| 1857 Constitution Of Mexico |
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Information About1857 Constitution Of Mexico |
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This constitution, along with the Plan Of Ayutla and other liberal reforms, polarized Mexican society and led to the War Of Reform . In terms of governmental organization, the constitution provided for a relatively weak presidency, a strong Unicameral legislature, and an eleven-member Supreme Court. Congressional representatives were to be elected directly, in districts of no more than 40,000 persons, for terms of two years. The president was to be elected indirectly (by electoral college) to a four-year. Supreme Court judges were also to be elected indirectly, to six-year terms. It established a federal, republican organization for the country of Mexico, mandating that each state was to adopt a republican constitution with direct election of a house of representatives, and specifying that all powers not specifically given to the national government by the consititution were reserved for the states. Adopted on February 12, 1857, the 1857 Consitition remained the supreme law of the land (or, during the War Of The Reform and the War Of French Intervention , of that portion of Mexico controlled by the Liberal government) until Mexico's Current Constitution was written in 1917. However, the exigencies of the wars made many of the Constitution's provisions impractical or unenforceable between 1858 and 1867, and in practice Juárez exercised supreme authority as commander of the army during this period. At the end of the French intervention, with the restoration of the Republic under Juárez in 1868, various projects were set in motion to amend the 1857 Constitution in order to retain the expanded executive power that the presidency had held during wartime. The principal amendment that came out of these plans (adopted on November 6, 1874) was the creation of a Senate, consisting of two senators elected indirectly (by electoral college) from each state, which shared legislative power with the house of representatives. This Bicameral legislature would be retained in the Constitution of 1917. See also Constitutions Of Mexico External links
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