CAMPING HUG: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND PARTICIPANTS - HISTORY - 2024

The embrace of Acatempan was one of the decisive events in the Mexican War of Independence. It took place on February 10, 1821 and was the symbolic event that marked the alliance between Agustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero to end the Viceroyalty.

At that time, Mexico had been at war for more than a decade between insurgents seeking independence and troops from the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The situation seemed stagnant, since neither side seemed capable of prevailing by arms.

Source: Jaontiveros, via Wikimedia Commons

Iturbide had been sent to try to finally defeat Guerrero. However, the change of government in Spain and the promulgation of the liberal Constitution of Cádiz, led the conservatives of the Viceroyalty to prefer a monarchy independent of the metropolis before accepting that the clergy and the military lost privileges.

The meeting between Guerrero and Iturbide led to the Treaty of Iguala and the creation of the Trigarante Army. In a short time, they managed to enter the capital. The ensuing Treaties of Córdoba proclaimed the independence of Mexico and the end of Spanish rule.

Background

El Grito de Dolores, launched by Miguel Hidalgo on September 16, 1810, is considered the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence.

For the next eleven years, supporters of independence and those of continuing to be a Spanish Vierreinato, fought over arms.

After Hidalgo's death, his position as insurgent leader was filled by José María Morelos. When he was shot, the conflict turned into a kind of guerrilla warfare, with fronts scattered throughout the territory.

In Veracruz, for example, Guadalupe Victoria had become strong, while Vicente Guerrero kept up his fight in the Sierra Madre del Sur.

Change in the Viceroyalty

The long war not only affected supporters of independence. Within the Viceroyalty of New Spain there was also a time of change. Thus, Félix María Calleja, Viceroy during that time, had to leave his post in 1816. His replacement was Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, until then Captain General of Cuba.

The new leader proceeded to change the policy of his predecessor. Faced with Calleja's harshness, Apodaca offered pardons to the insurgent leaders.

Some of them, like Nicolás Bravo, accepted the offer. Others, like Guerrero or Victoria, chose to continue the fight.

Irrigation Survey

The situation in 1819, despite guerrilla activity, was quite stable. The event that would break that tranquility took place far away from Mexico, in Spanish territory. There, on January 1, 1820, Rafael de Riego took up arms against King Fernando VII.

The monarch, after regaining the throne after the Napoleonic defeat, had tried to finish off the liberals. Riego's uprising forced him to back down and swear in the Cadiz Constitution promulgated a few years before, in 1812 and considered very liberal in its approaches.

When the news reached New Spain, the reactions did not wait. On May 26, the Mayor of Veracruz swore in the same Constitution. The Viceroy did the same a few days later. The most conservative sectors responded by organizing several protests and riots.

Conspiracy of the Professed

In addition to the aforementioned riots and protests, the conservatives (mostly supporters of absolutism) also began to plan other movements. His main fear was that the liberal Spanish Constitution would be applied in New Spain and, with it, the clergy and the army would lose their privileges.

The solution that the conspirators gave for this possibility was to install a monarchy in an independent Mexico. The throne would be offered to the Spanish king himself or to one of the infants.

The protagonists of the conspiracy, called de la Profesa by the name of one of the churches in which they met, began to seek military support to achieve their purpose. The chosen one was Agustín de Iturbide, conservative and monarchist in principle.

Iturbide, whose role in the fight for Mexican independence has always generated controversy among historians, was sent to fight Vicente Guerrero in the Sierra Sur.

Negotiations with Guerrero

Unlike other insurgent leaders, Guerrero had refused to accept the pardon offered by the Viceroy. In fact, Apodaca even sent Guerrero's own father to convince him, but without obtaining any success.

Given this, the Viceroyalty sent Iturbide to defeat him by arms. However, the campaign undertaken was a failure. The insurgents, with the advantage that knowledge of the terrain gave them, accumulated victories and it seemed impossible to defeat them.

It was then that the future emperor, Iturbide, changed his strategy. He sent Guerrero a letter requesting that they join forces to achieve independence. At first, Guerrero, distrustful, rejected the offer.

A new defeat for Iturbide's troops, on January 27, 1821, caused him to write to Guerrero again. This time he asked for a meeting and explained the points of his political program for Mexico.

The meeting took place in Acatempan, today in Teloloapan, on February 10 of that same year. After talking, there was the hug that sealed the alliance. However, there are historians who question this version and, even, some point out that they did not meet personally.

Causes

After eleven years of war between the royalists and the insurgents they had shown that neither side could militarily defeat the other. The population, for its part, suffered the consequences of the conflict.

Impossibility of defeating the insurgents

Although many independence leaders had accepted the pardon that Viceroy Apodaca had offered, others remained in the fight.

Vicente Guerrero was one of the most prominent. As with Guadalupe Victoria, who fought in the Sierra de Veracruz, knowledge of the terrain made it almost impossible to defeat him.

Conservative side fear

The Spanish liberals, after having resisted the onslaught of Fernando VII, managed to force the king to swear the Constitution of 1812. In Mexico, some authorities did the same, including the viceroy Apodaca himself.

The most privileged sectors in New Spain, especially the clergy and the army, feared losing their power under the laws contained in the Constitution. To avoid this, they decided to fight for an independent Mexico whose form of government was the monarchy.

Guerrero, aware of what was happening, tried to convince José Gabriel de Armijo, a royalist commander in the south, to join his troops. Armijo rejected the offer and remained faithful to the Spanish government.

In the end, Armijo resigned from his post and was replaced by Agustín de Iturbide. He had been contacted by the conservative conspirators. The viceroy, unaware of this, sent him to fight against those who opposed the new liberal Spanish regime.

Consequences

The meeting between Agustín de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero took place on February 10, 1821. Acatempan's embrace marked the alliance between them.

Iguala Plan

Iturbide went ahead when presenting his political points for the alliance with Guerrero. These were reflected in the Plan of Iguala, which declared that the ultimate goal of the rebellion was the independence of the country.

Furthermore, the Plan established three fundamental guarantees: the union of all Mexicans regardless of the side in which they had fought; the already mentioned independence; and the official status of the Catholic religion in the new country.

Trigarante Army

The Iguala Plan included the need to create a military body that would allow the plans to be carried out. Thus, the Trigarante Army or of the Three Guarantees was born.

In addition to facing the royalist troops, his first function was to expand the Plan throughout New Spain, seeking new support.

Independence

Apodaca was replaced by Juan O'Donojú, who would be the last viceroy of New Spain. Iturbide met him in Córdoba on August 24. In the meeting, the future emperor made the viceroy see that the Spanish cause was lost, since almost 90% of the troops had sided with the Trigarante.

O'Donojú had no choice but to accept it and sign the so-called Treaties of Córdoba. Through these, the War of Independence was ended and the sovereignty of Mexico was recognized.

After this, on September 27, the Trigarante Army, commanded by Iturbide, triumphantly entered Mexico City..

Participants

Vicente Guerrero

Source: Anacleto Escutia (fl. 1850), via Wikimedia Commons

Vicente Guerrero was one of the heroes of Mexican independence. He was born in Tixtla on August 9, 1789 and died on February 14, 1831, at only 48 years old.

Guerrero was appointed in 1818 General in Chief of the armies of the South, for what remained of the Congress of Chilpancingo. From the southern states he resisted the attacks of the royalists, refusing to accept any pardon.

Between 1820 and 1821, he had several armed confrontations with Agustín de Iturbide, coming out the winner in all of them. Finally, both leaders ended up starring in the Abrazo de Acatempan, a gesture that sealed an alliance to achieve the country's independence.

After reaching this goal, Guerrero was a member of the Supreme Executive Power between 1824 and 1824, Minister of War and Navy in 1828 and, finally, President of Mexico for eight months in 1829.

Agustín de Iturbide

Agustín de Iturbide

Iturbide was born in the city of Valladolid (today Morelia) on September 27, 1783. He entered the army of the Viceroyalty at a very young age, fighting the insurgents who were seeking independence.

At the beginning of the 20s of the XIX century, Iturbide received the order to fight the troops of Vicente Guerrero. However, the military was against the Constitution of Cádiz, of a liberal nature. For this reason, he asked Guerrero for a meeting in order to unify his forces to achieve independence.

Iturbide was the creator of the Plan of Iguala, in which he established the three fundamental guarantees for the new Mexican state. He was also in charge of signing the Treaties of Córdoba, which recognized the independence of Mexico and the end of Spanish rule.

The Mexican conservatives, led by Iturbide, wanted Mexico to be a monarchy and the king to be a Spanish infant. The Spanish Royal House refused and Iturbide himself ended up being proclaimed Emperor of Mexico, with the name of Agustín I.

Soon the hostilities towards his government began. The liberal camp, led by Santa Anna, ended the imperial regime in March 1823.

References

1. Mexico history. The camping hug. Obtained from independencedemexico.com.mx
2. Chihuahua Mexico. The embrace of Acatempan. Obtained from chihuahuamexico.com
3. Beltran, Felipe. Passages of history - The embrace that started independence. Obtained from revistaespejo.com
4. OnWar. Mexican War of Independence. Retrieved from onwar.com
5. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Agustín de Iturbide. Retrieved from britannica.com
6. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vicente Guerrero. Retrieved from britannica.com
7. Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. Plan Of Iguala. Retrieved from encyclopedia.com