Francisco I. Madero, Biography and Information
He was born on the 30th of October 1873 at Hacienda el Rosario in Parras, Coahuila. The son of Francisco Indalecio Madero Hernández and Mercedes González Treviño. Because his family was very wealthy, he studied agriculture in Maryland, United States; Business Administration at Hautes Études Commerciales in Jouy-en-Josas near Paris and the University of California in Berkeley.
In 1904 he began to get involved in political issues, within the State of Coahuila. Soon after, he was named president of the Independent Democratic Party, which opposed the reelection of Governor Miguel Cardenas.
In |908 he published the book âThe Presidential Succession of 1910â, promoting the restoration of democracy through the formation of a great political party that could participate in the presidential elections of 1910.
In 1909 he founded the Anti-reelection National Party to bring down President Porfirio Diaz, who had occupied that post since 1976. Madero became that partyâs presidential candidate. He then began an intense political campaign throughout the country to promote his democratic principles.
On June 6, Porfirio Díaz ordered the arrest of Madero; he was imprisoned in San Luis Potosi. Thatâs where he received the news of having won the presidential elections but Diaz appointed himself as reelected president.
In October of that same year, Madero fled and took refuge in San Antonio, Texas. From there he launched the San Luis Plan; Madero appointed provisional governors and called for a national insurrection in order to overthrow the dictator, beginning on November 20, 1910.
This prompted the resignation of President Diaz in 1911 and began a civil war that lasted ten years, taking the lives of more than a million Mexicans.
In Chihuahua, Pascual Orozco and Francisco Villa joined Madero; despite not having any military training, they were excellent strategists and were joined by people from the north, unhappy about the large livestock estates that were in the hands of only a few. Emiliano Zapata joined at Morelos, followed by farmers claiming their land and water rights. In Mexico City there were riots against Porfirio Diaz.
The army of Porfirio Díaz wasnât able to contain the strength of the general discontent, so the forces of Madero quickly triumphed. Madero set his provisional government right after achieving the struggleâs first victory. A surprise attack led by Pascual, Orozco, Francisco Villa, José de la Luz Blanco and José Garibaldi overtook the Plaza of Ciudad Juárez.
In May 1911 the peace was signed in Ciudad Juarez, between the government of Díaz and the followers of Francisco I. Madero. Porfirio Díaz resigned to the presidency and went into exile in France, where he died in 1915.
Francisco I. Madero triumphed in the presidential elections, becoming chief of the executive powers on November 6, 1911 together with José María Pino Suárez as Vice President.
Emiliano Zapata and Pascual Orozco rebelled against Madero because his government lacked the sympathy of lower classes. Madero gave orders to General Victoriano Huerta to combat those uprisings and overthrow Orozco. Huerta conspired with Félix Díaz, the nephew of Porfirio Diaz, and Henry Lane Wilson, United States Ambassador in Mexico, to overthrow Madero in a coup dâétat known as The Tragic Ten.
A coup dâétat that began on the 9th of February 1913 by Victoriano Huerta imprisoned Madero and forced his resignation on the 19th of February. Three days later, despite having promised respect for his life, Huerta ordered the assassination of Madero and Pino Suárez, executed next to Mexico Cityâs penitentiary.
Artículo Producido por el Equipo Editorial Explorando México.
Copyright Explorando México, Todos los Derechos Reservados.
Fotografía tomada de Wikipedia.Org
