where sewage, trash, and animal carcasses were dumped. Access to potable water often meant drawing it from community fountains and distributed house to house by workmen with wheelbarrows or carrying containers on their backs. Some households were too poor to pay for the service, so a household member would draw and transport the water. Planners viewed inadequate drainage, sewage treatment, and lack of access to clean, potable water as solvable problems using scientific methods. Another issue that modernizers tackled was sanitation in the meatpacking industry. Instilling ideas of proper hygiene were values to be imparted in schools.
Penal reform
Mexico City's main jail was a former convent, Belem Prison, that was repurposed several times before becoming a prison for both women and men. It was filthy, poorly run, and a symbol of the order. Plans were drawn up for the construction of a new facility, a
penitentiary
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...
designed to rehabilitate its prisoners. Designed as a panopticon based on plans by
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...
, Lecumberri penitentiary was opened in 1900. Mexican officials were cognizant of changes in the idea of prison as well as newly focused on collecting crime statistics.
Culture
During the Porfiriato, urban Mexican elites became more cosmopolitan, with their consumer tastes for imported fashion styles and goods being considered an indicator of Mexico's modernity, with France being the embodiment of the sophistication they admired. Since the French had invaded Mexico and occupied it during the 1860s, Mexico's turn toward France was not without controversy in Mexico. France was a major European power and with the fall of
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
in 1870, the way was opened to reestablish normal relations between the countries. With the resumption of diplomatic relations, Mexico enthusiastically embraced French styles. Department stores, such as the
Palacio de Hierro
El Palacio de Hierro (officially ''El Palacio de Hierro S.A. de C.V.''; en, The Iron Palace) is an upscale chain of department stores in Mexico. Its flagship store in Polanco, Mexico City, reopened in 2016 after an extensive renovation of US$300 ...
, were modeled on those in Paris (
Bon Marché
''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in t ...
) and London (
Harrod's
Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...
). French influence on culture in fashion, art, and architecture is evident in the capital and other major Mexican cities, with Mexican elites enthusiastic for French styles known as ''Afrancesados''.
Among the elites, horse racing became popular and purpose-built race tracks were constructed, such as the Hippodrome of Peralvillo, built by the newly-formed Jockey Club. The club hired an architect who attended race events in Europe and the U.S. to design and build the track, which was to be opened on Easter Sunday 1882, a distinctly non-religious way to celebrate the holiday. At the delayed opening, the President of the Republic (1880–82), Manuel González, his cabinet, and the diplomatic corps, along with Mexicans who could afford the entry, watched horses owned by gentlemen compete for purses. The Jockey Club was founded in 1881, modeled on those in Europe. Mexico City's occupied the top floor of the eighteenth-century former residence of the Count of Orizaba known as the House of the Tiles. The club provided a place for elite social gatherings. Among the directors of the Jockey Club were Manuel Romero Rubio and
José Yves Limantour
José Yves Limantour Marquet (; 26 December 1854 – 26 August 1935) was a Mexican financier who served as Secretary of the Finance of Mexico from 1893 until the fall of the Porfirio Díaz regime in 1911. Limantour established the gold standa ...
, Díaz's closest advisors, and President González and Díaz himself as members. The Jockey Club had rooms for smoking, dining rooms, weapons, bowling, poker and baccarat. There were upscale gambling houses that were regulated by the government. One was in the former Palace of the Emperor Iturbide, which in the late nineteenth century was a hotel. Entertainment among men of the urban popular classes included traditional sports of cockfighting and bullfighting.
Bicycles were imported from Paris and Boston to Mexico City in 1869, just after the French Intervention. A French company imported bicycles and set up a rental business, but the sport took off when the technology improved in the 1890s with wheels of equal size and pneumatic tires. Bicycle clubs and organized races made their appearance soon after. Organized sports with rules, equality of competition, bureaucracy and formal record keeping became hallmarks of modernity. Although men dominated the sport, women also participated. For women especially, bicycling challenged traditional behavior, demeanor, and fashions, freeing them from being closely supervised shut-ins. Riding a bicycle required better women's clothing, and many adopted
Bloomers
Bloomers, also called the bloomer, the Turkish dress, the American dress, or simply reform dress, are divided women's garments for the lower body. They were developed in the 19th century as a healthful and comfortable alternative to the heavy, ...
for riding. In 1898, cartoon montage in the satirical publication ''
El Hijo del Ahuizote
''El Hijo del Ahuizote'' (English: ''The Son of Ahuizotl (mythology), Ahuizotl'') was a satirical Mexican newspaper founded in 1885 by Daniel Cabrera Rivera, Manuel Pérez Bibbins, and Juan Sarabia. In July 1902, Ricardo Flores Magón, Ricardo and ...
'' answered the question "why go by bicycle?": for amusement, for pleasure in the streets, and one panel shows a bicycle on its side with a couple embracing, with the caption "for love." Cycling was touted as promoting exercise and good hygiene and was associated with modernity, speed, and modernization through technology.
Religion
The mid-nineteenth century had been riven by conflict between the Catholic Church and the liberal State. The liberals'
Mexican Constitution of 1857
The Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1857 ( es, Constitución Federal de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos de 1857), often called simply the Constitution of 1857, was the liberal constitution promulgated in 1857 by Constituent Con ...
had established separation of church and state, and there were strong anti-clerical articles of the constitution. As a pragmatic politician, Díaz did not want to re-open outright conflict between his regime and the
Catholic Church in Mexico
, native_name_lang =
, image = Catedral_de_México.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt =
, caption = The Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral.
, abbreviation =
, type = ...
and his marriage to
Carmen Romero Rubio
Fabiana Sebastiana Maria Carmen Romero Rubio y Castelló (20 January 1864 – 25 June 1944), second wife of Porfirio Díaz, President of Mexico.
Youth
Carmen Romero Rubio was born on January 20 of 1864 in Tula, Tamaulipas to a wealthy famil ...
, who was a faithful Catholic, helped mend the rift. Díaz never had the anticlerical articles of the constitution repealed, but he did not strictly enforce them, so that the Catholic Church made a political and economic comeback during the Porfiriato. U.S. Protestant missionaries made inroads in Mexico during the Porfiriato, particularly in the north, but did not significantly challenge the power of Catholicism in Mexico. In a number of regions of Mexico, local religious cults and dissident peasant movements arose, which the Catholic Church considered idolatrous. Responding to the potential loss of the faithful in Mexico and elsewhere, Pope
Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...
issued the encyclical ''
Rerum Novarum
''Rerum novarum'' (from its incipit, with the direct translation of the Latin meaning "of revolutionary change"), or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, pass ...
'', calling on the Church to become involved in social problems. In Mexico, some Catholic laymen supported the abolition of debt peonage on landed estates, which kept peasants tied to work there because they were unable to pay off their debts. The Church itself had lost lands during the Liberal Reform in the mid-nineteenth century, so it could voice support for the peasants' plight. The Church's success in the new initiatives can be seen as Zapatistas in Morelos carried out no anticlerical actions during the Mexican Revolution, and many fighters wore the Virgin of Guadalupe on their hats.
Historical memory
During the Díaz regime, the state began to take control over the cultural patrimony of Mexico, expanding the
National Museum of Anthropology
The National Museum of Anthropology ( es, Museo Nacional de Antropología, MNA) is a national museum of Mexico. It is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Mahatma Gandhi Street withi ...
as the central repository of artifacts from Mexico's archeological sites, as well as asserting control over the sites themselves. The Law of Monuments (1897) gave jurisdiction over archeological sites to the federal government. This allowed the expropriation and expulsion of peasants who had been cultivating crops on the archeological sites, most systematically done at
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan (Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is known today as t ...
. Former cavalry officer and archeologist
Leopoldo Batres Leopoldo Batres (1852 in Ciudad de Mexico – 1926) was a pioneer of the archaeology of Mexico. He worked as an anthropologist and archaeologist for the Museo Nacional de Antropología between 1884 and 1888, beginning his excavations at Teotihuacan ...
was Inspector of Archeological Monuments and wielded considerable power. He garnered resources from the Díaz government funds to guard archeological sites in central Mexico and Yucatan, as well as to hire workers to excavate archeological sites of particular importance for creating an image of Mexico's glorious past to foreign scholars and tourists, as well as patriotic fervor in Mexico.
Along the wide, tree-lined boulevard,
Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma (translated as "Promenade of the Reform") is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across the heart of Mexico City. It was designed at the behest of Emperor Maximilian by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig during the era of the Secon ...
, laid out by Emperor Maximilian between the National Palace and
Chapultepec Castle
Chapultepec Castle ( es, Castillo de Chapultepec) is located on top of Chapultepec Hill in Mexico City's Chapultepec park. The name ''Chapultepec'' is the Nahuatl word ''chapoltepēc'' which means "on the hill of the grasshopper". The castle has s ...
, was transformed as a site of historical memory, with statues commemorating figures of Mexican history and important historical events.
1910 Centennial of Independence
The official centennial festivities were concentrated in the month of September, but there were events during the centennial year outside of September. In September the central core of Mexico city was decorated and lit with electric lights many bedecked with flowers. Immediately following the centennial month, there was a book published, detailing the day by day events of the festivities, which included inaugurations of buildings and statues, receptions for dignitaries, military parades, and allegorical and historical processions.
The high points of the celebrations were on 15 September, Diaz's 80th birthday, and 16 September, the centennial of Hidalgo's
Grito de Dolores
A ''grito'' or ''grito mexicano'' (, Spanish for "shout") is a common Mexican interjection, used as an expression.
Characteristics
This interjection is similar to the ''yahoo'' or '' yeehaw'' of the American cowboy during a hoedown, with added ...
, considered the starting point of Mexico's struggle for independence in 1810. On Friday, 15 September, the day was marked by a huge parade representing the arc of Mexican history, focusing on the 1519 conquest of Mexico, the struggle for independence in the early nineteenth century, and the liberal reform of the mid-nineteenth century. There were allegorical floats depicting the insurgent army of independence, independence martyr Father
José María Morelos
José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of ...
, and for the modern era commerce, industry, and banking. At 11 p.m. Diaz stood on the balcony of the National Palace and with the ringing of the bell from Father Hidalgo's church in Dolores, Diaz proclaimed "Viva Mexico." On 16 September, Diaz with an array of dignitaries attending inaugurated, the Monument to Independence at a major intersection (''glorieta'') of
Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma (translated as "Promenade of the Reform") is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across the heart of Mexico City. It was designed at the behest of Emperor Maximilian by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig during the era of the Secon ...
. Some 10,000 Mexican troops and contingents of foreign soldiers marched at the monument as part of the inaugural ceremonies.
Another major September activity included Díaz's inauguration on 18 September of the monument to Benito Juárez at the edge of the
Alameda Central
Alameda Central is a public urban park in downtown Mexico City. Created in 1592, the Alameda Central is the oldest public park in the Americas. It is located in Cuauhtémoc borough, adjacent to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, between Juárez Aven ...
. Although a political rival in life, Diaz helped memorialize Juárez's contributions to Mexico. At the ceremony, the French ambassador returned the ceremonial keys of Mexico City that were given to General Forey in 1863 during the French Intervention. The French invasion had disrupted Juárez's presidency, forcing his government into domestic exile while the French occupied Mexico.
He inaugurated a new insane asylum in Mixcoac on the first of September. On 2 September, the pillar of the baptismal font in Hidalgo's church was brought to the capital with great ceremony and placed in the National Museum, with some 25,000 children viewing the event. Many nations participated in the celebrations, including Japan, whose pavilion Díaz inaugurated. An important issue for the modernizing Mexican state was health and hygiene, and an exhibition was inaugurated on September 2. Díaz's Minister of the Interior,
Ramón Corral
Ramón Corral Verdugo (January 10, 1854 – November 10, 1912) was the Vice President of Mexico under Porfirio Díaz from 1904 until their resignations in May 1911.
Early life
Corral was born Ramón Corral Verdugo on Hacienda Las Mercedes ( ...
ceremonially laid the first stone of a new penitentiary. On Sunday, September 4, there was a parade with allegorical floats, which Díaz and his whole cabinet viewed. On September 6 some 38,000 school children honored the Mexican flag. Diaz inaugurated the new building of the
Young Men's Christian Association
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
(YMCA) in Mexico City, a Protestant voluntary association. A new normal school to train teachers was inaugurated with Diaz and foreign delegates attending. Also occurring during the festivities was the Nation Congress of Pedagogy.
The Spanish monarchy sent a special ambassador to the festivities, who was enthusiastically received. Diaz gave an enormous reception in his honor. On 9 September Díaz laid the first stone on a monument to
Isabel the Catholic
Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as List of Aragonese royal consorts, Queen consort ...
and Díaz also opened an exhibition of colonial-era Spanish art. The Spanish ambassador, the Marquis of Polavieja returned items of historical importance to Mexico, including the uniform of Father Morelos, a portrait, and other relics of independence in a ceremony at the National Palace, with the diplomatic corps in attendance, as well as Mexican army officers. The king of Spain conveyed through his special ambassador the honor of the Order of Charles III on Diaz, the highest distinction for sovereigns and heads of state. Others holding the honor were the Russian czar, and the monarchs of Germany and Austria. A portrait of Spanish monarch Charles III was unveiled in the Salon of Ambassadors in the National Palace.
The
International Congress of Americanists The International Congress of Americanists (ICA) is an international academic conference for research in multidisciplinary studies of the Americas. Established August 25, 1875 in Nancy, France, the scholars' forum has met regularly since its incept ...
met in Mexico City, with Porfirio Díaz elected its honorary president. Prominent Americanists from many countries attended, including
Eduard Seler
Eduard Georg Seler (December 5, 1849 – November 23, 1922) was a prominent German anthropologist, ethnohistorian, linguist, epigrapher, academic and Americanist scholar, who made extensive contributions in these fields towards the study of ...
from Germany and
Franz Boaz
Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...
from the U.S. Mexican Secretary of Education,
Justo Sierra
Justo Sierra Méndez (January 26, 1848 – September 13, 1912), was a Mexican prominent liberal writer, historian, journalist, poet and political figure during the Porfiriato, in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth ...
attended. Diaz and Justo Sierra went with Congress attendees went to the archeological site of San Juan
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan (Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is known today as t ...
.
As part of the historical commemorations of the centennial, on September 8 there was homage paid to the
Niños Héroes
The ''Niños Héroes'' (Boy Heroes, or Heroic Cadets) were six Mexican military cadets who were killed in the defence of Mexico City during the Battle of Chapultepec, one of the last major battles of the Mexican–American War, on 13 September ...
, the cadets who died defending
Chapultepec Castle
Chapultepec Castle ( es, Castillo de Chapultepec) is located on top of Chapultepec Hill in Mexico City's Chapultepec park. The name ''Chapultepec'' is the Nahuatl word ''chapoltepēc'' which means "on the hill of the grasshopper". The castle has s ...
from the invading U.S. forces during 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 1 ...
. But Diaz also laid the first stone to a monument to George Washington in the American Colony in Mexico City. The U.S. delegation hosted a sumptuous banquet for fellow delegates. There was a large number of journalists from the U.S. attending the celebrations, such as ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', the ''
New York Evening Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established i ...
'', ''
Harper's Weekly
''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...
'', ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', as well as some from Toronto and Montreal in Canada, with the U.S. ambassador hosting a reception for these North American newspapermen.
Other statues that were inaugurated were one honoring France's Louis Pasteur and Germany's
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...
. The German government had an honor guard for the monument of German naval officers.
Coup d'état and end of Porfiriato, 1910–11
The centenary celebrations were the swansong of Díaz’s regime. Presidential-challenger
Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González (; 30 October 1873 – 22 February 1913) was a Mexican businessman, revolutionary, writer and statesman, who became the 37th president of Mexico from 1911 until he was deposed in a coup d'etat in February 1 ...
had been jailed during the 1910 presidential elections, but he escaped north across the U.S. border in Texas. While still in Mexico, he issued the
Plan of San Luis Potosí
230px, Francisco I. Madero, future President of Mexico
The Plan of San Luis de Potosí () is a key political document of the Mexican Revolution, written by Mexican presidential candidate Francisco I. Madero, following his escape from jail. He ...
in October 1910, which denounced the election as fraudulent and called for a rebellion against what he considered Díaz’s illegitimate regime. Fighting broke out in the state of Morelos, just south of Mexico City, as well as on the border with the U.S. in Ciudad Juárez. The Mexican Federal Army was incapable of putting down these disparate uprisings. Opposition to Díaz grew, since his regime was not able to restore civil order. Díaz had failed to secure the presidential succession. Political rivals, General
Bernardo Reyes
Bernardo Doroteo Reyes Ogazón (30 August 1850 – 9 February 1913) was a Mexican general and politician, with aspirations to be President of Mexico. He died in a coup d'état against President Francisco I. Madero. Born in a prominent libera ...
, who had a fiefdom in northern Mexico encompassing Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo León, and Minister of Finance and leader of the
Científico
The ''Científicos'' ( Spanish: "scientists" or "those scientifically oriented") were a circle of technocratic advisors to President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz.
Steeped in the positivist "scientific politics", they functioned as part of his prog ...
s,
José Yves Limantour
José Yves Limantour Marquet (; 26 December 1854 – 26 August 1935) was a Mexican financier who served as Secretary of the Finance of Mexico from 1893 until the fall of the Porfirio Díaz regime in 1911. Limantour established the gold standa ...
, were shut of the succession, with Díaz choosing
Ramón Corral
Ramón Corral Verdugo (January 10, 1854 – November 10, 1912) was the Vice President of Mexico under Porfirio Díaz from 1904 until their resignations in May 1911.
Early life
Corral was born Ramón Corral Verdugo on Hacienda Las Mercedes ( ...
as his vice president. Reyes accepted exile and went to Europe, on a mission to study the military in Germany. Although Reyes had been a political rival, according to one historian, exiling him was a serious political miscalculation, since he was loyal and effective and the political opposition was growing, adding to the anti-reelectionists. Limantour was in Europe as well, renegotiating Mexico’s debt, leaving Díaz increasingly isolated politically. Díaz began negotiating with Madero’s uncle Ernesto Madero, promising reforms if peace were restored. He also began informal negotiations with anti-reelectionist rebels in early 1911. Díaz refused to resign, which re-ignited the armed rebellion against him, particularly in Chihuahua led by
Pascual Orozco
Pascual Orozco Vázquez, Jr. (in contemporary documents, sometimes spelled "Oroszco") (28 January 1882 – 30 August 1915) was a Mexican revolutionary leader who rose up to support Francisco I. Madero in late 1910 to depose long-time presi ...
and
Pancho Villa
Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa" ''Collins English Dictionary''. ; ;
. Faced with this situation, Díaz agreed to the
Treaty of Ciudad Juárez
The Treaty of Ciudad Juárez was a peace treaty signed between the President of Mexico, Porfirio Díaz, and the revolutionary Francisco Madero on May 21, 1911. The treaty put an end to the fighting between forces supporting Madero and those of ...
, which largely left the Porfirian state intact. The treaty specified that Diaz resign along with vice president Corral, and created an interim regime under
Francisco León de la Barra
Francisco León de la Barra y Quijano (June 16, 1863 – September 23, 1939) was a Mexican political figure and diplomat who served as 36th President of Mexico from May 25 to November 6, 1911. He was known to conservatives as "The White Presid ...
in advance of new elections. Rebel forces were to demobilize. Díaz and most of his family sailed to France into exile. He died in Paris in 1915. As he left Mexico, he reportedly prophesied that "Madero has released a tiger, let us see if he can control it."Garner, ''Porfirio Díaz'', p. 220.
See also
* ''
El hijo del Ahuizote
''El Hijo del Ahuizote'' (English: ''The Son of Ahuizotl (mythology), Ahuizotl'') was a satirical Mexican newspaper founded in 1885 by Daniel Cabrera Rivera, Manuel Pérez Bibbins, and Juan Sarabia. In July 1902, Ricardo Flores Magón, Ricardo and ...
Río Blanco strike
The Río Blanco strike of January 7 and 8, 1907, was a workers' riot related to a textile strike that occurred in the town of Río Blanco near Orizaba in the Mexican state of Veracruz.
Background and early stages
Following a two-week railroad ...
Plan of Tuxtepec
In Mexican history, the Plan of Tuxtepec was a plan drafted by General Porfirio Díaz in 1876 and proclaimed on 10 January 1876 in the Villa de Ojitlán municipality of San Lucas Ojitlán, Tuxtepec district, Oaxaca. It was signed by a group of m ...
*
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...
*
Científico
The ''Científicos'' ( Spanish: "scientists" or "those scientifically oriented") were a circle of technocratic advisors to President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz.
Steeped in the positivist "scientific politics", they functioned as part of his prog ...
s
*
Economic history of Mexico
Since the colonial era, Mexico's economic history has been characterized by resource extraction, agriculture, and a relatively underdeveloped industrial sector. Economic elites in the colonial period were predominantly Spanish-born, active as ...
*
History of democracy in Mexico
The history of democracy in Mexico dates to the establishment of the federal republic of Mexico in 1824. After a long history under the Spanish Empire (1521–1821), Mexico gained its independence in 1821 and became the First Mexican Empire l ...
References
Further reading
English
* Agostoni, Claudia. ''Monuments of Progress: Modernization and Public Health in Mexico City, 1876-1910''. Calgary: University of Calgary Press/University Press of Colorado 2003.
* Beezley, William H. ''Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press 1987.
* Beezley, William H. "The Porfirian Smart Set Anticipates Thornstein Veblen in Guadalajara" in Wm.Beezley et al., ''Rituals of Rule, Rituals of Resistance''. Wilmington DE: Scholarly Resources 1994.
* Buffington, Robert and William E. French. "The Culture of Modernity" in ''The Oxford History of Mexico'', Michael C. Meyer and Wm. Beezley, eds. 397-432. New York: Oxford University Press 2000.
* Bunker, Steven B. ''Creating Mexican Consumer Culture in the Age of Porfirio Díaz''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2012.
*Chowning, Margaret. "Culture Wars in the Trenches? Public Schools and Catholic Education in Mexico, 1867-1897". ''
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 historia ...
'' 97:4 (Nov. 2017), pp. 613–650.
* Coatsworth, John H. ''Growth Against Development: The Economic Impact of Railroads in Porfirian Mexico''. DeKalb: University of Northern Illinois Press 1981.
* Coatsworth, John H. "Obstacles to Economic Growth in Nineteenth-Century Mexico," ''
American Historical Review
''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal and the official publication of the American Historical Association. It targets readers interested in all periods and facets of history and has often been described as the ...
'' vol. 83, No. 1 (Feb. 1978), pp. 80–100
* Coever, Don M. ''The Porfirian Interregnum: The Presidency of Manuel González of Mexico, 1880-1884''. Forth Worth: Texas Christian University Press 1981.
* Díaz, Maria Elena. "The Satiric Penny Press for Workers in Mexico, 1900-1910: A Case study in the Politicisation of Popular Culture." Journal of Latin American Studies 22, no. 3, (Oct. 1990): 497–526.
* Frank, Patrick. ''Posada's Broadsheets: Mexican Popular Imagery 1890-1910''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1998.
* French, William. "Prostitutes and Guardian Angels: Women, Work, and the Family in Porfirian Mexico". ''
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 historia ...
'' 72, no. 4 (November 1992):529-52.
* Garner, Paul. ''British Lions and Mexican Eagles: Business, Politics, and Empire in the Career of Weetman Pearson in Mexico, 1889-1919''. Stanford: Stanford University Press 2011.
* Garner, Paul. ''Porfirio Diaz''. Harlow: Pearson Education 2001.
* Garza, James A. ''The Imagined Underworld: Sex, Crime, and Vice in Porfirian Mexico City''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press 2007.
* Garza, James A. "Dominance and Submission in Don Porfirio's Belle Epoque: The Case of Luis and Piedad" in ''Masculinity and Sexuality in Modern Mexico'', Victor M. Macias-Gonzalez and Anne Rubenstein, 79-100. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2012.
* Haber, Stephen H. ''Industry and Underdevelopment: The Industrialization of Mexico, 1890-1940''. Stanford: Stanford University Press 1989.
* Hale, Charles A. ''The Transformation of Liberalism in Late Nineteenth-Century Mexico''. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1989.
*Hibino, Barbara."Cervecería Cuauhtémoc: A Case Study of Technological and Industrial Development in Mexico." ''
Mexican Studies
''Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos'' is a bilingual, peer reviewed academic journal covering Mexican studies. Articles in both English and Spanish focus on the history, politics, economy, scientific development, and the literature and arts of ...
'' 8.no. 1 (Winter 1992):23–43.
*Irwin, Robert McKee, Edward J. McCaughan, and Michelle Rocío Nasser, eds. ''The Famous 41: Sexuality and Social Control in Mexico, 1901''. New York: Palgrave MacMillan 2003.
*Johns, Michael. ''The City of Mexico and the Age of Porfirio Diaz''. Austin: University of Texas Press 1997.
* Katz, Friedrich, "The Liberal Republic and the Porfiriato, 1867-1910" in ''Mexico Since Independence'',
* Bazant, Jan: ''Breve historia de México ''México: Eds Coyoacán (2003) .
* Bazant, Mílada. ''Historia de la educación durante el Porfiato''. Mexico City: El Colegio de México 1993.
* Cosío Villegas, Daniel. ''Estados Unidos contra Julio Hernández Jalili Arriba el cultural'' México: Hermes (1956).
* Cosío Villegas, Daniel. ''Historia Moderna de México. El Porfiriato vida social'' México: Hermes (1972).
* Cosío Villegas, Daniel. ''Historia Moderna de México. El Porfiriato Vida política interior 2.ª Parte'' México: Hermes (1972).
* Esquivel, G.:. ''Historia de México''. Oxford: Harla. (1996)
* Gilly, Adolfo: ''La revolución interrumpida'' México: El caballito (1971) .
* González Gómez, Francisco: ''Historia de México 2 del Porfirismo al Neoliberalismo'' México: Quinto sol (1990) .
* Guerra, François-Xavier. ''México: del antiguo régimen a la revolución. Tomo I.'' México: Fondo de Cultura Económica (1991). (obra completa).
* Krauze, Enrique:''Porfirio Díaz Biografía del Poder'' México:Ed Clio (1991) .
* Krauze, Enrique; Zerón Medina, Fausto: ''Porfirio La Ambición'' México:Ed Clio (1993) .
* Krauze, Enrique; Zerón-Medina, Fausto: ''Porfirio El Poder'' México:Ed Clio (1993) .
* Moreno, S.: ''Historia de México''. México:Ediciones Pedagógicas. (1995)
* Monod, Émile: ''L'Exposition Universelle de 1889'' París: E. Dentu (1890).
* Ortiz Gaitán, Julieta. ''Imágenes del deseo: Arte y publicidad en la prensa ilustrada mexicana, 1894-1900''. Hamden CT: Archon Books 1997.
*Pérez-Rayón Elizundia, Nora. "La publicidad en México a fines del siglo XIX: Expresión del progreso económico y la modernidad porfirista, trasmisor de nuevos valores y modelos culturales." ''Sociológica'' 9, no. 1 (Sept-Dec 1994): 195-226.
* Roeder, Ralph: ''Hacia el México moderno: Porfirio Díaz'' México:Fondo de Cultura Económica (1973) (obra completa).
* Torre Villar, Ernesto de la: ''Historia de México II'' México: McGRAW-HILL (1992) .
* Valadés, José C: ''El porfirismo: historia de un régimen'' México: UNAM (1999).
* Valadés, José C: ''Breve historia del porfirismo 1876-1911'' México: Eds mexicanos unidos (1971).
* Zavala, Silvio: ''Apuntes de historia nacional 1808-1974'' México:Fondo de Cultura Económica (1995) ).
{{div col end, 2
History of Mexico