José Mariano Michelena
Encyclopedia
José Mariano Michelena (July 14, 1772, Valladolid (Morelia
, Michoacán
) – May 10, 1852, Valladolid) was a Spanish military officer in New Spain and Spain, a precursor of Mexican independence, and a politician in independent Mexico. He introduced coffee to Mexico.
, graduating as a lawyer. In 1806 he enlisted in the infantry regiment La Corona, with the rank of lieutenant. In the encampment at Jalapa
(Veracruz
), he became friends with Ignacio Allende
, Juan Aldama
and other New Spanish military officers who later joined the insurgency against Spain. After Jalapa he was in Mexico City
, and on October 15, 1808 he was sent to Valladolid to recruit men for the regiment.
, and Father Huango. Impelled by the news of the French occupation of Spain, the conspirators intended an armed revolution in Celaya
, San Miguel el Grande
, and Zamora. Michelana was sent to Guanajuato
to recruit rebels there.
This conspiracy was uncovered by the Spanish authorities on December 21, 1809. The conspirators were arrested and confined in the convent of El Carmen. Archbishop Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont
, who was viceroy of New Spain at the time, ordered them brought to Mexico City so that he could speak to them. Their defense was that they were faithful patriots whose only intention was to preserve the country for King Ferdinand VII, who had been forced to abdicate by Napoleon. They proposed to the viceroy (as related by Michelena) to form a junta to govern New Spain in the name of Ferdinand and to take all possible measures to extend the reign of this "august" sovereign. Lizana found no criminal offense in the conspirators, and ordered them set free, to the great disgust of the pro-Spanish party. Michelena returned to duty in Jalapa.
in September 1810, Michelena was again arrested. He was held a prisoner in San Juan de Ulúa
(Veracruz) until 1813, after which he was sent to Spain. He contracted a severe case of rheumatism in the prison. In Spain he joined a military unit fighting the French
. He was involved in numerous actions, including the capture
of Bayonne
in February 1814.
He continued serving in the army, and in 1820 he was named deputy to the Cortes (parliament) for Michoacán.
He fought against Emperor Agustín de Iturbide
as an adherent of the Plan de Casa Mata (December 2, 1822). The effect of the Plan de Casa Mata was the abdication of Iturbide on March 19, 1823.
, Nicolás Bravo
and Guadalupe Victoria
to exercise executive power until presidential elections could be held. However, Bravo and Victoria were absent, and Michelena and Licenciado Miguel Domínguez
were chosen as temporary substitutes. Michelena was the leader of the triumvirate while he held the position (1822-24). He was in effect acting president of Mexico.
He voided the Treaty of Córdoba
and the Plan de Iguala. With the return of Bravo, Michelena turned over the office to him, on January 31, 1824. He was subsequently nominated as minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain.
. This was the first successful coffee cultivation in Mexico. Later he was a delegate to the Congress of America in Panama, called by Simón Bolívar
.
Still later he was minister of war in the national cabinet (April 24, 1837 to October 19, 1837) and governor of Michoacán. He was of the federalist party, opposed to one unitary national government. He was a Mason, helping to establish the York Rite
in Mexico. He was one of the few "precursors of Independence" in Mexico who lived to see it achieved. He died in 1852 in his native city of Valladolid.
Morelia
Morelia is a city and municipality in the north central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital of the state. The main pre-Hispanic cultures here were the P'urhépecha and the Matlatzinca, but no major cities were founded in the...
, Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
) – May 10, 1852, Valladolid) was a Spanish military officer in New Spain and Spain, a precursor of Mexican independence, and a politician in independent Mexico. He introduced coffee to Mexico.
Early career
From a comfortable and distinguished family, José Mariano Michelena attended the University of MexicoNational Autonomous University of Mexico
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...
, graduating as a lawyer. In 1806 he enlisted in the infantry regiment La Corona, with the rank of lieutenant. In the encampment at Jalapa
Xalapa
Xalapa-Enríquez, commonly Xalapa or Jalapa, is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the year 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which it serves as municipal seat reported a population of...
(Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
), he became friends with Ignacio Allende
Ignacio Allende
Ignacio José de Allende y Unzaga , born Ignacio Allende y Unzaga, was a captain of the Spanish Army in Mexico who came to sympathize with the Mexican independence movement. He attended the secret meetings organized by Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, where the possibility of an independent New Spain was...
, Juan Aldama
Juan Aldama
Juan Aldama was a Mexican revolutionary rebel soldier during the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. He was also the brother of Ignacio Aldama....
and other New Spanish military officers who later joined the insurgency against Spain. After Jalapa he was in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, and on October 15, 1808 he was sent to Valladolid to recruit men for the regiment.
Conspiracy of Valladolid
In Valladolid he joined a group of independence conspirators, including his brother Nicolás, Captains Manuel García Obeso and Manuel Muñiz, Ruperto Mier, Lieutenant Mariano Quevedo, Licientiates Soto Saldaña and Manuel Ruiz de Chávez, Father Vicente de Santa MaríaVicente de Santa Maria
Father Vicente de Santa María was a Spanish Franciscan priest who accompanied explorer Juan de Ayala on the first Spanish naval entry aboard the San Carlos into the San Francisco Bay. Born in the village of Haras in Burgos Province, Spain, Santa Maria moved to Mexico City to attend the Colegio de...
, and Father Huango. Impelled by the news of the French occupation of Spain, the conspirators intended an armed revolution in Celaya
Celaya
Celaya is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The municipality for which the city serves as municipal seat, had a...
, San Miguel el Grande
San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende is a city and municipality located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City and 97 km from the state capital of Guanajuato...
, and Zamora. Michelana was sent to Guanajuato
Guanajuato
Guanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....
to recruit rebels there.
This conspiracy was uncovered by the Spanish authorities on December 21, 1809. The conspirators were arrested and confined in the convent of El Carmen. Archbishop Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont
Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont
Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont was bishop of Mexico and, from July 19, 1809 to May 8, 1810, viceroy of New Spain.-Ecclesiastical career:...
, who was viceroy of New Spain at the time, ordered them brought to Mexico City so that he could speak to them. Their defense was that they were faithful patriots whose only intention was to preserve the country for King Ferdinand VII, who had been forced to abdicate by Napoleon. They proposed to the viceroy (as related by Michelena) to form a junta to govern New Spain in the name of Ferdinand and to take all possible measures to extend the reign of this "august" sovereign. Lizana found no criminal offense in the conspirators, and ordered them set free, to the great disgust of the pro-Spanish party. Michelena returned to duty in Jalapa.
War in Spain
With the later outbreak of the insurrection under Father Miguel HidalgoMiguel Hidalgo
Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor , more commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or simply Miguel Hidalgo, was a Mexican priest and a leader of the Mexican War of Independence.In 1810 Hidalgo led a group of peasants in a revolt against the dominant...
in September 1810, Michelena was again arrested. He was held a prisoner in San Juan de Ulúa
San Juan de Ulúa
San Juan de Ulúa, also known as Castle of San Juan de Ulúa is a large complex of fortresses, prisons and one former palace on an island overlooking the seaport of Veracruz, Mexico.-History:...
(Veracruz) until 1813, after which he was sent to Spain. He contracted a severe case of rheumatism in the prison. In Spain he joined a military unit fighting the French
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
. He was involved in numerous actions, including the capture
Battle of Bayonne
In the Battle of Bayonne on April 14, 1814, General of Division Thouvenot's French garrison attacked the Allied besieging force under Lieutenant General John Hope...
of Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
in February 1814.
He continued serving in the army, and in 1820 he was named deputy to the Cortes (parliament) for Michoacán.
Return to Mexico
On learning of the successful conclusion of Mexico's war of independence, he returned to that country in 1822. He entered the Mexican army with the rank of brigadier general, and was a deputy to the constitutional congress.He fought against Emperor Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Aramburu , also known as Augustine I of Mexico, was a Mexican army general who built a successful political and military coalition that was able to march into Mexico City on 27 September 1821, decisively ending the Mexican War of Independence...
as an adherent of the Plan de Casa Mata (December 2, 1822). The effect of the Plan de Casa Mata was the abdication of Iturbide on March 19, 1823.
As "president" of Mexico
After Iturbide's abdication, the Congress chose a triumvirate consisting of Generals Pedro Celestino NegretePedro Celestino Negrete
Pedro Celestino Negrete was a Spanish politician and military man who served as a member of the interim government of México after the abolition of the First Mexican Empire. He fought alongside of Agustín de Iturbide in the royalist army during the Mexican War of Independence...
, Nicolás Bravo
Nicolás Bravo
Nicolás Bravo was a Mexican politician and soldier. He distinguished himself in both offices during the 1846–1848 U.S. invasion of Mexico....
and Guadalupe Victoria
Guadalupe Victoria
Guadalupe Victoria born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican politician and military man who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence. He was a deputy for Durango and a member of the Supreme Executive Power...
to exercise executive power until presidential elections could be held. However, Bravo and Victoria were absent, and Michelena and Licenciado Miguel Domínguez
Miguel Domínguez
José Miguel Domínguez Alemán was a Spanish colonial official in New Spain who played a part in the Mexican independence movement...
were chosen as temporary substitutes. Michelena was the leader of the triumvirate while he held the position (1822-24). He was in effect acting president of Mexico.
He voided the Treaty of Córdoba
Treaty of Córdoba
The Treaty of Córdova established Mexican independence from Spain at the conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence. It was signed on August 24, 1821 in Córdoba, Veracruz, Mexico. The signatories were the head of the Army of the Three Guarantees, Agustín de Iturbide, and acting on behalf of the...
and the Plan de Iguala. With the return of Bravo, Michelena turned over the office to him, on January 31, 1824. He was subsequently nominated as minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain.
Later career and death
He traveled to Rome, Greece, Palestine and Arabia. From Arabia he brought coffee plants, which he grew in his hacienda near UruapanUruapan
Uruapan is a city and municipality in the west-central part of the Mexican state of Michoacán. The city is the municipal seat of the municipality...
. This was the first successful coffee cultivation in Mexico. Later he was a delegate to the Congress of America in Panama, called by Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
.
Still later he was minister of war in the national cabinet (April 24, 1837 to October 19, 1837) and governor of Michoacán. He was of the federalist party, opposed to one unitary national government. He was a Mason, helping to establish the York Rite
York Rite
The York Rite or American Rite is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry. A Rite is a series of progressive degrees that are conferred by various Masonic organizations or bodies, each of which operates under the control of its own central authority...
in Mexico. He was one of the few "precursors of Independence" in Mexico who lived to see it achieved. He died in 1852 in his native city of Valladolid.