Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De," Handbook of Texas Online, Retrieved 18 April 2017. often known as Santa Anna, was a Mexican general, politician, and caudilloWarren, Richard. "Antonio López de Santa Anna". Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, v. 5, 48. who served as the eighth president of Mexico on multiple occasions between 1833 and 1855. A controversial and pivotal figure in Mexican politics during the 19th century, he has been called an "uncrowned monarch" by some historiansquoted in Krauze, Enrique. Mexico: Biography of Power, p. 88. who refer to the 30 years after Mexico's independence as the "Age of Santa Anna."Costeloe, Michael P. The Central Republic in Mexico, 1835–1846: Hombres de Bien in the Age of Santa Anna. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1993. Santa Anna is often remembered in Mexico as a vendepatria due to the loss of Mexican territory to the United States during his rule.
During the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821), Santa Anna fought as a royalist officer for over a decade before switching sides to join the insurgency in 1821. He then led a garrison in Veracruz until the final insurgent victory on September 27, 1821. He played a major role in the rise and fall of both the First Mexican Empire and the First Mexican Republic. His long career spanned the Texas Revolution, Pastry War, and the Mexican–American War, as well as the creation of the Centralist Republic of Mexico through the Siete Leyes in 1835 and later, the Bases Orgánicas, which came into effect in 1843.
Throughout his career, Santa Anna frequently switched sides, a pattern that began in the War of Independence and continuously in political conflicts between liberal and conservative factions within Mexico's government. He was instrumental in discarding the liberal Constitution of 1824 in 1835, and in restoring it in 1847. Santa Anna was elected President as a liberal in 1833 and again in 1847, sharing power with the liberal Vice President, Valentín Gómez Farías. In both instances, once in power, Santa Anna switched sides in favor of conservatives and overthrew Farías. Santa Anna was known for his ostentatious and dictatorial style of rule and use of the military to dissolve Mexico's Congress on several occasions. Later in his career, he referred to himself by the honorific title, His Most Serene Highness.
Santa Anna's intermittent periods of rule lasted from 1832 to 1855 in which Mexico experienced the loss of Texas, a series of military conflicts during the Mexican–American War, and the Mexican Cession. Santa Anna's leadership during the Mexican-American war and his willingness to fight to the bitter end, prolonged the conflict with historians noting that "more than any other single person it was Santa Anna who denied Polk's dream of a short war."Guardino, Peter. The Dead March: A History of the Mexican-American War. Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2017, 88. Six years after the war ended, Santa Anna ceded Mexican territory to the United States through the Gadsden Purchase in 1854. In 1855 while serving as President of Mexico, Santa Anna, removed from office by the Plan of Ayutla, went into exile. In 1874, an elderly Santa Anna was allowed to return to Mexico by then President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada. In 1876, Santa Anna died in Mexico City.
Early life Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón was born in Xalapa, Veracruz, Nueva España (New Spain), on 21 February 1794 into a respected Spanish criollo family. He was named after his father, licenciado Antonio López de Santa Anna y Pérez (born 1761), a university graduate and a lawyer; his mother was Manuela Pérez de Lebrón y Cortés (died 1814).
Santa Anna's family prospered in Veracruz, where the merchant class dominated politics. His paternal uncle, Ángel López de Santa Anna, was a public clerk (escribano) and became aggrieved when the town council of Veracruz prevented him from moving to Mexico City to advance his career. Since the late 18th-century Bourbon Reforms, the Spanish crown had favored Peninsulares over American-born; young Santa Anna's family was affected by the growing disgruntlement of criollos whose upward mobility was thwarted.
Santa Anna's mother favored her son's choice of a military career, supporting his desire to join the Spanish Army, rather than be a shopkeeper as his father preferred. His mother's friendly relationship with the intendant (governor) of Veracruz secured Santa Anna's military appointment on July 6, 1810, despite the fact that he was underage. His parents' marriage produced seven children, four sisters and two brothers, and Santa Anna was close to his sister Francisca and brother Manuel, who also joined the army.Fowler, Will. Santa Anna of Mexico. Lincoln: University of Nebraska 2007, pp. 13–17.
Military and political career Santa Anna's origins on Mexico's eastern coast had important ramifications for his military career, as he had developed immunity from yellow fever, endemic to the region. The port of Veracruz and environs were known to be unhealthy for those not native to the region,Archer, Christon. The Army in Bourbon Mexico, 1760–1810. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1977, pp. 38–72Earle, Rebecca. "A Grave for Europeans? Disease, Death, and the Spanish-American Revolutions," War in History 3 (1996), pp. 371–383 so he had a personal strategic advantage against military officers from elsewhere. Being an officer in a time of war was a way that a provincial, middle-class man could vault from obscurity to a position of leadership. Santa Anna distinguished himself in battle, a path that led him to a national political career.Fowler, (2007)
Santa Anna's provincial origins made him uncomfortable in the halls of power in Mexico City, which were dominated by cliques of elite men, and thus he frequently made retreats to his base in Veracruz. He cultivated contact with ordinary Mexican men and pursued entertainments such as cockfighting. Over his career, Santa Anna was a populist caudillo, a strongman wielding both military and political power, similar to others who emerged in the wake of Spanish American wars of independence.Fowler, Santa Anna of Mexico, p. 18.
War of Independence, 1810–1821 Santa Anna's early military career during the Mexican War of Independence, which entailed fighting the insurgency before switching sides against the crown, presaged his many shifts in allegiance during his later political career.
In June 1810, the 16-year-old Santa Anna joined the Fijo de Veracruz infantry regiment under the command of José Joaquín de Arredondo.Pani, Erika. "Antonio López de Santa Anna" in Encyclopedia of Mexico. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, p. 1334. In September of that year, secular cleric Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla sparked a spontaneous mass uprising in the Bajío, Mexico's rich agricultural area. Although some criollo elites had chafed as their upward mobility had been thwarted by the Bourbon Reforms, the Hidalgo Revolt saw most criollos favoring continued crown rule. In particular, Santa Anna's family "saw themselves as aligned to the peninsular elite, whom they served, and were in turn, recognized as "belonging".quoted in Fowler, Santa Anna of Mexico, p. 17.
Initially, Santa Anna, like most criollo military officers, fought for the Spanish crown against the mixed-raced insurgents for independence; his commanding officer was Colonel José Joaquín de Arredondo. In 1811 he was wounded in the left hand by an arrow while fighting in the town of Amoladeras, in the intendancy (administrative district) of San Luis Potosí. In 1813 he served in Texas against the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition and at the Battle of Medina, in which he was cited for bravery. Santa Anna was promoted quickly; he became a second lieutenant in February 1812 and first lieutenant before the end of that year. During the initial rebellion, the young officer witnessed Arredondo's fierce counterinsurgency policy of mass executions. The early fighting against the rebels gave way to guerrilla warfare and a military stalemate.In 1814, Santa Anna was promoted as aide to General Dávila, royalist commander of Veracruz and in March 1816, he was promoted to the rank of captain and commanded troops sent to rescue Orizaba and Cordoba held by pro-independence forces. On March 23, 1821 he arrived in Orizaba and successfully defeated the insurgents. As a reward, Santa Anna was promoted to a lieutenant colonel by a Viceroy who was accompanied by General Herrara. Santa Anna later came to the aid of Herrera in Tepeaca, winning another battle and was promoted to Chief of the Army's 11th Division by royalist officer, Agustín de Iturbide.
When Iturbide switched sides in 1821 and allied with insurgent Vicente Guerrero, fighting for independence under the Plan of Iguala, Santa Anna, after a decade of fighting for the Spanish Crown, also joined the fight for independence. Political developments in Spain, where liberals had ousted King Ferdinand VII and began implementing the Spanish liberal constitution of 1812, made many elites in Mexico reconsider their options.Pani, "Antonio López de Santa Anna", p. 1334. Headed by Iturbide and a 33 member board, the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire was ratified on September 28, 1821.
Rebellion against the Mexican Empire of Iturbide, 1822–1823
Iturbide, now Emperor Augustin I, of the newly formed Mexican Empire, rewarded Santa Anna with the command of the vital port of Veracruz, the gateway from the Gulf of Mexico to the rest of the nation and site of a customs house. However, Iturbide subsequently removed Santa Anna from the post, prompting Santa Anna to rise in rebellion with Guadalupe Victoria and Guerrero in December 1822 against Iturbide.
Santa Anna already had significant power in his home region of Veracruz, and "he was well along the path to becoming the regional caudillo."Anna, Timothy E. Forging Mexico, 1821–1835. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press 1998, p. 103. He claimed in his Plan of Veracruz that he rebelled because Iturbide had dissolved the Constituent Congress in October. Santa Anna also promised to support free trade with Spain, an important principle for his home region of Veracruz.Anna, Forging Mexico, p. 104.Benson, Nettie Lee. "The Plan of Casa Mata", Hispanic American Historical Review 25, no. 1, (February 1945): pp. 45–56.
Although Santa Anna's initial rebellion was important, Iturbide had loyal military men who were able to hold their own against the rebels in Veracruz. However, former insurgent leaders Guerrero and Nicolás Bravo, who had supported Iturbide's Plan de Iguala, returned to their base in southern Mexico and raised a rebellion against Iturbide. The commander of imperial forces in Veracruz, who had fought against the rebels, changed sides and joined the rebels. On February 1, 1823, the new coalition proclaimed the Plan of Casa Mata, which called for the end of the monarchy, restoration of the Constituent Congress, and creation of a republic and a federal system.Anna, Forging Mexico, p. 107.
With his forces defecting to the rebels, Iturbide decided to abdicate on 19 March 1823. No longer the main player in the movement against Iturbide or the creation of new political arrangements, Santa Anna sought to regain his position as a leader and marched forces to Tampico, then to San Luis Potosí, proclaiming in support of a federal republic and his role as the "protector of the federation".