Manuel González Flores
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José Manuel del Refugio González Flores (17 June 1833 – 8 May 1893) was a Mexican general and liberal politician who served as the 35th
President of Mexico The president of Mexico (), officially the president of the United Mexican States (), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and ...
from 1880 to 1884. Before initiating his presidential career, González played important roles in 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, ...
as a lieutenant, and later in the
Reform War The Reform War (17 December 185711 January 1861) or War of Reform (), also known as the Three Years' War (), and the Mexican Civil War, was a complex civil conflict in Mexico fought between Mexican liberals and conservatives with regional var ...
as general on the conservative side. In the French intervention in Mexico, González fought for the Mexican Republic under the command of General
Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...
. He supported Díaz's attempts to gain the presidency of Mexico, which succeeded in 1876. He served as Mexican Secretary of War in the Díaz administration from 1878 to 1879. Díaz could not be re-elected to the presidency in 1880, since the basis of his coup against Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada was the principle of no-reelection, so Díaz worked for the election of his political client González, who would be a weak rival should Díaz run again. His presidency from 1880 to 1884 is marked by a number of major diplomatic and domestic achievements,Coerver, "Manuel González", p. 84. which historian Friedrich Katz considers to be no less than "the profound transformation" of Mexico. Although the González presidency has been considered corrupt, that assessment is colored by the difficult financial circumstances in 1884 and by Díaz's campaign to discredit his successor, paving the way for his own re-election in 1884.


Early life and military career

Manuel del Refugio González Flores was born in
Matamoros, Tamaulipas Matamoros, officially known as Heroica Matamoros, is a city in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, and the municipal seat of the homonymous municipality. It is on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, directly across the border from Bro ...
, Mexico, on 17 June 1833. Some sources state that he was born on 20 of the same month. However, he was baptized on the 18th, a day after his birth, as José Manuel del Refugio González Flores. His parents were Fernando González and Eusebia Flores de la Garza. For part of his childhood, he lived in the ranch El Moquete. His parents supported his education, and he was reportedly a brilliant student. He returned to his birth home after the death of his father. When his mother died, he was left in the care of his uncle, with whom he worked as a merchant. He began his military career in 1847, fighting the invaders from the United States in 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, ...
after they killed his father, a farmer. From 1853 to 1855, he fought with the Conservative forces supporting General
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 ...
. At the time of the Plan de Ayutla in 1854, he was with Conservative General Leonardo Márquez in Oaxaca, fighting against Liberal general
Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...
. In 1856, he was wounded at the Battle of Ocotlán (1856), fighting with rebels against President
Ignacio Comonfort Ignacio Gregorio Comonfort de los Ríos (; 12 March 1812 – 13 November 1863), also known as Ignacio Comonfort, was a Mexican politician and soldier who was also president during La Reforma. He played a leading role in the liberal movement und ...
. In March 1859, he took part in an attack on
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
by Conservative General
Miguel Miramón Miguel Gregorio de la Luz Atenógenes Miramón y Tarelo, known as Miguel Miramón, (29 September 1831 – 19 June 1867) was a Mexican Conservative Party (Mexico), conservative general who disputed the president of Mexico, Mexican presidency with ...
, against the legal, Liberal government of President
Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...
. In 1860, he took advantage of an amnesty for the Conservatives decreed by Congress and offered his services to the Liberals fighting against Maximilian of Habsburg and the
invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
. González served under the military command of Porfirio Díaz. He participated in the defense of
Battle of Puebla The Battle of Puebla (; ), also known as the Battle of May 5 () took place on 5 May 1862, near Puebla de los Ángeles, during the second French intervention in Mexico. French troops under the command of Charles de Lorencez repeatedly failed to s ...
Puebla on 5 May 1862 against the French, where the Mexicans won a great and unexpected victory. He was wounded and taken prisoner, but escaped. In 1863, Díaz made him chief of the Army of the center. He fought under Díaz in the battles of Miahuatlán and La Carbonera, Oaxaca. González was taken prisoner by the French a second time in 1865, but he was paroled and rejoined the Mexican army. In 1867, he participated in the sieges of
Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...
(where he lost his right arm) and of
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 ...
. On 7 September 1867, after Juárez's forces had retaken the capital, Juárez named him military commander of the Federal District and governor of the National Palace, serving from 1871 to 1873. He supported Díaz in revolt under the Plan de la Noria (Díaz's 1871 unsuccessful revolt against Juárez) and the Plan of Tuxtepec (his successful 1876 revolt against then-President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada). Vicente Riva Palacio, liberal politician, intellectual, and military man, served in his government. On 13 March 1877, he obtained the rank of general of division.


Political career


First Díaz administration

González Flores became captain of the garrison of the Federal District on 22 November 1877. Díaz named him governor and military commander of
Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...
(1877–79). He was appointed secretary of war and the navy on 26 March 1878, and resigned on 15 November 1879, at the same time as Secretary of Justice Protasio Tagle. In January of 1880, Díaz appointed him as Head of the Central and Western Army (), which extended his area of operations from Guanajuato to Baja California. His mission was to end the uprising of supporters of the late Manuel Lozada in the canton of
Tepic Tepic () is the capital and largest city of the western Mexico, Mexican Political divisions of Mexico, state of Nayarit, as well as the seat of the Tepic Municipality. Located in the central part of the state, it stands at an altitude of above ...
,
Nayarit Nayarit, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in Municipalities of Nayarit, 20 municipalit ...
. On 12 January of the same year, he arrived in
Tequila, Jalisco Santiago de Tequila (; "place of tribute") is a Mexican town and municipality located in the state of Jalisco about 60 km from the city of Guadalajara. Tequila is best known as being the birthplace of the drink that bears its name, "tequila, ...
. On 17 January, he arrived in Tepic. His staff during this period included two figures who would later be notable in Mexican history: Colonel
Bernardo Reyes Bernardo Doroteo Reyes Ogazón (30 August 1850 – 9 February 1913) was a Mexican general and politician who fought in the Second French intervention in Mexico and served as the appointed Governor of Nuevo León for more than two decades dur ...
, a future general and governor of Nuevo León, and Captain
Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 23 December 1850 – 13 January 1916) was a Mexican general, politician, engineer and dictator who was the 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of ...
, a future president of Mexico. The methods González Flores used to suppress the uprising in Tepic have been described as "violent and questionable". On 8 May, he submitted his resignation from his position, as the uprisings in Nayarit and neighboring Sonora had ended, which Díaz accepted.


Election of 1880

Porfirio Díaz could not run for re-election in 1880, and chose his comrade-in-arms González as the presidential candidate. The day he first arrived in Tepic for the quelling of that year's uprisings, González Flores was greeted with a sumptuous reception, which was intended to promote his presidential campaign. On 5 February 1880, he published a program detailing his policy proposals. González Flores was announced as the winner of the elections on 24 September 1880.


Presidency

González Flores served as president from 1 December 1880 to 30 November 1884, both preceded and succeeded by Porfirio Díaz. Díaz was a minister in his government. González had an ambitious agenda, much of which was a continuation of that of Díaz, seeking economic development. Díaz's principal policies were concessions to foreign interests (Europe and especially the U.S.), renewed relations with European powers, and internal peace.Katz, "The Liberal Republic and the Porfiriato," p. 72. Following the long period of political instability since Mexican independence, peace could lay the groundwork for foreign investment and infrastructure development. A slogan for the era of Porfirio Díaz was "order and progress," which González followed. Key changes in the Mexican legal code opened the way for foreign investment and exports from Mexico. In particular a new mining code (1884) eliminated the state's ownership to subsoil rights dating to the colonial era, giving full rights to owners of property to both surface and subsoil rights by legally acquiring land. It "proved to be a bonanza both to Mexican landowners and to foreign investors." A new land law was also enacted which allowed the government to sell so-called "vacant lands" (''tierras baldías''), initiating a new era of land accumulation in Mexico. Companies surveying public land were compensated with a third of the land deemed "public," which encouraged more designations of that category and enrichment to private companies. The law also encouraged settlement, He established agricultural and industrial colonies of 1,500 Italians in the state of Puebla. González boosted spending on the Mexican military by 400% and increased the number of soldiers by 90%; he transformed the rural military police established by Juárez into a loyal force supporting the president. The expanded armed forces and the will to take of northern national territory that
Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
Indians de facto controlled saw their final defeat, thereby opening up a region for settlement and economic development. A dispute with
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
over
Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...
and
Soconusco Soconusco is a region in the southwest corner of the state of Chiapas in southeastern Mexico along its border with Guatemala. It is a narrow strip of land wedged between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is the sout ...
was resolved peacefully in Mexico's favor, securing much of its southern area. However, the rebellious Maya Indians in Yucatan, in a conflict known as the
Caste War of Yucatan A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (endogamy), foll ...
, continued under González's presidency. Under González, Mexico re-established relations with European powers (Britain, France, Germany), which was an important means to offset U.S. power in Mexico as well as gain access to European capital. Mexican relations with
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were renewed, once Mexico recognized the long-standing British bond debt from the Conservative government. The considerable sum of £11.5 million would be a drain on the empty national treasury, with the announcement coming during a financial downturn in Mexico. This concession provoked protests from the Mexican congress, and riots in the capital put down forcefully and brutally, damaging González's reputation. Aiding in the economic expansion of Mexico was the founding of the
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, with French bankers playing an important role. The preference for ties with Europe was reinforced with Mexico's adoption on 20 December 1882, of the
metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...
of measurements, created under French emperor
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
, rather than the British/U.S. measurements. During his administration, the railway from Mexico City to the border city of Paso del Norte (current
Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...
) was constructed, a key factor in U.S. investment in Mexico and ending the deliberate policy of keeping the U.S. at bay through the obstacle of the northern desert. Lerdo had delayed the railway expansion northward, saying "Between weakness and strength the desert." Along with the expansion of the railway network, Mexico inaugurated its first submarine cable. In 1882, he issued nickel coins, replacing silver coinage, which produced the inflation rate and prompted the devaluation of the currency, provoking riots on 21 December 1883. With his characteristic valor, he appeared before the rioters, actually receiving cheers before he finished speaking. During his term, the
Constitution of 1857 The Political Constitution of the Mexican Republic of 1857 (), often called simply the Constitution of 1857, was the Liberalism in Mexico, liberal constitution promulgated in 1857 by Constituent Congress of Mexico during the presidency of Ignacio ...
was amended to remove the right of succession to the presidency from the office of president of the Supreme Court, which was how both
Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...
and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada had come to the presidency. Instead, the president of the Senate was named next in succession, or the president of the Permanent Commission, in the event that the Senate was in recess. At the end of his full four-year term, he stepped down from presidency and was succeeded by Porfirio Díaz, who had not been re-elected to consecutive terms as president, but following the González interregnum, Díaz would remain in power until ousted in 1911 with the outbreak of the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
in 1910. Díaz's denigration of González's achievements as president and the charges of corruption have led to his basic eclipse in Mexican history. His biographer Don M. Coerver's full scholarly study of his presidency is an exception.


After the presidency

After his term as president, Gonzalez was charged with misappropriation of public funds by the Congress in 1885 and the case was referred to a Grand Jury, but the charges were dropped three years later, on 30 October 1888. Rather than being punished by the legal system, González was elected governor of
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 ...
"unanimously" in 1884 and served three terms in office until his death by
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...
in 1893,Don M. Coerver, "Manuel González," p. 84. He made a failed attempt to succeed President Díaz in 1887. He was buried in the '' Rotonda de las Personas Ilustres'' (Rotunda of Illustrious People) on 8 May 1893.


See also

*
List of heads of state of Mexico The Head of State of Mexico is the person who controls the executive power in the country. Under the current constitution, this responsibility lies with the President of the United Mexican States, who is head of the supreme executive power of th ...
*
Porfiriato The Porfiriato or Porfirismo (, ), coined by Mexican historian Daniel Cosío Villegas, is a term given to the period when General Porfirio Díaz ruled Mexico under an Authoritarianism, authoritarian military dictatorship in the late 19th and e ...


References


Bibliography

* *


Further reading

*Coerver, Don M. ''The Porfirian Interregnum: The Presidency of Manuel González of Mexico, 1880-1884''. 1979. *Katz, Friedrich, "The Liberal Republic and the Porfiriato, 1867-1910" in ''Mexico Since Independence'',
Leslie Bethell Leslie Michael BethellCosío Villegas, Daniel, ''Historia Moderna de México'', vol. 8. (1970), pp. 575–798. *"González, Manuel", ''Enciclopedia de México'', vol. 6. Mexico City, 1996, . *García Puron, Manuel, ''México y sus gobernantes'', v. 2. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrúa, 1984. *Orozco Linares, Fernando, ''Gobernantes de México''. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez Flores, Manuel Presidents of Mexico Candidates in the 1880 Mexican presidential election Governors of Guanajuato Governors of Michoacán People from Matamoros, Tamaulipas 1833 births 1893 deaths People of the Second French intervention in Mexico Liberalism in Mexico Conservatism in Mexico Mexican generals 19th-century Mexican politicians Politicians from Tamaulipas Burials at the Panteón de Dolores