Benito Juárez

Benito Juárez was a Mexican liberal statesman and president who led the republic through civil war and French intervention and helped enact reforms limiting the power of the Catholic Church and military.

Reform War: A Mexican civil war from 1858 to 1861 between liberal and conservative governments. Juárez led the liberal government during this struggle to enforce the Reform Laws.
Plan of Tacubaya: A conservative plan announced in 1857 to abolish the Constitution of 1857 and establish a new political order. Its rejection of the constitution set off the crisis in which Juárez asserted constitutional authority.
Zapotec people: An Indigenous people of Oaxaca, Mexico, with a long history and living languages and communities. Juárez was born into a Zapotec-speaking family in Oaxaca.
Ignacio Comonfort: A Mexican general and president whose government promulgated the Constitution of 1857. Juárez served in Comonfort’s administration before the constitutional crisis split their paths.
French intervention in Mexico: A French invasion and occupation of Mexico from 1862 to 1867, which installed Emperor Maximilian I. Juárez’s government resisted the intervention and maintained the republic in exile.
Liberal Party (Mexico): A Mexican political movement that promoted federalism, civil liberties, and limits on the Catholic Church’s institutional power. Juárez governed as a leading liberal during the Reform War and the struggle against the empire.
Oaxaca: A state in southern Mexico whose capital city is also named Oaxaca. Juárez was born in the state and built his early political career there.
Miguel Miramón: A Mexican conservative general and president who led forces against the liberal government during the Reform War. Miramón’s rival government contested Juárez’s claim to constitutional authority.
Reform Laws: Mexican laws that reduced ecclesiastical and military privileges and transferred church property to private ownership. These measures gave legal form to the liberal program Juárez’s government defended.
Republican government of Mexico: Mexico’s constitutional government, headed by Juárez during the French intervention and the Second Mexican Empire. Its relocation across Mexico allowed Juárez to claim continuity despite losing the capital.

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