After Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808 and overthrew the King, New Spain no longer had a primary governance. Juntas were established across the country to act as a government authority in the absence of the King. The people in New Spain took advantage of this opportunity to strive for independence. In 1812 the Spanish Constitution was written and declared individual rights to freedom, education, property, etc. Also all citizens were seen as equals and the only religion permitted was Catholicism. Through this constitution, taxation was suppose to be lowered or even abolished. Leaders of the Sanjuanista Movement organized Maya resistance to church taxation which also became apart of the Constitution. However, once Napoleon was defeated, Fernando Vll returned as the King of Spain and refused to recognize this Constitution. All legislation passed during the King's absence was abolished.
After tasting a bit of independence, New Spain, particularly Mexico, was not ready to give it up. Mexico began their fight for independence and finally gained it in 1821. Soon after, leaders of the Yucatan gained their independence in 1824.
After the Sanjuanista Movement (Spanish Constitution) of 1812-1814, small groups of liberal Creoles attempted to organize the peasants against the Catholic Church and the colonial rule. This lead to resistance against all authority and taxes.Before this rebellion, the issuance of taxes was the subtext of peasant relations with both Church and state who each maintained their own collection process. "For over three decades tax resistance and revolt would furnish the peasantry with ample occasions to rehearse its eventual role as a revolutionary force." (1)
Though taxes were frustrating, they were not the root of all peasant difficulties. Other issues such as ownership to land and individual rights assisted the strive for independence from Spain. Even though Mexico's fight for independence, the Mexican War of Independence, was won after much bloodshed, Yucatan's independence was gained without even a single gun shot.
After independence was gained, other revolutions resulted from it. The revolution of Santiago Imãn, a Creole merchant and military officer, occurred in the mid-19th century. "Imãn mobilized and armed the Mayas by promising once of he things they wanted most: the abolition of church taxes." (2) His revolt succeeded only briefly but gave the Maya military a sense of organization gave them experience.
1. Terry Rugeley,Maya Wars: ethnographic accounts from nineteenth-century
Yucatán, (University of Oklahoma Press, 2001), 9-10.
2. Terry Rugeley, Yucatan's Maya Peasantry and the Origins of the Caste War, (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996), Vll-Vlll.
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