Reform Movement - Mexico: La Reforma, 1850s

Mexico: La Reforma, 1850s

The Mexican Liberal party, led by Benito Juárez and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, guided the emergence of Mexico, as a nation state, from colonialism. It envisioned a modern civil society and capitalist economy. All citizens were equal before the law, and Mexico's 1829 abolition of slavery was reaffirmed. The Liberal program, documented in the 1857 Constitution of Mexico, was based on:

• Abolition of the fueros which had granted civil immunity to members of the church and military
• Liquidation of traditional ejido communal land holdings and distribution of freehold titles to the peasantry (the Ley Lerdo)
• Expropriation and sale of concentrated church property holdings (beyond the clergy's religious needs)
• Curtailment of exorbitant fees by the church for administering the sacraments
• Abolition of separate military and religious courts (the Ley Juárez)
• Freedom of religion and guarantees of many civil and political liberties
• Secular public education
• Civil registry for births, marriages and deaths
• Elimination of all forms of cruel and unusual punishment, including the death penalty
• Elimination of debtor's prisons and all forms of personal servitude