1824 Constitution of Mexico in the context of "First Mexican Republic"

The Centralist Republic of Mexico (Spanish: República Centralista de México), or in the anglophone scholarship, the Central Republic, officially the Mexican Republic (Spanish: República Mexicana), was a unitary political regime established in Mexico on 23 October 1835, under a new constitution known as the Siete Leyes (lit. 'seven laws') after conservatives repealed the federalist Constitution of 1824 and ended the First Mexican Republic. It would ultimately last until 1846, when the Constitution of 1824 was restored at the beginning of the Mexican–American War.

Two presidents would predominate throughout this era: Santa Anna and Anastasio Bustamante.

The president of Mexico (Spanish: presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States (Spanish: presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander in chief of the Mexican Armed Forces. The office, which was first established by the federal Constitution of 1824, is currently held by Claudia Sheinbaum, who was sworn in on October 1, 2024. The office of the president is considered to be revolutionary, in the sense that the powers of office are derived from the Revolutionary Constitution of 1917. Another legacy of the Mexican Revolution is the Constitution's ban on re-election. Mexican presidents are limited to a single six-year term, called a sexenio. No one who has held the post, even on a caretaker basis, is allowed to run or serve again. The constitution and the office of the president closely follow the presidential system of government.

Coahuila y Tejas, officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila y Tejas (lit. 'Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila and Texas'), was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution.

It had two capitals: first Saltillo (1822–1825) for petition of Miguel Ramos Arizpe, that changing the capital for dispute of political groups, but Monclova recovered primacy because it was the colonial capital since 1689; this action provoked a struggle between the residents of Saltillo and Monclova in 1838–1840, but the political actions of Antonio López de Santa Anna convinced the monclovitas to accept the final change of political powers to Saltillo. In the case of Tejas its territory was organized for administrative purposes, with the state being divided into three districts: Béxar, comprising the area covered by Texas; Monclova, comprising northern Coahuila; and Río Grande Saltillo, comprising southern Coahuila.

The office of the vice president of Mexico was first created by the Constitution of 1824, then it was abolished in 1836 by the Seven Constitutional Laws, then briefly restored in 1846 following the restoration of the Constitution of 1824 and lasted a year until 1847 where it was again abolished through a constitutional amendment, it was later restored in 1904 through an amendment to the Constitution of 1857, before being finally abolished by the current Constitution of 1917. Many Mexican vice presidents acted as president during time between the end of the First Mexican Empire and the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire.

Las Siete Leyes (Spanish: [las ˈsjete ˈleʝes], or Seven Laws was a constitution that fundamentally altered the organizational structure of Mexico, away from the federal structure established by the Constitution of 1824, thus ending the First Mexican Republic and creating a unitary republic, the Centralist Republic of Mexico. Formalized under President Antonio López de Santa Anna on 15 December 1835, they were enacted in 1836. The Seven Laws curtailed the autonomy of states, turning them into mere departments with governors appointed by the president. They were intended to centralize and strengthen the national government. The aim of the previous constitution was to create a political system that would emulate the success of the United States, but after a decade of political turmoil, economic stagnation, and threats and actual foreign invasion, conservatives concluded that a better path for Mexico was centralized power.

1. The 15 articles of the first law granted citizenship to those who could read Spanish and had an annual income of 100 pesos, except for male domestic workers, who did not have the right to vote, nor did women of any class.
2. The second law allowed the President to close Congress and suppress the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. Military officers were not allowed to assume this office.
3. The 58 articles of the third law established a bicameral Congress of Deputies and Senators, elected by governmental organs. Deputies had four-year terms; Senators were elected for six years.
4. The 34 articles of the fourth law specified that the Supreme Court, the Senate of Mexico, and the Meeting of Ministers each nominate three candidates, and the lower house of the legislature would select from those nine candidates the President and Vice-president,
5. The fifth law had an 11-member Supreme Court elected in the same manner as the President and vice-president.
6. The 31 articles of the sixth Law replaced the federal republic's nominally-sovereign "states" with centralized "departments", fashioned after the French model, whose governors and legislators were designated by the President.
7. The seventh law prohibited reverting to the pre-reform laws for six years.

Las Siete Leyes were replaced in 1843 by the Bases Orgánicas.

Guadalupe Victoria (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡwaðaˈlupe βikˈtoɾja]; 29 September 1786 – 21 March 1843), born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican general and politician who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence and after the adoption of the Constitution of 1824, was elected as the first president of the United Mexican States. He was a deputy in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies for Durango and a member of the Supreme Executive Power following the downfall of the First Mexican Empire, which was followed by the 1824 Constitution and his presidency. He later served as Governor of Puebla.

Born in Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain (now Durango), he graduated from the College of San Ildefonso with a Bachelor of Laws degree. He joined the Mexican War of Independence under general José María Morelos. During the war, he became one of the most prominent independence generals, participating in numerous battles, including the siege of Cuautla, the capture of Oaxaca, and many battles in Veracruz. In 1817, his troops deserted him, and he stayed in hiding until 1821, when the independence movement was reinvigorated by generals Vicente Guerrero and Agustín de Iturbide, and he helped re-capture Veracruz.

The Consultation, also known as the Texian Government, served as the provisional government of Mexican Texas from October 1835 to March 1836 during the Texas Revolution. Tensions rose in Texas during early 1835 as throughout Mexico federalists began to oppose the increasingly centralist policies of the government. In the summer, Texians elected delegates to a political convention to be held in Gonzales in mid-October. Weeks before the convention and war began, the Texian Militia took up arms against Mexican soldiers at the Battle of Gonzales. The convention was postponed until November 1 after many of the delegates joined the newly organized volunteer Texian Army to initiate a siege of the Mexican garrison at San Antonio de Bexar. On November 3, a quorum was reached in San Antonio. Within days, the delegates passed a resolution to define why Texians were fighting. They expressed allegiance to the deposed Constitution of 1824 and maintained their right to form the General Council. In the next weeks, the council authorized the creation of a new regular army to be commanded by Sam Houston. As Houston worked to establish an army independent from the existing volunteer army, the council repeatedly interfered in military matters.

After authorizing an expedition to take Matamoros, Mexico, the council named several men, simultaneously, to organize and lead the assault, angry at the effect the expedition was having on existing Texian garrisons, Smith dissolved the council. Alleging that Smith did not have the authority to disband them, council members impeached him and lieutenant governor James W. Robinson was named acting governor.

Revolts against the Centralist Republic of Mexico proliferated after the fall of the First Mexican Republic in 1835, and would continue to agitate the Centralist Republic through its entire existence, until succeeding and having the Constitution of 1824 finally restored in 1846.

Many revolts were crushed by the centralist authorities, but most notably the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Yucatan succeeded in breaking away from Mexico and establishing themselves as independent nations albeit temporarily. It was the independence of the former and its annexation by the United States in 1845, while Texas was still considered a rebellious province by the centralist Mexican government, that led to the Mexican American War.