The Lerdo Law (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Ley Lerdo'') was the common name for the Reform law that was formally known as the Confiscation of Law and Urban Ruins of the Civil and Religious Corporations of Mexico. It targeted not only property owned by the Catholic Church, but also properties held in common by indigenous communities and transfer them to private hands. Liberals considered such corporate ownership as a major impediment to modernization and development in Mexico. Drafted by

Miguel Lerdo de Tejada Miguel Lerdo de Tejada (July 6, 1812 – March 22, 1861) was a Mexican statesman, a leader of the Revolution of Ayutla, and author of the Lerdo Law, extinguishing the right of corporations, including the Roman Catholic Church and indigenous ...

, it was enacted on 25 June 1856 by President

Ignacio Comonfort Ignacio Gregorio Comonfort de los Ríos (; 12 March 1812 – 13 November 1863), known as Ignacio Comonfort, was a Mexican politician and soldier who was also president during one of the most eventful periods in 19th century Mexican history: La R ...

, but its language was ambiguous, needing subsequent clarifications. Its objectives were to create a market in rural real estate and incentivize development; create rural

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Co ...

, improve public finances of the state, and revive the economy by eliminating restrictions on

freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights ...

. Properties were to be sold to private individuals, which was expected to stimulate the real estate market and to generate government revenue by a

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

. Much property held by the Catholic Church was urban and exempt from confiscation. The impact was felt most by indigenous communities, now forced to break up holdings held in common that had allowed communities to retain control of their land. The rural poor lacked the funds to buy property and pay the transfer fees. Most purchasers were large landowners or foreign investors, which further concentrated land ownership. Religious groups and their civil corporations were prohibited from purchasing land sold under law unless for strictly-religious purposes. Implementation of the law was disrupted by the

War of the Reform The Reform War, or War of Reform ( es, Guerra de Reforma), also known as the Three Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Tres Años), was a civil war in Mexico lasting from January 11, 1858 to January 11, 1861, fought between liberals and conservativ ...

(1858-60) and the

French Intervention This is a list of wars involving France and its predecessor states. It is an incomplete list of French and proto-French wars and battles from the foundation of Francia by Clovis I, the Merovingian king who united all the Frankish tribes and northe ...

(1862-67), but resumed with the defeat of the French invaders and their Conservative allies in 1867. Implementation resumed after that, but not until the regime of

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

was the impact felt significantly.Hamnett, "Reform Laws", 1240 It was one of the Reform Laws, which sought to establish the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

, the abolition of ecclesiastical privileges ( ''fueros''); and the secularization of registration of births, deaths, and marriages, which gave rise to the

Civil Registry Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events ( births, marriages, and deaths) of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database has different names in different countries and even in differ ...

Background

Nineteenth-century Mexican liberals were not the first to attack the Catholic Church's economic power. The

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * A beer produced by B ...

monarchy identified the Church's real estate holdings as a problem since they were permanently removed for the real estate market and considered unproductive, and they also granted to the Church considerable economic power. During the

Bourbon Reforms The Bourbon Reforms ( es, Reformas Borbónicas) consisted of political and economic changes promulgated by the Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon, since 1700, mainly in the 18th century. The beginning of the new Crown's po ...

, the Spanish monarchy sought to undermine the power of the Church, especially the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

, and so it expelled the Jesuits, confiscated their highly-productive landed estates, and sold them to private individuals. During the colonial era, the Spanish crown had granted to indigenous communities a certain amount as corporations to ensure that they had sufficient land to maintain their subsistence. After

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the st ...

in 1821, the ecclesiastical rights to hold real estate were challenged in the 1830s during the vice-presidency of

Valentín Gómez Farías Valentín Gómez Farías (; 14 February 1781 – 5 July 1858) was a Mexican physician and liberal politician who became president of Mexico twice, first in 1833, during the period of the First Mexican Republic, and again in 1846, during the ...

, who implemented the secularization of

Franciscan missions in California The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests of ...

Excluded properties

The law excluded properties that were used by the Catholic Church as an institution for religious purposes. As stipulated in Article 8 of the law, the properties were exempt from the alienation if the buildings used immediately and directly to the service or Church institutions, such as

convents A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican C ...

, episcopal palaces, municipal schools, hospitals,

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, markets, and houses of correction charities. Properties belonging to municipalities also exempted buildings, open lands and land used exclusively for the public service of their populations.

Fiscal consolidation

All transfers of rural and urban properties executed under the law had a 5%

, which was to be paid in the corresponding general government offices. The taxes were to be in cash and debt bonds, depending on the time to verify the awards. By those policies, the Mexican government intended to increase its low level of tax revenue to improve the public finances.

Impact on native communities

The law required that civil corporations to be stripped of their real estate and so seriously damaged the foundation of the economy of indigenous communities, which owned all of the land in their boundaries. The territories represented a significant income for communities, as most were leased to third parties to raise funds. Thus, their loss worsened the situation of many indigenous people who already lived in poverty. Natives demanded Finance Minister Miguel Lerdo de Tejada to respect their property rights. However, according to the law, the rights of tenants were reserved to buy their own land before it was offered to foreign buyers. To prevent their lands from being acquired by others, some indigenous peoples went before a judge to acquire the land as an individual, but the officials charged very high fees and sales taxes, which complicated the recovery process. In other cases, judges had fraudulent dealings with those interested in the territories to acquire land even before the natives learned of the existence of the law, which made it virtually impossible for communities to retain their territories.

References

External links