Encounter with the Constitution of 1917

The constitution managed to capture in its pages the diverse and divergent revolutionary ideals in matters of land distribution, labor rights, secular and free education, as well as democratic renewal by prohibiting presidential reelection. 

The Constitution of 1917 is the product of a long struggle of more than 200 years of the Mexican nation to conform as a nation.

The laws that were established in the Cortes of Cádiz also contemplated our continent, since a third of the deputies were Americans. However, the Spanish limited self-government because they feared the federalization of the territory. 

This document is considered the fruit of the ideas of the Enlightenment in Spain and, for its time, it was a revolutionary constitution, since the rights and obligations of citizens were protected.

 In addition, it established that sovereignty rested with the people, thus depriving it of the King, with which power ceased to fall to a single person and was now divided into three powers.

On September 28, 1821, Mexico established its Independence. It was established as a constitutional empire. Agustín de Iturbide held the position of first Emperor, one of his first actions was to dissolve the first Constituent Congress, which would be responsible for the creation of the imperial Constitution. This act provoked an armed movement that overthrew him and established a Republic in Mexico.  


 

The abdication of Iturbide and the ignorance of the Cordoba treaties by the Spanish crown gave Mexico freedom to establish itself as it best suited.  

With these changes, the local congresses disappeared, the governors were elected by the President of the Republic and the disappearance of several municipalities was agreed.  

In the midst of the war with the United States, the Constitution of 1824 was restored. Congress considered it legitimate and convenient, but it had to undergo certain reforms. The result was a brief document that eliminated the condition of property or capital to be able to vote and be voted; The possibility of a law that would place individual guarantees above the rest of the country's laws was also raised.   

During Maximilian's empire, an attempt was made to govern under the Provisional Statute of the Mexican Empire, promulgated on April 10, 1865. 

In it, a moderate monarchy was established as a form of government whose sovereignty rested with the monarch, as long as the  definitive organization was decreed Empire. 

It established equality before the law, the right to personal safety and property, the exercise of worship and the right to publish one's opinions.  

The constituent deputies managed to include revolutionary thought in the constitutional principles of 1917.  

214 legislators took part in the elaboration of the 1917 Constitution, whose proposals, echoing the main revolutionary demands, were incorporated into the final text of the Magna Carta, which was signed by 209 deputies.    

In Article 3, one of the main guarantees for Mexican society was established, where it is stated that everyone has the right to receive secular and free education. 

One of the main institutions that ensures this right is the Ministry of Public Education.

In February 1921, the Chamber of Deputies discussed the project for the creation of the SEP. After heated discussions, it was possible to reform section XVII of Constitutional Article 73 and replace the Ministry of Public Instruction with the new agency.  

 

On December 28, 1916, the drafting of a complete title of the Constitution was approved to establish labor rights. Once the initiative is approved by the assembly, it is agreed to form a voluntary commission or Founding Nucleus, to prepare the draft of Article 123.  

The 1917 constitution is considered the first social constitution of the early twentieth century, as it includes the social rights of citizens. 

In the case of women, their labor rights were raised for the first time, which ensured equality, respect and adequate working conditions.

From the moment when their right to vote was recognized, the participation of women, both in electoral processes and in other political manifestations, has been increasing.  

Women have not limited themselves to participating in elections, they have also become the fundamental axis in many areas of daily life. 

The manifestation of ideas is a citizen's right, endorsed by Article 6 of the Constitution, which determines that “The manifestation of ideas will not be subject to any judicial or administrative inquisition, but only in the event that it attacks morality, life private or the rights of third parties; causes a crime or disturbs public order ”.

The Constitution of 1917 stipulated in its Article 7 that the freedom to write and publish writings on any subject is inviolable, no law or authority can establish prior censorship, or restrict the freedom of broadcast. Unless it attacks morals, private life or the rights  of third parties; causes a crime or disturbs public order ”.  

On March 18, 1938, at 10 o'clock at night, President Lázaro Cárdenas announced in a radio broadcast on a national network, the Petroleum Expropriation Decree, based on the second paragraph of section VI of Article 27 of the Constitution. 

This event marked the triumph  of the Mexican people, of freedom and economic and political independence.