The War of Independence that began in central Mexico in 1810 and culminated in 1821 did not have a major impact on Baja California Sur, except that payment for the troops stationed here as protection by the Viceroyalty began to become scarce.
Historian Alejandro Tellechea Cienfuegos, director of the Pablo L. Martínez Historical Archive, said that “the effects of Independence would come later, especially beginning in the 1820s. The peninsula itself recognized Independence in 1822 and joined the Republic in 1824.”
As part of Patriotic Month, during which the 216th anniversary of the beginning of Independence is commemorated, the professor at the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur explained that “the Independence movement in the territory did not have a major impact in the sense that the great battles fought in central Mexico did not take place here.”
“Obviously, we are talking about a very sparsely populated area. In fact, La Paz did not even exist during those years. La Paz began to emerge in the early 1820s and was already established as such by the end of the 1830s.”
He commented that during this period there were small settlements such as San José del Cabo and Todos Santos, which were just beginning a process of colonization. “Here we must remember that the Jesuits left in 1768, and from that year onward, a process of organizing the Baja California peninsula began, giving rise to a political, demographic, and economic structure.”
The southern part of the peninsula was undergoing a process of formation, which is why the impact of Independence is considered to have been felt in areas such as the lack of payment to troops, because some ports were closed and both supplies and communications were affected, although the same activities among its inhabitants continued.
The historian said that when Mexico’s Independence was consummated in 1821, the Baja California peninsula, or Antigua California as it was known at the time, became a territory subject to all the regulations of the central part of the country, what was later called the Federal District, which became consolidated as the most important political and economic entity of the newly established nation.
Tellechea Cienfuegos stated that in this part of Mexico no uprising took place as it did in other parts of the country, where some states attempted to separate themselves or actually separated and later rejoined.
“That did not happen here, as in the case of Nuevo León, which attempted to separate from the newly established nation. In Baja California, this did not happen because its inhabitants had other interests and needs, and because the region’s isolation made it difficult to receive up-to-date news about what was happening in the country.”
The historian noted that in 1824, the southern territory of Baja California was already defined under all the laws established by the country’s political center. Likewise, the authorities began sending people from outside the territory to govern it, some of whom performed their duties well, while others did poorly and did not even live in this region of Mexico. In fact, upon arriving and seeing the living conditions, they preferred to leave, although there were some political leaders who were highly committed to the development of California.
Source: oem
