Plan of Iguala | |
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Created | 24 February 1821 |
Ratified | 24 August 1821[1] |
Date effective | 25 August 1821 |
Location | Iguala, Mexico |
Signatories | Agustín de Iturbide, Vicente Guerrero |
Purpose | Establish the form of Mexican independence |
The Plan of Iguala,[2] also known as The Plan of the Three Guarantees ("Plan Trigarante") or Act of Independence of North America,[3] was a revolutionary proclamation promulgated on 24 February 1821, in the final stage of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. The Plan stated that Mexico was to become a constitutional monarchy, whose sole official religion would be Roman Catholicism, in which both the Peninsulares (people born in Spain and residing in Mexico) and the Americanos (people born in Mexico, that is, the Americas) would enjoy equal political and social rights.[4] It took its name from the city of Iguala in the modern-day state of Guerrero.
The two main figures behind the Plan were Agustín de Iturbide (who would become Emperor of Mexico) and Vicente Guerrero, revolutionary rebel leader and later President of Mexico. The Army of the Three Guarantees was formed by the unified forces of Iturbide and Guerrero to defend the ideals of the Plan of Iguala. On 24 August 1821, Iturbide and Spanish Viceroy Juan O'Donojú signed the Treaty of Córdoba in Córdoba, Veracruz, ratifying the Plan of Iguala, and thus confirming Mexico's independence.
The Plan, a compromise, introduced new ideas and preserved others.[5] For example, it established a new army, but it preserved the constitutional right of all males to vote regardless of place of birth, ethnic origin, or economic condition, which had been enshrined in the Constitution of 1812 and which was in force at the time of the Plan.[6]
El Plan de Iguala ofrecía de esta manera un compromiso, una manera de conservar un gobierno constitucional representativo
No importaba si se era indígena, mestizo o blanco, culto o analfabeta, rico o pobre, todos los que cumplieran los requisitos señalados por la Constitución podrían votar.