Constitution of 1824

The first constitution of the new Mexican Republic was drafted by a constitutional assembly after the fall of Agustin de Iturbide as emperor of Mexico in 1823, and enacted a year later. It gave the current official name of the United States of Mexico to a representative republic with Catholicism as the official state religion and it contained 171 articles.

The new document was largely based on the liberal 1812 Cadiz Constitution of Spain and that of another young republic to the North, the United Sates. The names of the states appear on the cactus leaves.  California, New Mexico and Texas are included and would remain part of Mexico until the Mexican American War.

On October 10, 1824, Guadalupe Victoria was elected Mexico’s first president under the new constitution and would serve a four year term.

Photo:
Constitución federal de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos sancionada por el Congreso General Constituyente, el 4. de octubre de 1824. [México]: Imprenta del Supremo Gobierno de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, en Palacio, [1824?].
Stanford Rare Book Collection:
KGF2914 1824 .A2 1824