FEELINGS OF THE NATION (DOCUMENT): CHARACTERISTICS AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

Sentimientos de la Nación was the title of a political document read by José María Morelos, one of the heroes of Mexican independence. The reading of that text took place on September 14, 1813, during the opening of the Anahuac Congress.

The war for Mexican independence had started a few years earlier, when Miguel Hidalgo had launched the Grito de Dolores. After this, the uprising against the colonial authorities had spread throughout the country. Morelos participated almost from the beginning in that fight, obtaining important military victories.

Page 3 of the document Sentimientos de la Nación (1813) - Source: www.inehrm.gob.mx From Wikimedia Commons

After the death of Hidalgo, executed by the Spanish, López Rayón became one of the leaders of the rebellion and decided that it was time to draft a document that would serve as the Constitution of the new country. In this, he continued considering Fernando VII, Spanish monarch, as head of state.

Morelos, who had already made public some ideas that linked with the ideals of the French and American revolutions, did not agree with that point. Thus, in Chilpancingo, he read his own proposal, of a republican and more liberal nature. Although, later, it was defeated, that document was the germ of the first Mexican constitutions.

Background and historical context

Although some insurrections had already occurred, historians mark September 16, 1810 as the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence. That day, the priest Miguel Hidalgo launched the so-called Grito de Dolores, a call for the people to rise up against the colonial authorities.

In just a few days, the insurrection had gathered strength. His supporters occupied cities like Salamanca, Celaya or Guanajuato.

José María Morelos, another priest, visited Hidalgo in October of that year to offer himself as chaplain. However, Hidalgo convinced him to take a more active role. In this way, he assigned him the mission of heading south, gathering troops in his wake. The objective was to conquer the port of Acapulco.

Morelos accepted and left for the south with 20 men, becoming one of Miguel Hidalgo's lieutenants.

Historic context

The second half of the 18th century had meant the arrival of new political and ideological airs. The influence of the Enlightenment was fundamental in two historical revolutions: the American, with its independence in 1776, and the French, in 1789.

They were not only about rebellions against the monarchy, but their intention was to establish liberal governments based on citizen rights.

The Napoleonic invasion of Spain, with the appointment of Napoleon's brother as the new monarch, shook Mexican politics. Neither conservatives nor liberals wanted to be under French rule and rebellions soon began. At first, the rebels swore allegiance to Ferdinand VII, but soon began to demand absolute independence.

As in the rest of the American continent, many of the Mexican independentistas were strongly influenced by the American and French revolutions, as well as by enlightened ideals.

Death of Hidalgo

Morelos was building a large army during its march to the south, but did not manage to take the port of Acapulco. After that failure, he set out for Chilpancingo, a city he conquered in May 1881. Later, he did the same with Tixtla.

The viceroyalty authorities, after their troops suffered significant defeats during the first months of the conflict, reacted. In June 1811, Miguel Hidalgo and other leaders were captured and executed. His replacement at the head of the insurgency was López Rayón.

This, in addition to assuming the military leadership of the insurgent army, considered that it was time to give a political structure to the nation they were trying to build. To do this, he called a Governing Board in Zitácuaro, although the harassment of the royalists forced them to leave the area.

However, López Rayón had time to write a document that he baptized as Constitutional Elements. In this writing, which he distributed among his supporters, he proposed some concepts such as the separation of powers, a sovereignty emanating from the people and the prohibition of slavery.

Morelos objections

While this was happening, Morelos continued his military campaign south of the Viceroyalty. When the document drawn up by López Rayón reached him, he found a point on which he completely disagreed.

López Rayón, even though he was not a monarchist, added to his idea of ​​a sovereignty emanating from the people an apostille that defended the Spanish king. Thus, it maintained that that same sovereignty resided "in the person of Mr. Fernando VII." According to some historians, the insurgent leader believed that this would make it easier to achieve independence.

However, José María Morelos maintained a much more revolutionary position. Already in November 1810, while he was in Aguacatillo, he had communicated some slogans that demonstrated his thinking, such as the abolition of tributes to the communities.

Chilpancingo Congress

Once the royalist troops forced the dissolution of the Congress of Zitácuaro, Morelos convened another in Chilpancingo, also known as the Congress of Anáhuac. The priest intended to resolve the discrepancies with López Rayón and establish a political and social structure for the new country.

Many important figures of the independence struggle attended this Congress, such as Andrés Quintana Roo and José María Cos. Both shared with López Rayón the position on the Spanish King as depositary of the monarchy.

At the opening of said Congress, Morelos presented his organizational document, Sentimientos de la Nación. It consisted of 23 points and was intended to become the basis of a new republican order.

Main points and characteristics

The Congress of Anahuac or Chilpancingo, began on September 14, 1813, in that last town.

Morelos not only wanted the independence of Mexico, but he went further in his proposals. For the priest, the social question could not be abandoned and all the injustices that had been committed during the centuries of Spanish rule had to be corrected.

At the opening ceremony, his document, Sentimientos de la Nación, was presented. Some experts claim that he read it himself, while others point out that it was his secretary, Juan Nepomuceno Rosains, who did.

Sentimientos de la Nación is considered the first antecedent of a constitution for Mexico. Its content reflected, in its 23 points, all the ideals defended by Morelos.

Independence

The most important point of the document was the one that declared Mexico as an independent country from any other nation. In addition, it affirmed that sovereignty emanated from the people and the Congress, eliminating any reference to the monarchy.

However, Morelos, contrary to enlightened ideas, confirmed the Catholic religion as the only one that should be accepted in the new independent Mexico, without admitting freedom of worship.

Apart from the elimination of the monarchy, which would be replaced by a liberal government, another point in the text indicated that the division of powers should be established, separating the executive, the legislative and the judicial.

Social rights

As noted above, Morelos considered it of great importance to establish social rights for all citizens. During the colony, many sectors had been left out of society, especially the indigenous and slaves.

Thus, in his document he stated that greater social equality should be sought. Likewise, it increased labor rights, promulgating a reduction in working hours. In this last field, there was also a point that reserved employment for nationals.

Citizens, following Sentiments of the Nation, would all become equal in rights and obligations. Slavery would be abolished, as well as the distinction by castes. Finally, the tribute to the natives was eliminated and torture was prohibited.

Consequences

Although some authors consider it this way, most experts consider that Sentimientos de la Nación does not reach the category of constitution. Rather, the document was a set of guidelines for an actual constitutional text.

Its importance lies, precisely, in the influence it had on the constitutions that were drafted a posteriori, beginning with that of 1814.

Generalissimo

The Anahuac Congress concluded with the appointment of José María Morelos as Generalissimo, a position that the executive power assumed within the separation of powers that he had proposed in his document.

During the following months, Congress acted as the highest governing body in the territories controlled by the insurgents. However, despite the laws they passed, they were beginning to have problems militarily.

Morelos tried to conquer Valladolid, with the purpose of establishing the headquarters of the Congress there. The royalists reacted quickly to his advance and prevented him from taking the city.

This and other defeats on the battlefield caused Morelos to lose prestige among the insurgents. Finally, he was stripped of the position of Generalissimo and, for the next two years, until his death, he limited himself to obeying Congress.

Separation from New Spain

The Congress of Chilpancingo decided to follow the first guideline of Sentimientos de la Nación: declare independence. It was, in fact, a symbolic declaration, since the royalists controlled most of the territory.

Despite that, its historical importance is undoubted. It was on November 6, 1913 when a declaration framed in the Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of North America was issued.

The content established that the country “has recovered the exercise of its usurped sovereignty; that in such a concept the dependence on the Spanish throne is forever broken and dissolved; that he is an arbiter to establish the laws that suit him, for the best arrangement and inner happiness: to make war and peace and establish relations with monarchs and republics ”.

Constitution of Apatzingán

The advance of the vierreinato troops forced the insurgents to leave Chilpancingo and move the Congress to Apatzingán. There, work continued to draft an authentic Constitution, based, for the most part, on the document prepared by Miguel Hidalgo.

Thus, on October 22, 1814, the Constitution was promulgated, whose official name was the Constitutional Decree for the Freedom of Mexican America.

This Magna Carta had a markedly liberal character, especially in social affairs. Following what was collected in Sentimientos de la Nación, it stated that sovereignty resided in the people and that the purpose of politics was the happiness of the citizens.

The Constitution emphasized the enlightened principles of equality, security, property, and liberty. Likewise, it declared that the government system should be democratic and representative, with an effective separation of powers. In addition, it incorporated a declaration of Human Rights.

Despite the fact that it was introduced, the Constitution was never put into operation. José María Morelos, its main inspiration, was shot the following year and the royalists recovered almost all the territories they had lost.

His influence, however, remained in force among other independence leaders. For example, Vicente Guerrero copied the law that prohibited slavery.

Monarchists vs. Republicans

Since the first independence movements, two different positions had been present. On the one hand, those who preferred an independent Mexico, but under the Spanish Crown. On the other, the Republicans, who are more socially liberal.

This was, in fact, one of the reasons why Morelos convened the Chilpancingo Congress, since López Rayón had bet on keeping Fernando VII as king.

Sentimientos de la Nación clearly opted for the Republican option and, for a few months, it seemed that this would be the final position. However, the confrontation between the supporters of both systems lasted in time, to the point that the first independent government of Mexico arrived in the form of an Empire.

Economic implications

The text written by Morelos included several economic provisions that sought to favor the most vulnerable sectors of Mexican society. Although at that time, they were not implemented, they did have great influence on later legislation.

The positions in this field were closely linked to the other ideological confrontation that shook Mexico for many decades, that of liberals versus conservatives. The supporters of the first option took up the positions of Morelos, promulgating some laws accordingly.

Among the most important is the repeal of slavery, put into practice by Vicente Guerrero.

Main characters involved

Although there were other important figures related to this document, such as Carlos María de Bustamante, to whom Morelos dictated the text, the main protagonists were Morelos himself and López Rayón.

Jose Maria Morelos

The author of Sentimientos de la Nación was born in Valladolid, now Morelia, into a family with Indian and Creole ancestry. Still young, he opted for an ecclesiastical career. Precisely, in the first educational center he attended, he met Miguel Hidalgo, a priest who became the first leader of the War of Independence.

Despite being ordained as a priest, Morelos agreed to lead the insurgent troops when Hidalgo asked him to. His military activity lasted five years, during which he led four different campaigns against the royalist side.

Apart from his military work, Morelos contributed decisively to the first laws developed in the territories controlled by the independentistas. His main contribution was the document called Sentimientos de la Nación, which was read at the opening ceremony of the Chilpancingo Congress.

Miguel Hidalgo was captured by the Spanish, tried, and shot in December 1815.

Ignacio López Rayón

López Rayón began to stand out during the first years of the Mexican War of Independence, until he was one of Hidalgo's most important lieutenants. When he was executed by the royalists, López Rayón assumed command of the insurgent army.

As with Morelos, López Rayón also raised the need to begin to create an institutional framework for the future independent country. For this, he established a first government, the Council of Zitácuaro and promulgated a kind of Constitution called Constitutional Elements.

Within this Constitutional Elements, López Rayón included the figure of the Spanish monarch, Fernando VII. This article was not to the liking of Morelos, who wrote his own republican document: Sentimientos de la Nación.

References

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5. Gutierrez Venable, Cecilia. José María Morelos y Pavón (1765-1815). Retrieved from blackpast.org
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8. Olvera, Alfonso. Jose maria morelos and pavon. Obtained from inside-mexico.com