This is a photo of the facade of the Zacatecas cathedral in Zacatecas, Mexico, taken between 1850 to 1900. The photo of this church is significant because it represents the Liberal and Conservative tensions after independence, specifically between liberals and the church. Before independence, the church exercised great power over political life, education, and civil code in Latin America. Liberalism believed in individual power since it was the key to human progress (Wood & Alexander, 103). Thus, they rejected the authority of the church since in their eyes it allowed no individualism. Along with that, it was viewed as an outdated institution who still held ties with Spain. In Mexico specifically, liberals began a movement called La Reforma to eradicate the power of the church. Analyzing this photo and its location, this church must have received enormous benefits since its inception. The church for decades were the largest landowners in Mexico and also benefited by paying no taxes whatsoever. Overall, this church was most likely exempt from civilian law. Benito Juarez, the liberal president during La Reforma, enacted new laws to delegitimize their power (Wood & Alexander, 104). However many churches, probably such as the one seen above, allied with conservative parties in Latin America. This in turn led to the Reform Wars, a civil war between liberals and conservatives which lasted from 1854 to 1861. Overall, this church must have had a significant role in not just political life, education, and civil code in Mexico, but also held great opposition toward the liberal government.
Works Cited:
- Problems in Modern Latin American History : Sources and Interpretations, edited by James A. Wood, and Anna Rose Alexander, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/baruch/detail.action?docID=5743856.