Preview

What Caused The Mexican Revolution

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
439 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Caused The Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was an armed struggle that began in 1910. Although there were many factors to the start of the Revolution, it was mainly caused by tensions over land reform, wage disparities, and political oppression.

The revolution was in part caused by unfair land reform policies. One policy that caused outrage among the indigenous peoples was the Ley de Terrenos Baldios, which caused 50 million hectares of land to be taken from indigenous farmers. One reaction to this was revolutionary leader Zapata’s Plan de Ayala, which called for the redistribution of land. The Ley de Terrenos Baldios shows the government’s disregard for the importance of farmers’ lives, while Zapata’s plan shows the people’s recognition of the government’s mistreatment. Unfair land reform caused negative reactions toward the government. One of the main revolutionary leaders’ entire platform was dedicated to land reform, showing that unfair land reform was a cause for revolution.

Another cause of the revolution was economic tensions over wages. Indigenous
…show more content…
Diaz prevented opposition with the Rurales, who killed the Flores Magon brothers in 1906. In 1910, Madero, who would become the president after Diaz, wrote the Plan de San Luis Potosi which promised political reform after the overthrow of Diaz. The killing of the Flores Magon brothers is one example of Diaz using his power to oppress the people while Madero’s plan is an example of the people’s desire for political reform. The Plan de San Luis Potosi is often thought to be the sparking point for the actual overthrow of Diaz, which shows how important political change was to the people of Mexico. The political suppression of people caused anger and eventually revolution in Mexico.

The Mexican Revolution ended in 1920, lasting ten years in total. These ten years of struggle were caused by tensions over land reform, wage disparities, and political

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The novel is written from the point of view of the author, Rosario Castellanos. However, a seven…

    • 2340 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    D. Mexican War, 1846-1848--was an armed conflict between the United States of America and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory despite the 1836 Texas Revolution.…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It was beginning of 1910 when the Mexican Revolution had begun. There were two important activist who impacted the Mexican Revolution. Emiliano Zapata and Francisco Villa, both were involved in ending the Mexican Revolution, but for different reasons.…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1910, the Mexican Revolution began in retaliation of the Mexican President Porfirio Diaz's dictatorship. Diaz was the dictator of Mexico and failed to support the lower classes of Mexico during his rule. During his years of ruling Mexico, a barrier between the poor class and rich class was obvious. Several families in Mexico, who were a minority of the fifteen million…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Who Is Emiliano Zapata?

    • 2789 Words
    • 12 Pages

    For its time the plan would be revolutionary, but looking into it is rather conservative. The way of seeing this is in article seven, which says “…the lands, forest and waters are monopolized in only a few hands: for this reason, we expropriate without previous indemnization one third of those monopolies from the powerful proprietors …this shall correct the lack of prosperity and increase the well-being of the Mexicans.” This is conservative compared to communist or socialist standard, since it allows the hacendado to keep two-thirds of their lands, yet this would be the necessary step to start the issue of agrarian reform. This document also held an almost sacred level for Zapata and the Zapatista since this represented Zapata’s vision of working society for Morelos. His idea of land redistribution and comes from his motivation for helping the campesinos of Morelos.…

    • 2789 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The difference in the Zapatista Rebellion of 1990 was that it consisted of different people and style of approach to the issues they were fighting for. To start off, the Zapatista consisted of more indigenous people who were focused on land reforms, whereas the Mexican Revolution consisted of working class and less Indigenous people. The reason could be that those who were fighting the revolution thought of themselves to be more "educated" and this could have affected their views when compared to the Indigenous people. The second difference is how the movement was inspired, which can be understood because the Mexican Revolution was more based off of communism. Whereas the Zapatista Rebellion was more military based and it can be seen through…

    • 171 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Latin American Revolution began in 1807. The colonies wanted to be free like the new American states. The people had wanted rights and due to an economic depression and corrupt autocratic rulers, the wealth was in the hands of the few and powerful. The colonies won independence from Europe in 1824. However, while the people did gain more freedom and the old social classes were forgotten, regional rivalries prevented the colonies from becoming a united nation. Leaders often fought for power and sometimes…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Latin America Dbq Analysis

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Latin American countries were also hindered by economic matters. The countries mostly affected by economic transformations include Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, and Mexico. In Brazil, economic changes began to take place once coffee began to become exported, and by 1860, it became Brazil’s largest import crop. As presented in Document 5, the fazendas, or coffee estates, required much labor and cost to produce and preserve. Most of Brazil’s population was enslaved, and so the workers confined themselves to living an ‘isolated’ life dedicated to the fazendas. They had “no illusions of independence”, although the writer of Document 5 makes it seem as their job was not as dreadful as it was made out to be. In Mexico, haciendas, or large estates, primarily made up the land system. As described in Document 6, the haciendas included “all the customary accessories of an independent community”, and they are mostly described, by the writer, as great, striking features of Mexico. They were solely developed as economic enterprises that granted profit and linked regional or international markets. However, Mexico had a very large rural peasantry and the size of working classes increased. As the size of the haciendas expanded, the peasants were pressured. This soon led to strikes and labor unrest. These frustrations erupted into the Mexican Revolution, which lasted for ten years. Seven years after the conclusion of the war, in 1917, the hacienda system was abolished by law. In Cuba, the majority of plantations were under American rule. The investments Americans made in Cuba allowed for the mass production of sugar cane. The plantations were highly profitable, and, as shown in Document 4, worked upon by both men and women. These economic changes in Latin America eventually led to prosperity and…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Mexican Revolution does have several distinct features. While the revolution originally started as an up rise against authority, it eventually became a multi-sided civil war. The purpose of the Mexican Revolution was to improve the standard of living for the middle class. By the end of the revolution, the people had overthrown a dictatorship and established a constitutional republic. The revolution was officially ended by in a peaceful manner with the establishment of the Constitution of Mexico. However, this revolution is more controversial since some historians debate its status.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Mexican-American War all started by Texas. They wanted its independence and started fighting with Mexico and that lead to the Mexican American War and led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 where they paid $15 millions of dollars for Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California and bits of other states as well. Mexico was filled with internal struggles that approached on the Civil War. However, it was refusing to recognize the independence of Texas. Mexico threatened war with U.S if it took possession of Texas. Americans moved to Texas Territory, the cry grew for Texas to be part of the U.S. This began to happen in 1835, when Texas declared its independence from Mexico.The Mexican-American War was carried on for two years, and clashes…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Modern Day Zapatistas

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Zapatistas used many justified ways to fight the control over Mexico. The modern day leader and spokesman…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mexican War Causes

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Mexican War had numerous causes, some of which were extensive and others that were petty. The most essential, however, were the Texas crisis, westward American movement, the ideal of Manifest Destiny, and the behavior implemented by the President Tyler and President Polk. The fundamental cause of the war was Texas and California. When Texas split from Mexico in 1836, Mexico did not distinguish it as a self- government but as a depraved province. Mexico still considered this a part of their territory, but the United States regime differed. Mexico was exasperated as Texas entered the Union as the 28th state and thought that the takeover of Texas was a call for the necessity of war. Additionally, when President James Polk had John Slidell…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The U.S war with Mexico continues to be a divisive topic all through America classes. The American and Mexican war was a 2 year conflict that began in 1846.At the end of end the war the U.S ended up with more land than before. Although the United States war against Mexico maybe viewed as controversial,, the war was just due to Texas needed the U.S, Government of Mexico, and violence towards Americans. Generally speaking the war was justifiable due to Texas needing the U.S. Texas only had two small forces, one had 400 people. “On February 23, 1836 Santa Ana’s troops surrounded San Antonio.…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After a full scale-war the United States finally defeated the Mexicans. The States decided to ratify a Treaty on March 10, 1848 called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This gave the States New Mexico and California as well as 500,000 square miles. After the treaty, Mexico ended up getting new borders in the Rio Grande. The United States did not just take this territory though; they paid Mexico 15 million dollars for the land, which at the time was a lot of money. All this dispute and fighting was the result of the 2 nations which disputed over natural resources, the different ideologies, the annexing of Texas and the dispute over…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thus, the railways inadvertently began to draw thousands of Mexican workers steadily northward” (Morales and Schmal). The railroads allowed Mexican workers to move northward for more work and, thus, created northern migration that would boast the economies of northern Mexico. The second photograph is important because it shows how rebels directed their attacks on the railroads. They believed by destroying the railroads they would be able to destroy Zapata and overthrow this rule by infiltrating Mexico’s…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays