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Guadalupe Victoria: His Personality as a Cause of his Failure
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
Extract
Guadalupe Victoria, first president of Mexico (1824–1829), in many respects deserved the title Benemérito given him on numerous occasions by the writers of his time. He was honest, a sincere patriot, dedicated to the well being of his people. He died poor and in debt, a rare fate for Mexican presidents. He was the only president to complete his term of office in the first twenty-five years of Mexican history.
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- Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1967
References
1 This study is based on material from the author’s dissertation, “Guadalupe Victoria, Revolutionary Patriot and First President of Mexico, 1786–1843,” unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Texas, 1951. See also Letters of Henry George Ward and Richard Pakenham, found in Foreign Affairs Section, General Correspondence, Public Records Office, London 50/ 1–54, 1822–1829, hereinafter referred to as F. O. 50/4, 6, etc.; Cody, W.F., “British Interests in Independence of Mexico, 1809–1827,” unpublished Ph. D. thesis, University of London, 1954 Google Scholar, was helpful. The British Museum, the University of Texas Archives and the University of Mexico Archives were utilized. This study was made possible by a sabbatical granted by Austin College for the year 1963–1964. A modified version of this article was given as a paper to the Latin American Seminar of Professors R.A. Humphrey and John Lynch at the University of London, and Texas Christian University’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta.
2 Ramírez, José Fernández, Noticias Históricas y Estadísticas de Durango, 1849–1850 (México, 1851), pp. 82–84 Google Scholar. Ramírez is the only authority we have on Victoria’s Durango education; El Universal, Sept. 27, 1931; Flaccus, “Guadalupe Victoria,” pp. 19–21; Carlos María Bustamante, “El General Guadalupe Victoria,” in El Siglo XIX, a collection of pamphlets; Ward, H.G., México (London, 1829), I, 143–151.Google Scholar
3 Flaccus, “Guadalupe Victoria,” pp. 44–192; Alamán, Lucas, História de Méjico (México, 1849–1852), V Google Scholar, passim; Zamacois, Niceto de, História de Méjico desde sus tiempos mas remotos hasta nuestros días (Barcelona y México, 1879), X Google Scholar, passim.
4 Flaccus, “Guadalupe Victoria,” pp. 121–137; Ward, México, I, 170–175; Bancroft, H.H., History of Mexico (San Francisco, 1885), V, 17Google Scholar; Strode, Hudson, Timeless Mexico (New York, 1945), p. 117 Google Scholar; London Times, passim, 1824–1825.
5 La Águila Mexicana, Sept. 28, Oct. 8, 10, 1824; El Sol, Sept. 28, 1824; El Oriente de Jalapa, Oct. 6, 1824; The National Gazette of Philadelphia, Feb. 2, 1825, quoted by La Águila Mexicana, April 2, 1825, compared Victoria to George Washington; London Times, Nov. 18, 1824.
6 Bullock, W., Six Months Residence and Travels in Mexico (London, 1824), pp. 452–460 Google Scholar. Bullock said he had never been more honored than when Victoria invited him to join his party.
7 Anon., , A Sketch of the Customs and Society of Mexico in a Series of Familiar Letters and a Journal of Travels into the Interior during the years 1824, 1825, 1826 (London, 1828), pp. 32–36 Google Scholar; Anon., , Notes and Reflections on Mexico, its Mines, Policy, etc. by a Traveller some years a resident in that other America (London, 1827), p. 46.Google Scholar
8 “Letters from a correspondent,” London Times, April 20, 1828; Cody, British Interests, refers to an era of good feeling, but stresses the overselling of Mexico to British investors, pp. 227 f.
9 This theme is developed in Cody, British Interests, p. 156 and passim. See also Ward, Mexico, II, passim.
10 Galván, M., Calendario de Galván para el Año de 1847 (México, 1847), p. 52 Google Scholar; Lionel Hervey to Rt. Honorable George Canning, Mexico, Dec. 16, 1824, F. O. 50/16, no. 1.
11 Guadalupe Victoria, “Discurso pronunciado por El Ecsmo. Sr. D. Guadalupe Victoria …” in La Águila, Oct. 11, 1824. Victoria was installed three months earlier than had been planned; his term was not supposed to begin until Jan. 1, 1825. El Sol, Oct. 17, 1824.
12 La Águila Mexicana, Oct. 14, 1825.
13 Ward to Canning, Mexico, June 1, 1825, F.O. 50/13, no. 5; Ward to Canning, Mexico, Nov. 25, 1825, F.O. 50/15, no. 28; Flaccus, “Guadalupe Victoria, the Good Neighbor,” in Corner, R. (ed.), Essays in Mexican History (Austin, Texas, 1958)Google Scholar, hereinafter referred to as Flaccus, “Victoria, Good Neighbor,” pp. 104–112.
14 Ward to Canning (Secret and Urgent), Mexico, July 24, 1825, F.O. 50/13, no. 21. Victoria told Ward about his intention to be a mediator for all factions. Hervey to Canning, Mexico, Dec. 16, 1824, F.O. 50/16, no. 1; Ward to Canning, Mexico, Oct. 8–17, 1825, F. O. 50/15, no. 44.
15 Anon, ., “Politics of Mexico,” in North American Historical Review, XXXI (1830), p. 129 Google Scholar. Some authorities think the author was H.G. Ward.
16 Cody, British Interests, p. 410; Ward, Mexico, I and II, passim; Ward to Canning, Mexico, Aug. 23, 1825, F. O. 50/14, no. 27.
17 Ward to Canning, Mexico, Mar. 15, 1826, F. O. 50/20, no. 19; Ward to Canning, Mexico, Sept. 30, 1825, F. O. 50/14, no. 42 cipher, : “Victoria has respectable abilities and great influence, but he is ambitious”; Cody, British Interests, p. 428.Google Scholar
18 Hardy, R. W.H., Travels in Mexico in 182$, 1826, 1821 and 1828 (London, 1829), pp. 10–12, 18–29Google Scholar. Hardy later wrote a bitter diatribe against Mexico, sparing only Victoria, pp. 518–529.
19 Ward to Canning, Mexico, March 15, 1826, F.O. 50/20, no. 18; Ward to Canning, Mexico, Aug. 26, 1825, F. O. 50/14, no. 26.
20 Ward to Canning, Mexico, March 12, 1826, F.O. 50/20, no. 12, Feb. 6, 1826, F.O. 50/20, no. 6, June 20, 1826, F. O. 50/21, no. 71; Pakenham to Canning, Mexico, April 30, 1827, F. O. 50/34, no. 4 and enclosures.
21 Ward to Canning, Mexico, Sept. 19, 1825, F. O. 50/14, no. 34, Oct. 8, 1825, F. O. 50/15, no. 44, and Nov. 23, 1825, F. O. 50/16, no. 60.
22 La Águila Mexicana, Oct. 14, 1824; ibid., Jan. 15, 1825 quotes an unnamed Philadelphia paper as hailing Victoria’s conference as a really Republican device. It occurred before the first known one attributed to John Quincy Adams in 1825.
23 Donatier, Luis (ed.), Anon., , La Guerra de Independencia en las Provincias de Vera Cruz (México, 1948), p. 148.Google Scholar
24 Flaccus, “Victoria, Good Neighbor,” passim.
25 Ward to Canning, Mexico, Oct. 8–17, 1825, F. O. 50/15, no. 44; Ward to Canning, Mexico, Dec. 26, 1825, F.O. 50/15, no. 71.
26 Loc. cit., Oct. 22–25, 1826, F. O. 50/25, no. 128.
27 Flaccus, “Guadalupe Victoria, Mexican Patriot,” pp. 600–619 has a detailed account of the election of 1828. See also Pakenham to Earl of Aberdeen, Mexico, Jan. 10, 1829, F. O. 50/53, no. 5; Pakenham to Vaughn, Mexico, Jan. 13, 1829, F. O. 50/53, no. 6 and copy.
28 Pakenham to Vaughn, loc. cit.
29 Anon., “Extract of a Journal kept on the Occurrences in this City from the 1st of December to the morning of the 5th,” translation, Charles T. O’Gorman file, Mexico City, F. O. 50/49, no number; O’Gorman to John Backhouse, Consulate General of Mexico, Dec. 9, 1828, F.O. 50/49, no number. O’Gorman claimed that Victoria was an outright traitor.
30 Mendevil, José Manuel Tornel y, Breve Reseña Histórica de los acontecimientos mas notables de la nación mexicana desde el año 1821 hasta nuestros días (Mexico City, 1852), pp. 332–333, 402–403Google Scholar; Zamacois, Historia de Méjico, XI, 693–694, said that Victoria wanted to stop useless bloodshed; Ward, Mexico, II, 590–591.
31 Tornel, Breve Reseña Histórica, pp. 394–395; Ward, Mexico, II, 591; Pakenham to Earl of Aberdeen, Mexico, March 4, 1829, F.O. 50/53, no. 29, March 4, 1829, F.O. 50/53, no. 32, March 4, 1829, F. O. 50/53, no. 24; Zamacois, História de Méjico, XI, 70–73, says that Pakenham was declared persona non grata and told to leave by Lorenzo Zavala. Pakenham complained to Victoria who made Zavala apologize. The writer could not find this incident in Pakenham’s diplomatic correspondence.
32 Felix, Victoria Gómez, Guadalupe Victoria, Primer Prendente de México (México, 1952), p. 179 Google Scholar; Mexico, Marina, Secretario de Guerra y, Documentos Históricos Mexicanos (Mexico City, n.d.), I, 61Google Scholar. See also “Expediente de General Guadalupe Victoria,” in Archivo de la Secretaria de la Defensa de México.
33 Morris, Dr. David M.D., London, Nov. 26, 1963, interview: “It is extremely unlikely that Victoria could have succumbed to epilepsy or indeed contracted epilepsy for the first time at the age of fifty three. Furthermore, the symptoms described in the medical reports you showed me are not those of epilepsy. Any assumptions about Victoria’s being an epileptic during his term of office would be unwarrantable.” Ing. Rouaix, Pastor, Diccionário Qeográphico Histórico y Biográfico del Estado de Durango (México, 1946), p. 440 Google Scholar claims he died of epilepsy but offers no evidence for his statement.
34 Letter from Dr. W.H. McClure, Kermit, Texas. Dr. McClure submitted Victoria’s medical reports to a number of doctors. He also quoted an article by Thomas, Dr. Juergen E. to General Practitioners Journal, XXXI (Feb., 1965)Google Scholar, no. 2, on the resemblance of hypoglycemia to epilepsy.
35 M. Galván, Calendàrio …, pp. 53–54.
38 Anon., La Guerra de Independencia en Vera Cruz, p. 145.
37 Bullock, Six Months Residence, pp. 453–454; Hardy, Travels in Mexico, p. 10. Hardy stresses Victoria’s lack of energy as does Ward who ascribes it to illness. Ward to Canning, Mexico, July 24, 1825, F.O. 50/13, no. 21. Dr. McClure and associates state this is a symptom of hypoglycemia.
38 Anon, ., Sketch of the Customs and Manners of Mexico (London, 1838), pp. 32–36.Google Scholar
39 Najera, Francisco Castillo, “Los Parientes del General Victoria. El Hero no tuvo descendencia legítima,” in Excelsior [Mexico City], Oct. 19, 1949 Google Scholar; Negri, Carlos De, “Buenos Dias, Rectificaciones Históricas,” Excelsior, Oct. 20, 1949 Google Scholar; Mrs. Gómez would never grant this writer an interview.
40 Ward to Canning, Mexico, May 29, 1826, F. O. 50/21, no. 52, 53, and Feb. 1, 1827, F. O. 50/31B, no. 34; Cody, British Interests, pp. 442–443; Orozco, Luis Chavez, “Un Esfuerzo de Mexico por la Independencia de Cuba,” in Archivo Histórico Diplomático Mexicano (México, 1930)Google Scholar, passim.
41 El Cometa, Nov. 8, 1832, one of a bound volume of miscellaneous newspapers entitled El Voto Nacional, July-Dec, 1832. It contains an interesting dialogue purporting to be between the ghosts of Iturbide and Guerrero who meet in the hereafter following Guerrero’s execution. Guerrero says in answer to a question by Iturbide, “General Victoria has salvaged his existence but is condemned to an obscure life in retirement and his brother has been shot.” Signed L. E.
42 Frances Calderón de la Barca, Life in Mexico during a residence of two years in that country (n.p., n.d.), pp. 23–24, 280.
43 El Cosmopolita, Mexico City, March 29, 1843.