The Mexican Revolution And The Constitution Of 1917

Although the Mexican Revolution started off as a political revolution to overthrow Diaz, it quickly turned into a social revolution with different groups fighting for different reasons. Two of the greatest leaders of the revolution who fought for social reform where Pancho Villa who lead the north side and Emiliano Zapata who lead the south side of Mexico. Pancho Villa’s army consisted of cowboys and workers from the mines, railroads and oil fields. Emiliano Zapata and his followers were mainly peasant farmers of Indigenous descents who called for land redistributions. They urged to recover their ancestral lands that had been taken by the haciendas. In “The Great Revolution,” Miller argues that “some revolutionaries called for land distribution,
Essentially, many of these ideas were incorporated in the Constitution of 1917” (283). Fundamentally, one of the main goals of the revolution was to move away from the old liberal reforms from the 19th century that pushed Mexico’s economy towards a free-market capitalism, individual ownership of land and influences from foreigners (Mularski 4/3/2015). The revolution had created a new sense of nationalism, which reflected in the Constitution of 1917. Contreras argues in the “Mexican Economic Policy” that the Constitution of 1917 “was the blueprint for a new economic model that would be characterized by the gradual implementation of nationalist economic policies designed to repossess natural resources, limit foreign investment, foster Mexican industry and engage in a far reaching program of land reform” (6). The two most significant articles of the constitution where Article 27 and 123. Article 27 claimed that the nation of Mexico owned all the land, water and the riches from the subsoil and they were the ones that “could grant concessions for their exploitation. Foreigners were not permitted to own land unless they agreed to be considered Mexican and not invoke the protection of their government” (Miller
Article 27 also granted the government powers to confiscate private property if it was in the interest of the public and to redistribute the land. It stated that the land should be given to communities that need it and land that was taken illegally would be returned. Monopolies and excessive land would be broken up and divided up in order to provide land for those who need it. Article 123 was about labor reform that established guidelines for working conditions. It established an 8 hour work day with a maximum work week of 6 days. As well as a guaranteed minimum wage, equal wages and double pay for overtime. It implemented social benefits that included “insurance against disability, on life, against involuntary work stoppage, against sickness and accidents, and other forms for similar purposes” (The Constitution of 1917, 402). Lastly, Article 123 gave workers “the right to organize, to bargain collectively, and to strike.” These two articles represented key objectives from the revolution. They provided the groundwork for agrarian reform and united the urban workers with new protections and rights for working