José Ponciano Arriaga Leija was a Mexican journalist, legislator, parliamentarian, civil servant and governor, considered one of the most important characters in Mexican history for having an advanced ideology for the time and for his work in politics. He was born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, on November 19, 1811 and died in the same city on July 12, 1865.
Arriaga Leija is also called the father of the Constitution of 1857, which had as its main purpose, the recognition of the rights of the less favored classes, the limitation of private property and the provision of lands for needy communities.
With a liberal and pro-federal tendency, Arraiga Leija supported the government of Benito Juárez and was against Antonio López de Santa Anna who, eventually, forced him into exile to the United States, although he later managed to return to the country.
Early years
José Ponciano Arriaga Leija was born in San Luis Potosí on November 19, 1811, the son of Bonifacio Arriaga and María Dolores Tranquilina de Leija, both Spanish. However, he was orphaned at four years of age and father at nine.
He completed his first studies at the school of the deacon, José Antonio Rodríguez, to later attend high school in the convent of San Francisco, located in his hometown.
He studied Law at the Colegio Guadalupano Josefino (current Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí), thanks to his tutor, Félix Herrera, who enrolled him in 1826. He managed to graduate in 1831 and, from there, began to do an internship in law civil and criminal.
A year later, he founded El Yunque de la Libertad, a medium where he expressed his first manifestations of a liberal tendency, as well as the injustices suffered by disadvantaged social classes.
Political life
He entered the world of politics when he became the secretary of the general, Esteban Moctezuma. Shortly after, Moctezuma was assassinated, for which Arriaga Leija found himself in need of taking refuge in Huasteca before returning to San Luis Potosí.
He returned to the city and in 1840 he served as Trustee of the City Council to continue his work as a lawyer. In 1842, he was elected as a Deputy of the Local Congress and Secretary of Government for Education of his own state.
Some of the most important events in the life of Arriaga Leija can be explained as follows:
- In 1842 he participated in the Constituent Congress, where the majority of the deputies favored a federalist system.
- In 1843, 1846 and 1849 he was elected federal deputy and in 1850 as a senator.
- He presented to Congress the proposal for the establishment of the Procuradurías de Pobres, an organization that would serve to guarantee the rights of the poor and peasants.
- During the US intervention in Mexico, he continued his participation in journalistic life through the newspaper El Estandarte de los Chinacates, which expressed support for the Mexican forces, at the same time that he reproached the pacifists during the loss of the territory.
- In 1852, he was Minister of Justice, Ecclesiastical Negotiations and Public Institutions during the government of Mariano Arista, head of the Liberal Party and deputy in the Congress of the Union, opposed to the government of Antonio López de Santa Anna.
- During the administration of Antonio López de Santa Anna, Arriaga Leija was forced to flee due to the political persecution he suffered. She found residence in New Orleans, until she returned to the country thanks to the Ayutla Revolution.
After the Ayutla Revolution, Arriaga Leija returned to Mexico in 1855 and was appointed as a constituent deputy representing the states of San Luis Potosí, Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacán, Puebla, Zacatecas and the Federal District.
It is worth highlighting the importance of this period, since he became the main architect in the elaboration of the Constitution of 1857, during the Constituent Congress. In it, the importance of freedom of expression, the obligation of the State to limit the right to private property and the distribution of land to those who required it was considered.
He had an active participation during the War of the Reform, along with Benito Juárez and his cabinet, for the establishment of the government during the mandate of Emperor Maximilian.
Later, in 1862, he served as governor of Aguascalientes in order to stop the abuses caused by the clergy and conservatives in the region. He held the same position a year later for the Federal District.
After not being able to fulfill his functions during the second appointment as governor of Aguascalientes, Arriaga Leija died in San Luis Potosí in 1865.
Most important contributions
-Promoted the Law on the Procurator for the Poor as an instrument for the defense of the poorest social classes against the abuses, humiliations and mistreatment they may suffer. It should be noted that it also served as a precedent for the Public Defender's Office and the Social Defender's Office, bases for what would later become the current National Human Rights Commission.
-During the US intervention, he helped the Mexican troops with food and information on the advance of the invading troops.
-He made a proposal together with Guillermo Prieto and José María Lafragua for the prohibition of bullfights, beast fights and shows that could pose a risk to human physical well-being.
-It promoted popular education, better known as public and free education.
-Despite being a Christian Catholic, he was against the power of the clergy and in favor of the secular state.
-He proposed to promote societies of small owners and ranchers to generate greater productivity in idle lands.
-He proposed the creation of institutions for orphan girls and the defense against corruption through the establishment of impeachment against officials.
-He published the work We will lose all hope! In order to spread ideas about the irrigation of the lands in order to improve the work based on agriculture.
-He wrote texts of great political importance such as: By ignorance or malice an injustice has been ruled (1842), On an alleged treason to Mexico (1854), Private vote of C. Ponciano Arriaga on the right of property (1859).
References
- Meet Ponciano Arriaga. (sf). At Ponciano Arriaga Law School. Retrieved: March 1, 2018. At Ponciano Arriaga Law School at poncianoarriaga.wordpress.com.
- American intervention in Mexico. (sf). On Wikipedia. Retrieved: March 1, 2018. In Wikipedia at es.wikipedia.org.
- José Ponciano Arriaga Leija, patriot. (2017). In Federico González Rosales. Retrieved: March 1, 2018. In Federico González Rosales of federicogonzalezrosales.wordpress.com.
- Ponciano Arriaga. (sf). In SearchBiographies. Retrieved: March 1, 2018. In BuscaBiografía de Buscabriografias.com.
- Ponciano Arriaga. (sf). In Search Engine. Retrieved: March 1, 2018. In Search engine at finder.com.mx.
- Ponciano Arriaga. (sf). On Wikipedia. Retrieved: March 1, 2018. In Wikipedia at es.wikipedia.org.