Abstract

GARCIADIEGO, Javier. When, how, why and who wrote the 1917 Constitution?. Hist. mex. [online]. 2017, vol.66, n.3, pp.1183-1270. ISSN 2448-6531.

This article aims to show that the 1917 Constitution was a proposal posed by Venustiano Carranza and his closest circle of civilian collaborators. They first had to separate themselves from the 1857 Constitution, which was their struggle's original banner. Later they would have to find the most adequate moment to convene a Constituent Congress to draw up the new Constitution. Obviously, the fundamental topic was choosing those persons most suitable for the task: the Constituents with legislative experience who were close to Carranza. Further, the article describes the steps followed by Carranza and his followers to keep control and command over the Constituent Congress, who were bent on avoiding a repetition of the experience of the failed Convention. Indeed, the similarities and shared characteristics among the majority of the representatives explain the absence of grand debates and of majority and even unanimous votes for many articles. Finally, sociologically analysing the group of constituent representatives, I conclude that a process of sociohistorical shift took place in Querétaro: if popular rural sectors had ended the Ancien Régime, the creators of the new Mexican State belonged to the urban middle-classes.

Keywords : 1917 Constitution; Constituent Congress; Constitutionalists; Venustiano Carranza; Querétaro.

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