The great revolutionary war of 1790 was not confined to France, nor yetto Europe. Crossing the Atlantic, it equally affected the nations ofthe New World--especially those who for three centuries had submitted tothe yoke of Spain. These, profiting by the example set them by theEnglish colonies in the north, had taken advantage of the confusion ofaffairs in Europe, and declared their independence of the mothercountry.
Of the Spanish-American vice-kingdoms, New Spain--or Mexico moreproperly called--was the last to raise the standard of independence; andperhaps had the wise measures of her viceroy, Iturrigaray, been endorsedby the court of Madrid, the revolution might have been still furtherdelayed, if not altogether prevented.
Don Jose Iturrigaray, then vice-king of New Spain, on the eve of theinsurrection had deemed it wise policy to grant large politicalconcessions to the Creoles, or native white population of the country,and confer upon them certain rights of citizenship hitherto withheldfrom them.
These concessions might have satisfied the Creoles with the governmentof the mother country, and perhaps rendered their loyalty permanent.Mexico, like Cuba, might still have been a "precious jewel" in theSpanish crown, had it not been that the decrees of Iturrigaray produceddissatisfaction in another quarter--that is, among the pure Spaniardsthemselves--the _Gachupinos_, or colonists from Old Spain, establishedin Mexico; and who had up to this time managed the government of thecountry, to the complete exclusion of the Creoles from every office ofhonour or emolument.
These egoists, considering the acts of the viceroy ruinous to theirselfish interests, and the privileges they had hitherto enjoyed, seizedupon his person, and sent him to Spain to give an account of hisconduct.
Tyrannous counsels prevailed; the prudent plans of Iturrigaray wererejected, and Mexico fell back into the same political bondage underwhich she had groaned since the conquest of Cortez.
The dismissal of Iturrigaray took place in 1808. The Gachupinos werenot without apprehensions of an outbreak; but as two years passed overin tranquillity, their doubts became dissipated, and they ceased tobelieve in the possibility of such an event.
Theirs was but fancied security, and lasted only two years. In 1810 itwas abruptly terminated by the rising of Hidalgo in one of the northernprovinces, the news of which event descended upon the Gachupinos like athunderbolt.
Strange enough that a priest should be the leader of this movement infavour of liberty: since it was through priestly influence that Mexicohad all along been governed and oppressed! But in truth Hidalgo, andthe other priests who figured in this insurrection, were a verydifferent class of men from the great metropolitan ecclesiastics of thecapital and the larger cities, who conducted the affairs of state.Hidalgo was but a simple village _cura_--a child of the people--and so,too, were most of the other patriot priests who espoused the popularcause.
In October 1810, Hidalgo had nearly one hundred thousand men in theranks of his army. They were badly armed and equipped, but stillformidable from their very numbers. This immense host, which consistedprincipally of native Indians, overspreading the country like a torrent,could not fail to produce consternation in the minds of the Gachupinos.
Even among the Creoles themselves it created a certain confusion ofideas. All these were the sons or descendants of Spaniards, and ofcourse connected with the latter by ties of consanguinity. It was butnatural, therefore, that some of them should believe it to be their dutyto take the part of the government against the insurrection, whileothers should sacrifice the ties of family relationship to the morenoble idea of liberating their country from a foreign yoke.
This difference of opinion among the Creoles existed only in families ofthe higher and wealthier classes. Among the poorer Mexicans--thepeople--whether white or half caste, there existed only one sentiment,and that was in favour of independence from Spain. The Indians of pureblood had their own ideas. They had been more enslaved than theCreoles, and of course readily united with them for the expulsion of theSpaniard--their common oppressor. Some of them also indulged in theidle dream that circumstances might restore the ancient splendour of theAztec race.