Revolution at Querétaro: The Mexican Constitutional Convention of 1916–1917 9780292763869

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REVOLUTION AT QUERETARO The Mexican Constitutional Convention of 1916-1917

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Latin American Monographs, No. 33 Institute of Latin American Studies The University of Texas at Austin

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Revolution at Queretaro The Mexican Constitutional Convention of 1916-1917

byE.V.NIEMEYER, JR.

PUBLISHED FOR THE INSTITUTE OF LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS, AUSTIN

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isbn 978-0-292-76385-2, paperback

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This work is affectionately dedicated to J. Lloyd Mecham, Professor Emeritus of the University of Texas, and his colleagues, past and present, of the university's Institute of Latin American Studies—Professor Nettie Lee Benson, the late Carlos E. Castaneda, the late Charles W. Hackett, and Professor Lewis Hanke—all of whom stimulated my interest in Latin America.

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CONTENTS

Preface i. i857toic)i7: Background for a Revolutionary Constitution 2. Elections, Delegates, and Preliminary Sessions 3. The Apogee of Anticlericalism 4. The Evolution of a Labor Program 5. Article 27: The Attack on Vested Interests . 6. The Prevailing Winds of Reform 7. Concluding Sessions: The Politics of Discord . 8. In Retrospect

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Appendix A: Article 130 of the Constitution o f i 9 i 7 . Appendix B: Article 5 Compared with Draft Proposal . Appendix C: Article 123 Compared with Draft Proposal . Appendix D: Carranza's Draft Proposal of Article 27 . Appendix E: Article 27 Compared with Draft Proposal . Appendix F: Biographic Information on Delegates Referred to in Text (as of January 31, 1917) Glossary Bibliography Index

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3 -31 60 101 .134 166 .211 225 -235 . 237 -239 . 248 .250 263 269 275 283

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ILLUSTRATIONS

Following page 178 Venustiano Carranza, Leader of the Constitutionalist Movement The Iturbide Theater Carranza Delivering His Speech at the Inaugural Session Prominent Delegates to the Queretaro Convention Felix F. Palavicini Speaking during the Debate on Article 3 Three Friends, Prominent Leftists of the Convention Four Spokesmen for the Proletariat Delegates Who Participated in the Preparation of the Rouaix Draft of Article 123

Participants in Discussions of the Preliminary Draft of Article 27 The Original of the Constitution of 1917 Three "Jacobins" of the Queretaro Convention Delegates Taking the Oath to Protect and Defend the Constitution Map Mexico in 1916-1917

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PREFACE

A constitution has significance to the extent that it serves as a basis for the social and economic development of a people in an atmosphere of political freedom and tranquillity. Since its promulgation, the Mexican Constitution of 1917, with the demands of the revolutionary upheaval of 1910 incorporated into its provisions, has been the legal foundation for the greatest transformation experienced by the Mexican people since the Conquest. Honored and obeyed, dishonored and disobeyed, many times amended, it still serves as the instrument for achieving the national purpose, although some provisions describe a goal for the future rather than an effective reality. Nevertheless, its status is sacred, strengthened duringfifty-fiveyears of existence. So much for the Constitution of 1917—for this is neither an analysis of that document nor an account of its evolution from 1917 to 1972. Rather, it is a focus on the assembly that wrote the constitution. Strangely enough, no study in depth of the remarkable convention which produced the Constitution of 1917 has appeared in English. Social scientists have studied Mexico from one end to the other, have analyzed Mexican institutions, and have written much about Mexico and the Mexicans, but they have overlooked the Constitutional Convention of 1916-1917. It should not have been this way. As early as 1933 Professor Frank Tannenbaum wrote, "The Constitutional Convention of 1917 was the most important single event in the history of the Revolution."1 In 1952 Professor Ward M. Morton pointed out that "the radical nature of the reforms incorporated in the Mexican 1

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Frank Tannenbaum, Peace by Revolution: Mexico after 1910, p. 166.

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Preface

Constitution of 1917 and the consequent controversy have tended to obscure the constitution-making assembly.,,2 In 1968 Professor Charles C. Cumberland wrote, "The Convention which produced the Constitution of 1917 has unfortunately escaped the attention of serious scholars even though it was one of the most dramatic and important assemblies of the 20th century."3 A year later Professors James W. Wilkie and Albert L. Michaels could still write, ". . . there is no published scholarly study of the Convention and the men who drafted the Constitution."4 Cumberland, however, has somewhat ameliorated the situation by devoting a chapter to the Constitutional Convention in his outstanding, posthumously published book on the Constitutionalist movement.5 This book does not pretend to be a systematic analysis of the Constitutional Convention of 1916-1917 or a definitive biographic study of those delegates who played major roles in the deliberations. Rather, it is an attempt to record the unfolding of ideas expressed during the debates on the most distinctive articles of the constitution and to show how the ideals of the Mexican Revolution were written into fundamental law. It is an attempt to document the humanitarian concern of the delegates for their fellow countrymen and to show the strong determination that existed at Queretaro to lay the foundation for a more just and equitable future for Mexico. Finally, it is an attempt to shed some light on the delegates themselves, on who they were and where they came from, on their idiosyncrasies and attitudes, on their individual contributions to the writing of the Constitution of 1917. Many persons have helped me to make this work possible. I will always be grateful to them. I owe a lasting debt to Srta. Emma Villasenor of Mexico City, who made available source material unobtainable elsewhere, and who, together with her father, Ing. Adolfo ViUaseiior Norman of Zacatecas, talked with me at length about the convention 2

Ward M. Morton, "The Mexican Constitutional Congress of 1916-1917," Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 33, no. 1 (June 1952): 7. 3 Charles C. Cumberland, Mexico: The Struggle for Modernity, p. 357. 4 James W . Wilkie and Albert L. Michaels, eds., Revolution in Mexico: Years of Upheaval, 1910-1940, p. 288. 5 Charles C. Cumberland, Mexican Revolution: The Constitutionalist Years, chap. 9-

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Preface

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and the delegates; to Lie. Antonio Martinez Baez of Mexico City; to Professor Karl M. Schmitt of the University of Texas, who made helpful suggestions in the preparation of the manuscript; to Professor Lyle C. Brown of Baylor University, who furnished material from his own extensive collection on the revolution, read the chapters, made invaluable criticism, and—above all—encouraged me to undertake this task; and to my wife, Lala, who stayed after me to complete the job, only to be rewarded with the burden of typing the manuscript. E. V. NIEMEYER, JR.

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REVOLUTION AT QUERETARO The Mexican Constitutional Convention of 1916-1917

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