Benito Juárez (1806-1872) was a Mexican statesman and resistance leader against the French. After defeating the Austrian would-be emperor Maximilian, Juárez instituted numerous liberal reforms as president.

By 1850 Mexico seemed on the verge of total collapse. Thirty years of violence had left the treasury bankrupt, communications disrupted, and the population demoralized. Two factions, defining themselves as Conservatives and Liberals, constantly fought over the control of the state and its shrinking revenues. The Conservatives, representing the large landholders, the Church, the professional army, and the large cities, tried to make Mexico into a highly centralized state based upon the institutions and ideology of the colonial period. The Liberals, who represented small merchants, some intellectuals, political leaders in rural areas, and the small ranchers of the west and south, stood for a federal system, the abolishment of colonial prerogatives, land distribution, and a constitutional democracy based...