Broken Sovereignty, Popular Insurgency, and Mexican Independence

This essay explores the interaction of the political challenges that began with Napoleon's occupation of Spain and the rise of Cadiz liberalism, the popular insurgencies that developed in key regions of New Spain in 1810, and the decade of conflict that led to Mexican independence. It examines how transatlantic debates about sovereignty led to insurgencies in New Spain, political and popular. It seeks to understand the presence and absence of popular insurgencies in 1810 and after in key regions, from the Valley of Mexico to the Bajio. It views rural communities' receptivity to the liberal openings of Cadiz in 1812, notably new municipal rights and new rights to vote in local, provincial, and transatlantic elections, in the context of ongoing insurgencies, political and popular. And it explores how the conflicts of 1808 to 1820 led to political independence in 1821.