Indigenous Citizens : Local Liberalism in Early National Oaxaca and Yucatán

__Local Liberalisms__ shows how early nineteenth-century Mexicans—be they indigenous villagers, government officials, or local elites—worked to incorporate the institutions of liberalism into their daily political lives, and how those local institutions interacted with a national liberal movement that often contradicted them. Indigenous Citizens challenges the commonly held assumption that early nineteenth-century Mexican state-building was a failure of liberalism. By comparing the experiences of two Mexican states, Oaxaca and Yucatán, Caplan shows how the institutions and ideas associated with liberalism became deeply entrenched in Mexico's regions, but only on locally acceptable terms. Faced with the common challenge of incorporating new institutions into political life, Mexicans--be they indigenous villagers, government officials, or local elites--negotiated ways to make those institutions compatible with a range of local interests. Although Oaxaca and Yucatán both had large indigenous majorities, the local liberalisms they constructed incorporated indigenous people differently as citizens. As a result, Oaxaca experienced relative social peace throughout this era, while Yucatán exploded with indigenous rebellion beginning in 1847. This book puts the interaction between local and national liberalisms at the center of the narrative of Mexico's nineteenth century. It suggests that "liberalism" must be understood not as an overarching system imposed on the Mexican nation but rather as a set of guiding assumptions and institutions that Mexicans put to use in locally specific ways This book challenges the assumption that early nineteenth-century Mexican state-building was a failure of liberalism. By comparing the experiences of two Mexican states, Oaxaca and Yucatán, it shows how the institutions and ideas associated with liberalism became deeply entrenched in Mexico's regions, but only on locally acceptable terms. Faced with the common challenge of incorporating new institutions into political life, Mexicans negotiated ways to make those institutions compatible with local interests. Although Oaxaca and Yucatán both had indigenous majorities, the local liberalisms they constructed incorporated indigenous people differently as citizens. As a result, Oaxaca experienced relative social peace throughout this era, while Yucatán exploded with indigenous rebellion beginning in 1847. This book puts the interaction between local and national liberalisms at the center of the narrative of Mexico's nineteenth century. It suggests that "liberalism" must be understood as a set of guiding assumptions and institutions that Mexicans put to use in locally specific ways This analysis challenges the commonly held assumption that early nineteenth-century Mexican state-building was a failure of liberalism. By comparing the experiences of two Mexican states, Oaxaca and Yucatán, it shows how the institutions and ideas associated with liberalism became deeply entrenched in Mexico's regions, but only on locally acceptable terms. Faced with the common challenge of incorporating new institutions into political life, Mexicans - be they indigenous villagers, government officials, or local elites - negotiated ways to make those institutions compatible with a range of local interests National liberalism, local liberalisms The institutional revolution in town politics : Oaxaca and Yucatán, 1812-1821 Reluctant taxpayers, unwilling soldiers, but "submissive sons" : Oaxacan villages and the state, 1824-1848 The disintegration of a divided polity : Yucatán, 1825-1847 The shadow of liberty : the politics of reform in Oaxaca to 1858 The transformation of indigenous citizenship : politics in Yucatán during the Caste War.