Studia Historica: Historia Contemporánea (Apr 2011)
«¡If we observe the Constitution we will resist!»: Yucatec Maya people in times of Independence
Abstract
This article analyzes the Latin American independence period through the lens of the silenced actors —the indigenous majority group of the Yucatan peninsula. The Mayas of Yucatan lived the process of transformation fro subjects to citizens by respecting the Constitution, requesting that the constitutional principles pertaining to them were applied, and taking active part in the civic formation of the new Ayuntamientos. This change of attitude, resulting from the legitimacy that the Spanish Parliament of Cadiz rendered to all citizens, translated into the same capacity of representation to subaltern groups and dominant sectors alike. This study will explore the extent to which the acceptance of the new constitutional order is, in fact, an act of indigenous resistance that represents one more submission strategy that will eventually lead to the 1847 Caste War.
