NICOLÁS BRAVO: BIOGRAPHY AND CONTRIBUTIONS - HISTORY - 2025

Nicolás Bravo (1786-1854) was a soldier and former president of Mexico, belonging to one of the wealthiest Creole families during Mexico's independence era. He was one of the heroes of the independence of his country and lived through the most important stages of its consolidation as a sovereign nation until his death in 1854.

He acted as president of Mexico on three occasions, beginning his first stage at the end of the 1830s and culminating his last in 1846. His presidency was marked by the struggle against the provisions of Santa Anna.

By José Inés Tovilla (Arma Tu Historia (Primary II)), via Wikimedia Commons

He was a brave and fair soldier to his enemies. After retiring from military life (after his presidency), he decided to briefly return to arms during the war between Mexico and the United States.

He held other political positions during his life: he was vice president of Guadalupe Victoria in 1824 and of Mariano Paredes in 1846. He came to the head of two governorships during his political career and to high positions in the Mexican Executive Power.

Biography

Early years

Nicolás Bravo Rueda was born in Chichigualco, on September 10, 1786. He was the only child of a Creole family with great economic possibilities.

His upbringing environment always had negative words against the Spanish Crown as the main protagonist, as a consequence of the brutal management of the New Spain colony.

His father was Leonardo Bravo, a Mexican military man who from the beginning supported the insurgent movement against the forces of the Spanish Crown. Her mother, a woman with liberal ideals, also sided with Leonardo Bravo during the uprising against Spain.

When Nicolás Bravo's father enlisted in the ranks of the insurgent army in 1810, Nicolás was still a young man. However, he decided to follow in his father's footsteps and join the insurgent movement.

His father was assigned to a military unit, which came under his command. Nicolás joined his father's forces.

Military life

Shortly after joining the army in 1810, he was assigned to the Morelos command in 1811. This command was led by Hermenegildo Galeana, one of the leaders of the pro-independence uprising in the region. Galeana subsequently became one of the heroes of Mexican independence.

His first military actions occurred mainly between his birth town and Morelos. He spearheaded an offensive to take Chichigualco and end Spanish rule in the region. He also fought various battles in Morelos under the command of Galeana.

These military movements were combined with other independence offensives in several Mexican states, particularly the crucial city of Veracruz.

Reputation

Nicolás Bravo was a brave soldier, who on few occasions in his life acted with military malice. This was reflected again and again in his actions on the battlefield. An event that marked his life as a soldier and infinitely improved his reputation in the local army was the capture of his father.

The viceroy of New Spain, in 1812, captured his father during a battle. In exchange for his freedom and pardons, he demanded that Nicolás Bravo surrender to the Spanish troops. Although Bravo was also offered a pardon, the viceroy's threats denoted Spanish intentions in the region.

Bravo had under his control a garrison of 300 Spanish soldiers, who had fallen prisoner after one of the battles in August of the same year.

The viceroy of New Spain decided to execute Bravo's father. However, he decided to free the Spanish troops to demonstrate the difference between the patriot cause and the viceroy's actions.

Bravo's brilliant action brought several of the Spanish troops to join the local cause. His reputation as a commander, in turn, skyrocketed.

Fight for independence

During much of the insurgent movement of the 1810s, Bravo fought for the forces of José María Morelos. Morelos had been one of the most emblematic leaders of independence, who assumed power of the movement after the death of priest Hidalgo, at the beginning of the independence decade.

After the taking and control of Chilapa, it was agreed to create a Congress to appoint a new president of Mexico. With the formation of the "Congress of Chilpancingo", the decision that was made was that Morelos, the leader of the insurgents, would become the new president of the country.

In the Congress of Chilpancingo the famous Mexican document “Sentimientos de la Nación” was drafted, which laid down all the fundamental guidelines that Mexico would follow once independence was obtained.

The general document that was written, which served as a kind of constitution, declared the independence of Mexico, the division of powers and the rejection of the monarchical order.

During the development of the new organizing movement in Mexico, Bravo never detached himself from the political and military actions of the insurgents.

Stage before the empire

Before the establishment of the First Mexican Empire at the hands of Agustín de Iturbide, the last years before the consolidation of the independence of Mexico were marked by great internal conflicts.

Bravo arrested Ignacio López Rayón on the orders of the Xauxilla Board. Rayón had been a faithful supporter of the creation of a constitution similar to that of the United States, which caused discontent among insurgent leaders.

The battles continued. He defended the city of Cóporo from Spanish pressure for several interminable months. However, in 1817, he temporarily retired from military activities to return to his hometown.

He remained on his family's hacienda until the royalist forces captured him in 1818. Although he was offered a pardon, he refused to accept it. Bravo spent two years in prison, until he was released in 1820 through a pardon granted by a new constitutional government.

Plan of Iguala and the Empire

Bravo fought for the fulfillment of the Plan of Iguala, along with several leaders of the independence army and Agustín de Iturbide. He rose through the ranks to become a colonel in the army.

In addition, he was one of the main defenders of the arrival of the viceroy of Spain for the signing of the Plan of Iguala, which validated the independence of Mexico.

The establishment of the First Mexican Empire at the hands of Iturbide did not sit well with many of the generals, who wanted a republic and not a monarchy. Bravo, together with Vicente Guerrero, led an armed movement that ended up ending the mandate of Emperor Iturbide.

Bravo was appointed a member of the executive branch and fought against the ideals of the American ambassador Joel Poinsett, who amassed a large number of federalist and radical followers.

In fact, the differences between some Mexican leaders and the American ambassador were so strong that, in 1827, he led a rebellion against Guadalupe Victoria to request the ambassador's expulsion. By that time, Bravo was vice president of the country, so his capture meant that he was one step away from death.

However, President Victoria spared her life. He was exiled to Ecuador for two years, until he returned in 1829 after receiving a pardon from the government.

Road to the presidency

When he returned to Mexico, Vicente Guerrero was named president of the country; he would be the second president after the end of Guadalupe Victoria's term. However, Anastasio Bustamante - a loyal follower of Bravo's ideas - became vice president of the country.

It was then that the great division that existed in Mexican politics between conservatives and liberals was demonstrated. Bravo was always a conservative supporter, as was Vice President Bustamante, but Guerrero was a staunch liberal.

In continuity with the previous events, a fierce battle broke out between both sides. The Conservatives lost some battles, but the war culminated in the victory of Bravo's forces and the assassination of Guerrero.

Lucas Alamán became president for two years, supporting the conservative party. Bustamante remained vice president, and Bravo withdrew to southern Mexico to keep the army troops on alert. Soon after, he joined the Santa Anna military movement, and accompanied him during his defeat in Texas.

When Bustamante retired from Congress, Santa Anna summoned him to fill the position of president of that institution in 1839. Bravo accepted and was sworn in as president.

However, he only lasted a few days in office, before retiring to his family ranch again and disappearing for a few months.

Presidency

In 1842 he returned to the presidency of the Republic before the differences of the government with a completely turned congress to the liberal side. Bravo had to resist congressional advances to create a new constitution, but his government was characterized by its conservative ideals.

The struggles against the liberals were practically unsustainable, so the conservative government made the decision to put an end to the Congress led by the liberals themselves.

To counteract the absence of the congress, a special board made up of 80 people was formed. The inauguration of this board was in 1843, and any political action of the then national congress was completely annulled.

Freedom of the press was limited during this period, precisely to avoid social problems that could arise from such a government decision.

This change was considered an absolute shakeup within the conservative government, and a political move to neutralize the enemies of the regime, who were accused of being revolutionaries.

Return to the army

Internal problems within Mexico caused Bravo to withdraw from the government, handing over the post of president to General Santa Anna. He returned to be part of the military forces in 1844 to fight the indigenous people who had started an insurgent movement against the government.

He stayed with his troops in southern Mexico during the government of Santa Anna, which fell at the end of 1844. After his fall, he was appointed one of the high command of the national army.

He allied with General Paredes and obtained as a reward the responsibility of reorganizing the State of Mexico (Mexican state). However, in 1846, he ran again as a presidential candidate against Paredes himself.

He became vice president, but when the Americans invaded Mexico, Paredes had to leave his post to fight the war. Bravo returned to his presidential functions, but it was very difficult for him to govern in the absence of military and government support.

The war against the United States caused him to take up arms again, but the American advance was relentless and resulted in his capture on September 13, 1846.

His differences with Santa Anna grew exponentially, as the general accused him of treason after not being able to stop the Americans.

Last years

His last years of life were marked by the uncertainty of a death with a lack of explanations. After the end of the war, he returned to his farm in Chilpacingo where he spent the last years of his life with his wife.

In fact, in 1854 he was offered to return to arms to overthrow Santa Anna, who had returned to the presidency. Bravo refused, as his health was in a precarious state.

Suspiciously, he died with his wife on April 22, 1854, shortly after the execution of his doctor. Although there is no certainty of a conspiracy, it is most likely that Bravo died from poisoning on his farm.

Plays

During his first months in office against the liberal congress, he summoned Lucas Alamán to develop a plan that would serve to promote national industry.

In addition, Bravo managed to form a series of boards in various states of the country in charge of promoting industrial development throughout the entire Mexican state.

Beyond the political inconveniences that occurred during his time in office, Bravo managed to start several infrastructure and social works in Mexico. For example, construction of the Strait of Tehuantepec began.

In the military realm, he developed a plan to expand the size of the army. As a consequence of this, a new military body was created to defend the Mexican territory.

References

1. Nicolás Bravo - President of Mexico, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1999. Taken from britannica.com
2. Nicolás Bravo Biography, Biography Website, (nd). Taken from biography.com
3. Biography of Nicolás Bravo (1764-1854), The Biography, 2018. Taken from thebiography.us
4. Nicolás Bravo, The Online Biographical Encyclopedia, 2018. Taken from biografiasyvidas.com
5. José María Morelos, The Online Biographical Encyclopedia, 2018. Taken from biografiasyvidas.com