Key Facts
- Duration
- 1835–1846 (~11 years)
- Founding constitution
- Siete Leyes (Seven Laws), 23 October 1835
- Revised constitution
- Bases Orgánicas, 1843
- Dominant party
- Conservative Party (~10 years uninterrupted rule)
- Major territorial loss
- Texas and Yucatan during this period
Imperial Zenith Metrics
Historical Trajectory
Phase I: Rise
In 1835, conservative factions in Mexico repealed the federalist Constitution of 1824 and dissolved the First Mexican Republic, replacing it with a unitary centralist regime governed by the Siete Leyes. Conservatives blamed the prior republic's instability on excessive state autonomy and universal male suffrage, seeking to concentrate power in the central government in a manner reminiscent of colonial-era administration.
Phase II: Zenith
Under presidents Santa Anna and Anastasio Bustamante, the Conservative Party maintained continuous formal control for nearly a decade. A revised centralist constitution, the Bases Orgánicas, was promulgated in 1843 to reinforce central authority. Despite these efforts, the regime never achieved economic or political stability, and the government remained structurally fragile throughout the period.
Phase III: Decline
The Centralist Republic unraveled amid multiple secession crises, the loss of Texas, the Pastry War with France, and the outbreak of the Mexican–American War in 1846. A military revolt compounded the instability, and on 22 August 1846 the Constitution of 1824 was restored, dissolving the centralist regime and inaugurating the Second Federal Republic of Mexico.
Notable Imperial Reigns
Selected rulers mapping the empire’s trajectory