Abstract
Historians have argued alternatively that the Mexican Constitution of 1824 had been a flawed copy of the Constitution of the United States of America or that, far from being influenced by it, the Mexican text had been based on the Spanish charter of 1812. Through an analysis of the debates of the Mexican Constituent Congress of 1823-24 this article explores both the knowledge and understanding that the Mexico representatives had of the US Constitution and the use they made of it. Findings suggest that Mexican constituents discussed specific articles of the US Constitution, that they were familiar with both the text and the workings of the institutions and that they were convinced they had taken the US Constitution and produced a far improved one.
| Translated title of the contribution | Looking towards Philadelphia from Anahuac: The Constitution of the United States of America and Mexico's 1823-24 Constituent Congress |
|---|---|
| Original language | Spanish |
| Pages (from-to) | 97-125 |
| Number of pages | 29 |
| Journal | Política y Gobierno |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2010 |