Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Augustine of Hippo, applies to two distinct types of Catholic religious orders, dating back to the first millennium but formally created in the 13th century, some Anglican religious orders, created in the 19th century, though technically there is no "Order of St. Augustine" in Anglicanism. Within Anglicanism the Rule of St. Augustine is followed only by women, who form several different communities of Augustinian nuns in the Anglican Communion. Within Roman Catholicism, Augustinians may be members of either one of two separate and distinct types of Order: Several mendicant Orders of friars, who lived a mixed religious life of contemplation and apostolic ministry and follow the Rule of St. Augustine, a brief document providing guidelines for living in a religious community; the largest and most familiar known as the Hermits of St. Augustine and known as the Austin friars in England, is now referred to as the Order of St. Augustine. Two other Orders, the Order of Augustinian Recollects and the Discalced Augustinians, were once part of the Augustinian Order under a single Prior General.
The Recollect friars, founded in 1588 as a reform movement of the Augustinian friars in Spain, became autonomous in 1612 with their first Prior General, Enrique de la Sagrada. The Discalced friars became an independent congregation with their own Prior General in 1592, were raised to the status of a separate mendicant order in 1610. Various congregations of clerics known as Canons Regular who follow the Rule of St. Augustine, embrace the evangelical counsels and lead a semi-monastic life, while remaining committed to pastoral care appropriate to their primary vocation as priests, they form one large community which might serve parishes in the vicinity, are organized into autonomous congregations, which are distinct by region. In a religious community, "charism" is the particular contribution that each religious order, congregation or family and its individual members embody; the teaching and writing of Augustine, the Augustinian Rule, the lives and experiences of Augustinians over sixteen centuries help define the ethos and special charism of the order.
As well as telling his disciples to be "of one mind and heart on the way towards God", Augustine of Hippo taught that "Nothing conquers except truth and the victory of truth is love", the pursuit of truth through learning is key to the Augustinian ethos, balanced by the injunction to behave with love towards one another. It does not unduly single out the exceptional favour the gifted, nor exclude the poor or marginalised. Love is not earned through human merit, but received and given by God's free gift of grace undeserved yet generously given; these same imperatives of affection and fairness have driven the order in its international missionary outreach. This balanced pursuit of love and learning has energised the various branches of the order into building communities founded on mutual affection and intellectual advancement; the Augustinian ideal is inclusive. Augustine spoke passionately of God's "beauty so ancient and so new", his fascination with beauty extended to music, he taught that "whoever sings prays twice" and music is a key part of the Augustinian ethos.
Contemporary Augustinian musical foundations include the famous Augustinerkirche in Vienna, where orchestral masses by Mozart and Schubert are performed every week, as well as the boys' choir at Sankt Florian in Austria, a school conducted by Augustinian canons, a choir now over 1,000 years old. Augustinians have produced a formidable body of scholarly works; the Canons Regular follow the more ancient form of religious life which developed toward the end of the first millennium and thus predates the founding of the friars. They represent a clerical adaptation of monastic life, as it grew out of an attempt to organize communities of clerics to a more dedicated way of life, as St. Augustine himself had done, it paralleled the lay movement of monasticism or the eremetical life from which the friars were to develop. In their tradition, the canons added the commitment of religious vows to their primary vocation of pastoral care; as the canons became independent of the diocesan structures, they came to form their own monastic communities.
The official name of the Order is the Canons Regular of St. Augustine. Like the Order of St. Benedict, it is not one legal body, but a union of various independent congregations. Though they follow the Rule of St. Augustine, they differ from the friars in not committing themselves to corporate poverty, a defining element of the mendicant orders. Unlike the friars and like monks, the canons are organized as one large community to which they are attached for life with a vow of stability, their houses are given the title of an abbey, from which the canons tend to various surrounding towns and villages for spiritual services. The religious superior of their major houses is titled an abbot. Smaller communities are headed by provost; the distinctive habit of canon regulars is the rochet, worn over a cassock or tunic, indicative of their clerical origins. This has evolved in various ways among different congregations, from wearing the full rochet to the wearing of a white tunic and scapular; the Austrian congregation, as an example, wears a sarozium, a narrow band of white cloth—a vestige of the scapular—which hangs down both front and back over a cassock for their weekday wear.
For more solemn occasions, they wear the rochet under a violet mozzetta. Communities of canons served the poor and the sick throughout Europe, through both nur
New Spain
The Viceroyalty of New Spain was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. It covered a huge area that included territories in North America, South America and Oceania, it originated in 1521 after the fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, the main event of the Spanish conquest, which did not properly end until much as its territory continued to grow to the north. It was created on 8 March 1535 as a viceroyalty, the first of four viceroyalties Spain created in the Americas, its first viceroy was Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, the capital of the viceroyalty was Mexico City, established on the ancient Mexico-Tenochtitlan. It included what is now Mexico plus the current U. S. states of California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and parts of Idaho, Wyoming, Kansas and Louisiana. The political organization divided the viceroyalty into captaincies general; the kingdoms were those of New Spain. There were four captaincies: Captaincy General of the Philippines, Captaincy General of Cuba, Captaincy General of Puerto Rico and Captaincy General of Santo Domingo.
These territorial subdivisions had a captain general. In Guatemala, Santo Domingo and Nueva Galicia, these officials were called presiding governors, since they were leading royal audiences. For this reason, these hearings were considered "praetorial." There were two great estates. The most important was the Marquisate of the Valley of Oaxaca, property of Hernán Cortés and his descendants that included a set of vast territories where marquises had civil and criminal jurisdiction, the right to grant land and forests and within which were their main possessions; the other estate was the Duchy of Atlixco, granted in 1708, by King Philip V to José Sarmiento de Valladares, former viceroy of New Spain and married to the Countess of Moctezuma, with civil and criminal jurisdiction over Atlixco, Guachinango and Tula de Allende. King Charles III introduced reforms in the organization of the viceroyalty in 1786, known as Bourbon reforms, which created the intendencias, which allowed to limit, in some way, the viceroy's attributions.
New Spain developed regional divisions, reflecting the impact of climate, indigenous populations, mineral resources. The areas of central and southern Mexico had dense indigenous populations with complex social and economic organization; the northern area of Mexico, a region of nomadic and semi-nomadic indigenous populations, was not conducive to dense settlements, but the discovery of silver in Zacatecas in the 1540s drew settlement there to exploit the mines. Silver mining not only became the engine of the economy of New Spain, but vastly enriched Spain and transformed the global economy. New Spain was the New World terminus of the Philippine trade, making the viceroyalty a vital link between Spain's New World empire and its Asian empire. From the beginning of the 19th century, the viceroyalty fell into crisis, aggravated by the Peninsular War, its direct consequence in the viceroyalty, the political crisis in Mexico in 1808, which ended with the government of viceroy José de Iturrigaray and gave rise to the Conspiracy of Valladolid and the Conspiracy of Querétaro.
This last one was the direct antecedent of the Mexican War of Independence, when concluding in 1821, disintegrated the viceroyalty and gave way to the Mexican Empire, in which Agustín de Iturbide would be crowned. The Kingdom of New Spain was established following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521 as a New World kingdom dependent on the Crown of Castile, since the initial funds for exploration came from Queen Isabella. Although New Spain was a dependency of Spain, it was a kingdom not a colony, subject to the presiding monarch on the Iberian Peninsula; the monarch had sweeping power in the overseas territories,The king possessed not only the sovereign right but the property rights. Every privilege and position, economic political, or religious came from him, it was on this basis that the conquest and government of the New World was achieved. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was established in 1535 in the Kingdom of New Spain, it was the first New World viceroyalty and one of only two in the Spanish empire until the 18th century Bourbon Reforms.
The Spanish Empire comprised the territories in the north overseas'Septentrion', from North America and the Caribbean, to the Philippine and Caroline Islands. At its greatest extent, the Spanish crown claimed on the mainland of
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
Don Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora was one of the first great intellectuals born in the Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. He was a criollo patriot. A polymath and writer, he held academic positions. Sigüenza was born in Mexico City in 1645 to Don Carlos de Sigüenza y Benito from Madrid, to Doña Dionisia Suárez de Figueroa y Góngora, born in Seville, whom the elder Don Carlos met following his arrival New Spain in 1640. Sigüenza was the second first male of nine siblings, he was related to the famous baroque Spanish poet Luis de Góngora through his mother. He studied mathematics and astronomy under the direction of his father, a tutor for the royal family in Spain. Sigüenza entered the Society of Jesus as a novice August 17, 1660, took simple vows August 15, 1662 at Tepotzotlán, but he was dismissed from the Jesuits in 1668, for flouting Jesuit discipline and going out secretly at night. He repented and pleaded to be reinstated, but the head of the Jesuits, the General of the Order, rejected his plea, saying "The cause of the expulsion of this person is so disreputable, as he himself confesses, that he does not deserve this boon."
This dismissal was not only a grave disappointment and a blot on his reputation, but it meant that he would be financially insecure for the rest of this life. He became a secular priest without a parish or a steady income, so the multiple offices he sought during his lifetime were to support himself and his extended family, all of whom, including his father, were dependent on him to the end of his life, he was ordained a secular priest in 1673. He studied at the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico following his dismissal from the Jesuits, excelled at mathematics and developed a lifelong interest in the sciences; when a faculty position in Mathematics & Astrology was available, Sigüenza sought to compete for it, although he did not hold a degree in the subjects. It was not clear that he could be eligible to compete, but Sigüenza argued to do so. Selection for university posts was via oposiciones or competition between candidates. A question was posed and the candidate had to complete a response within 24 hours to be judged by a panel.
Ghost writers or ringers sometimes completed the exercise and Sigüenza argued that his chief rival for the position, the person who vociferously argued that Sigüenza had no standing to compete, had to be kept under surveillance during the competition to prevent cheating. On July 20, 1672, he was named to the chair of Astrology, his record as a professor was marred because he was absent from the classroom due to his researches on various topics and to the pressing of other obligations he took on for fiscal reasons. One of his biographers suggests that his absences from the university might be attributable to his disdain for astrology, which he considered "a diabolical invention and alien to science, method and truth."In 1681 Sigüenza wrote the book Philosophical Manifest Against the Comets Stripped of their Dominion over the Timid in which he tried to dismiss fears of impending superstitious predictions that linked comets to calamitous events. The Tyrolean Jesuit Eusebio Kino, who had come to New Spain to evangelize on the northern frontier, met Sigüenza at his home in Mexico City.
Both men had observed the comet of 1680 and both were keenly interested in the phenomenon. The warm feelings between the two soured with Sigüenza believing that Kino belittled Mexican-born Spaniards' level learning. Kino published a strong criticism of Sigüenza's opinion without naming him specifically. Kino's criticism was that because they were contradictory to established astronomical/astrological belief in the heavens. Sigüenza cited authors such as Copernicus, Descartes and Tycho Brahe. In 1690 Sigüenza moved to defend his previous work by publishing "Libra Astronómica y Filosófica", he directly attacks Kino by saying "I hereby point out that neither his Reverence nor any other mathematician if he is Ptolemy himself, can set up dogmas in these sciences, because authority has no place in them at all, but only proof and demonstration." Theology was known as the "Queen of the Sciences", but Sigüenza's stance is on the side of science as defined in the modern era. In the 1680s, he prepared the first-ever map of all of New Spain, which won high praise and was copied.
He drew hydrologic maps of the Valley of Mexico. In 1692 King Charles II named him official geographer for the colony; as royal geographer, he participated in the 1692 expedition to Pensacola Bay, Florida under command of Andrés de Pez, to seek out defensible frontiers against French encroachment. He mapped Pensacola Bay and the mouth of the Mississippi: in 1693, he described the terrain in Descripción del seno de Santa María de Galve, alias Panzacola, de la Mobila y del Río Misisipi; when a Spanish attempt to colonize Pensacola Bay in 1698 was thwarted by the arrival of a French fleet, Sigüenza was blamed by the leader of the expedition, Andrés de Arriola, for inciting the French action. He defended himself against these charges in 1699. In order to supplement his modest salary as a professor, he took on a number of other posts, he was chaplain of the Hospital del Amor de Dios from 1682 until his death. This post provided him with living quarters, which given his strapped financial circumstances was a maj
Faculty of Arts and Design
The Faculty of Arts and Design, is a college of art in Xochimilco, Mexico City. The school is part the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, is responsible for teaching painting and graphic design, with undergraduate and graduate studies in San Carlos. It's regarded as one of the best art schools in Mexico; the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas was spun off from the Academy of San Carlos. The graduate program is regarded as a research institute. Mónica Mayer Gabriel Orozco, attended 1981 to 1984. Melchor Peredo Puri Yáñez, attended ENAP from 1956 to 1958. Mexican art Official Website Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico is a public research university in Mexico. It ranks in world rankings based on the university's extensive research and innovation. UNAM's campus is a UNESCO World Heritage site, designed by some of Mexico's best-known architects of the 20th century. Murals in the main campus were painted by some of the most recognized artists in Mexican history, such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros. In 2016, it had an acceptance rate of only 8%. UNAM generates a number of strong research publications and patents in diverse areas, such as robotics, computer science, physics, human-computer interaction, philosophy, among others. All Mexican Nobel laureates are either alumni or faculty of UNAM. UNAM was founded, in its modern form, on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to its predecessor, the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico. UNAM obtained its autonomy from the government in 1929; this has given the university the freedom to define its own curriculum and manage its own budget without interference from the government.
This has had a profound effect on academic life at the university, which some claim boosts academic freedom and independence. UNAM was the birthplace of the student movement of 1968, which turned into a nationwide rebellion against autocratic rule and began Mexico's three-decade journey toward democracy; the university was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra Minister of Education in the Porfirio Díaz regime, who sought to create a different institution from its 19th-century precursor, the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, founded on 21 September 1551 by a royal decree signed by Crown Prince Phillip on behalf of Charles I of Spain and brought to a definitive closure in 1865 by Maximilian I of Mexico. Instead of reviving what he saw as an anachronistic institution with strong ties to the Roman Catholic Church, he aimed to merge and expand Mexico City's decentralized colleges of higher education and create a new university, secular in nature and national in scope, that could reorganize higher education within the country, serve as a model of positivism and encompass the ideas of the dominant Mexican liberalism.
The project unified the Fine Arts, Political Science, Engineering, Medicine and the National Preparatory schools. The new university's challenges were political, due to the ongoing Mexican Revolution and the fact that the federal government had direct control over the university's policies and curriculum; this opposition led to disruptions in the function of the university when political instability forced resignations in the government, including that of President Díaz. Internally, the first student strike occurred in 1912 to protest examination methods introduced by the director of the School of Jurisprudence, Luis Cabrera. By July of that year, a majority of the law students decided to abandon the university and join the newly created Free School of Law. In 1914 initial efforts to gain autonomy for the university failed. In 1920, José Vasconcelos became rector. In 1921, he created the school's coat-of-arms: the image of an eagle and a condor surrounding a map of Latin America, from Mexico's northern border to Tierra del Fuego, the motto, "The Spirit shall speak for my race".
Efforts to gain autonomy for the university continued in the early 1920s. In the mid-1920s, the second wave of student strikes opposed a new grading system; the strikes included major classroom walkouts in the law school and confrontation with police at the medical school. The striking students were supported by many professors and subsequent negotiations led to autonomy for the university; the institution was no longer a dependency of the Secretariat of Public Education. During the early 1930s, the rector of UNAM was Manuel Gómez Morín; the government attempted to implement socialist education at Mexican universities, which Gómez Morín, many professors, Catholics opposed as an infringement on academic freedom. Gómez Morín with the support of the Jesuit-founded student group, the Unión Nacional de Estudiantes Católicos fought against socialist education. UNAM supported the recognition of the academic certificates by Catholic preparatory schools, which validated their educational function. In an interesting turn of events, UNAM played an important role in the founding of the Jesuit institution in 1943, the Universidad Iberoamericana in 1943.
However, UNAM opposed initiatives at the Universidad Iberoamericana in years, opposing the establishment of majors in industrial relations and communications. In 1943 initial decisions were made to move the university from the various buildings it occupied in the city center to a new and consolidated university campus; the first stone laid was that of the faculty of Sciences, the first building of Ciudad Universitaria. President Miguel Alemán Valdés participated in the ceremony on 20 November 1952; the University Olympic Stadium was inaugurated on the same day. In 1957 the Doctorate Council was created to organize graduate studies. Another major student strike, again over examination regulations, occurred in 1966. Students forced the rector to resign; the Board of Regents did not accept this resignation, so the professors went on
Second French intervention in Mexico
The Second French Intervention in Mexico was an invasion of Mexico, launched in late 1861, by the Second French Empire. Supported by Britain and Spain, the French intervention in Mexico was a consequence of President Benito Juárez's two-year moratorium, on 17 July 1861, of loan-interest payments to French and Spanish creditors. To extend the influence of Imperial France, Napoleon III instigated the intervention in Mexico by claiming that the military adventure was a foreign policy commitment to free trade; the establishment of a friendly monarchy in Mexico would ensure European access to Latin American markets. To realize his imperial ambitions without other European interference, Napoleon III entered into a coalition with Britain and Spain, while the U. S. was occupied with the American Civil War, unable to enforce the Monroe Doctrine. On 31 October 1861, France and Spain agreed to the Convention of London, a joint effort to extract repayments from Mexico. On 8 December, the Spanish fleet disembarked troops at the port of Veracruz, Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico.
When the British and the Spanish discovered that France had unilaterally planned to seize Mexico, they withdrew from the military coalition agreed in London. The subsequent French invasion created the Second Mexican Empire, a client state of the French Empire. Besides the Continental empires involved, the Russian Empire acknowledged the political legitimacy of the Maximilian's Second Mexican Empire, when the Tsarist fleet saluted the imperial Mexican flag when sailing off the Pacific Ocean coastal state of Guerrero. In Mexican politics, the French intervention allowed active political reaction against the Liberal policies of racial and socio-economic reform of president Benito Juárez, thus the Roman Catholic Church, upper-class conservatives, much of the Mexican nobility, some Indian communities welcomed and collaborated with the French empire's installation of Maximilian I of Mexico as Emperor of the Mexicans. In European politics, the French intervention in Mexico reconciled the Second French Empire and the Austrian Empire, whom the French had defeated in the Franco–Austrian War of 1859.
French imperial expansion into Mexico counterbalanced the geopolitical power of the Protestant Christian U. S. by developing a powerful Catholic empire in Latin America, the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the Mexican north-west. After much guerrilla warfare that continued after the Mexicans' Capture of Mexico City — the French Empire withdrew from Mexico and abandoned the Austrian emperor of Mexico; the British and French fleets arrived at Veracruz, between 8 and 17 December 1861 intending to pressure the Mexicans into settling their debts. The Spanish fleet seized San Juan de Ulúa and subsequently the capital Veracruz on 17 December; the European forces advanced to Orizaba and Tehuacán, as they had agreed in the Convention of Soledad. The city of Campeche surrendered to the French fleet on 27 February 1862, a French army, commanded by General Lorencez, arrived on 5 March; when the Spanish and British realised the French ambition was to conquer Mexico, they withdrew their forces on 9 April, their troops leaving on 24 April.
In May, the French man-of-war Bayonnaise blockaded Mazatlán for a few days. Mexican forces commanded by General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the French army in the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862; the pursuing Mexican army was contained by the French at Veracruz, on 14 June. More French troops arrived on 21 September, General Bazaine arrived with French reinforcements on 16 October; the French occupied the port of Tampico on 23 October, unopposed by Mexican forces took control of Xalapa, Veracruz on 12 December. The French bombarded Veracruz on 15 January 1863. Two months on 16 March, General Forey and the French Army began the siege of Puebla. On 30 April, the French Foreign Legion earned its fame in the Battle of Camarón, when an infantry patrol unit of 62 soldiers and three officers, led by the one-handed Captain Jean Danjou, was attacked and besieged by Mexican infantry and cavalry units numbering three battalions, about 3000 men, they were forced to make a defence in a nearby hacienda. Danjou was mortally wounded at the hacienda, his men mounted an suicidal bayonet attack, fighting to nearly the last man.
To this day, the anniversary of 30 April remains the most important day of celebration for Legionnaires. The French army of General François Achille Bazaine defeated the Mexican army led by General Comonfort in its campaign to relieve the siege of Puebla, at San Lorenzo, to the south of Puebla. Puebla surrendered to the French shortly afterward, on 17 May. On 31 May, President Juárez fled the city with his cabinet, retreating northward to Paso del Norte and to Chihuahua. Having taken the treasure of the state with them, the government-in-exile remained in Chihuahua until 1867. French troops under Bazaine entered Mexico City on 7 June 1863; the main army entered the city three days led by General Forey. General Almonte was appointed the provisional President of Mexico on 16 June, by the Superior Junta; the Superior Junta with its 35 members met on 21 June, proclaimed a Catholic Empire on 10 July. The crown was offered following pressures by Napoleon. Maximilian accepted the crown on 3 October, at the hands of the Comisión Mexicana, sent by the Superior J
Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, was a Mexican politician and general who fought to defend royalist New Spain and for Mexican independence. He influenced early Mexican politics and government, was an adept soldier and cunning politician, who dominated Mexican history in the first half of the nineteenth century to such an extent that historians refer to it as the "Age of Santa Anna." He was called "the Man of Destiny", who "loomed over his time like a melodramatic colossus, the uncrowned monarch." Santa Anna first opposed the movement for Mexican independence from Spain, but fought in support of it. Though not the first caudillo of modern Mexico, he "represents the stereotypical caudillo in Mexican history," and among the earliest. Conservative historian and politician Lucas Alamán wrote that "The history of Mexico since 1822 might be called the history of Santa Anna's revolutions.... His name plays the major role in all the political events of the country and its destiny has become intertwined with his."An enigmatic and controversial figure, Santa Anna had great power in Mexico.
In the periods of time when he was not serving as president, he continued to pursue his military career. A wealthy landowner, he built a firm political base in the major port city of Veracruz, he was perceived as a hero by his troops. He rebuilt his reputation after major losses. Historians and many Mexicans rank him as the principal inhabitant today of Mexico's pantheon of "those who failed the nation." His centralist rhetoric and military failures resulted in Mexico losing just over half its territory, beginning with the Texas Revolution of 1836, culminating with the Mexican Cession of 1848 following its defeat by the United States in the Mexican–American War. His political positions changed in his lifetime, he was overthrown for the final time by the liberal Revolution of Ayutla in 1854 and lived most of his years in exile. Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón was born in Xalapa, Nueva España, on 21 February 1794, he was from a respected Spanish colonial family.
His father was a royal army officer perpetually in debt, served for a time as a sub-delegate for the Gulf Coast Spanish province of Veracruz. However, his parents were wealthy enough to send him to school. In June 1810, the 16-year-old Santa Anna joined the Fijo de Veracruz infantry regiment as a cadet against the wishes of his parents, who wanted him to pursue a career in commerce. In September 1810, secular cleric Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rebelled against Spanish rule, sparking a spontaneous mass movement in Mexico's rich agricultural area, the Bajío; the Mexican War of Independence was to last until 1821, Santa Anna, like most creole military men, fought for the crown against the mixed-raced insurgents for independence. Santa Anna's commanding officer was José Joaquín de Arredondo, who taught him much about dealing with Mexican rebels. In 1811, Santa Anna was wounded in the left hand by an arrow during the campaign under Col. Arredondo in the town of Amoladeras, in the state of San Luis Potosí.
In 1813, Santa Anna served in Texas against the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition, at the Battle of Medina, in which he was cited for bravery. He was promoted quickly. In the aftermath of the rebellion, the young officer witnessed Arredondo's fierce counter-insurgency policy of mass executions. During the next few years, in which the war for independence reached a stalemate, Santa Anna erected villages for displaced citizens near the city of Veracruz, he pursued gambling, a habit that would follow him all through his life. In 1816, Santa Anna was promoted to captain, he conducted occasional campaigns to suppress Native Americans or to restore order after a tumult had begun. When royalist officer Agustín de Iturbide changed sides in 1821 and allied with insurgent Vicente Guerrero, fighting for independence under the Plan of Iguala, Santa Anna joined the fight for independence; the changed circumstances in Spain, where liberals had ousted Ferdinand VII and began implementing the Spanish liberal constitution of 1812, made many elites in Mexico reconsider their options.
The clergy in New Spain would have lost power under the Spanish liberal regime and new Mexican clerics saw independence as a way to maintain their position in an autonomous Mexico. Santa Anna rose to prominence fighting for independence by driving Spanish forces out of the vital port city of Veracruz and Iturbide rewarded him with the rank of general. Iturbide rewarded Santa Anna with command of the vital port of Veracruz, the gateway from the Gulf of Mexico to the rest of the nation and site of the customs house. However, Iturbide subsequently removed Santa Anna from the post, prompting Santa Anna to rise in rebellion in December 1822 against Iturbide. Santa Anna had significant power in his home region of Veracruz, "he was well along the path to becoming the regional caudillo." Santa Anna claimed in his Plan of Veracruz that he rebelled because Iturbide had diss
