José María Luis Mora Lamadrid (12 October 1794 – 14 July 1850
) 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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
,
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters.
The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
,
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 species; as well as the ...
,
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
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, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...
in Mexico, he fought for the
separation of church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...
. 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 in
Chamacuero, during the 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, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...
. His family lost its wealth during the 1810 revolt of Father
Miguel Hidalgo
Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla Gallaga Mandarte y Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or simply Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican Wa ...
, but Mora gained access to the prestigious ex-
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
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 and was a member of the state congress. He criticized the
Mexican Constitution of 1824 as incoherent and because it protected Roman Catholicism as the sole religion rather than allowing for
religious freedom
Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...
. 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
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a List of Masonic rites, rite within the broader context of Freemasonry. It is the most widely practiced List of Masonic rites, Rite in the world. In some parts of the world, and in the ...
Masons. He was an opponent of the populist former insurgent leader
Vicente Guerrero
Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña (; baptized 10 August 1782 – 14 February 1831) was a Mexican military officer from 1810–1821 and a statesman who became the nation's second president in 1829. He was one of the leading generals who fought ag ...
, who came to power in 1829, and therefore supported the coup of
Anastasio Bustamante
Trinidad Anastasio de Sales Ruiz Bustamante y Oseguera (; 27 July 1780 – 6 February 1853) was a Mexican physician, general, and politician who served as the 4th President of Mexico three times from 1830 to 1832, 1837 to 1839, and 1839 to 1841. ...
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 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...
and
Benjamin Constant
Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Swiss and French political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion.
A committed republican from 1795, Constant ...
and later
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (born Gaspar Melchor de Jove y Llanos, 5 January 1744 – 27 November 1811) was a Spain, Spanish Spanish Enlightenment literature, neoclassical statesman, author, philosopher and a major figure of the Age of Enlighte ...
. 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
Popular sovereignty is the principle that the leaders of a state and its government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associativ ...
, which he opposed because it led to the bloody excesses of the
French Revolution, 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 dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...
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 , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...
.
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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, 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 is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. However, Conservatives and the military, led by
Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De,''Handbook of Texas Online'' Retrieved 18 April 2017. often known as Santa Anna, wa ...
, 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
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. 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 (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
. 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 Paris.
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
A demagogue (; ; ), or rabble-rouser, is a political leader in a democracy who gains popularity by arousing the common people against elites, especially through oratory that whips up the passions of crowds, Appeal to emotion, appealing to emo ...
but saw the 1810 uprising of Father
Miguel Hidalgo
Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla Gallaga Mandarte y Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or simply Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican Wa ...
that sparked the
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence (, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional ...
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
Lucas Ygnacio José Joaquín Pedro de Alcántar Juan Bautista Francisco de Paula de Alamán y Escalada (Guanajuato, New Spain, 18 October 1792 – Mexico City, Mexico, 2 June 1853) was a Mexican scientist, conservative statesman, historian, and ...
, 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 an internal political group of members of the British Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats. Membership of the group is open to any Liberal Democrat member, and is free of charge. It was launched on 13 February 2012, and de ...
following the ouster of conservative Santa Anna, changed the face of Mexico dramatically.
There is a museum in his hometown of Chamacuero (today
Comonfort,
Guanajuato
Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...
). His remains on June 24, 1963 were interred at the
Rotunda of Illustrious Persons.
Further reading
* Arnaiz y Freg, Arturo. "El Dr. José María Luis Mora, 1794-1859," ''Memoria de la Academia Mexicana de la Historia'' 25, n.o 4 (1966) pp. 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 historia ...
'' 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
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 histori ...
'', ''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
Colegio de San Ildefonso alumni
Burials at the Panteón de Dolores