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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Benito Juárez, who was instrumental in bringing |
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sweeping changes to Mexican government and society during the |
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mid-19th century, was born on March 21, 1806; and |
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WHEREAS, A Zapotec Indian and native of Oaxaca, Sr. Juárez |
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was a teenager when he gained the patronage of the family in whose |
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home his sister was working as a servant; tutored privately at |
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first, he graduated from the Franciscan seminary in Oaxaca in 1827 |
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and received a law degree from the Institute of Science and Art in |
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1834; and |
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WHEREAS, Sr. Juárez was attracted to politics at an early age |
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and spent virtually all of his adult life either in government or |
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waging opposition; he served as a city councilman for Oaxaca from |
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1831 to 1833, during which time he strongly supported Indian |
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rights, and in the 1840s he served as a civil judge and federal |
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deputy; from 1847 to 1852 he held the governorship of Oaxaca; and |
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WHEREAS, Driven into exile when Antonio López de Santa Anna |
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came to power in 1853, Sr. Juárez joined the successful |
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revolutionary movement against him; after Santa Anna himself was |
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forced into exile, Sr. Juárez became minister of justice; while |
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serving in that post he was responsible for a law that limited the |
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jurisdiction of church courts to ecclesiastical cases; and |
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WHEREAS, After serving again as governor of Oaxaca, Sr. |
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Juárez became minister of the interior in November 1857 and the next |
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month took office as chief justice of the Supreme Court; when a |
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military coup deposed the government, he declared himself |
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president, in accordance with the constitutional line of |
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succession, and led the victorious resistance to the usurpers in |
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the Reform War of 1858-1861; and |
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WHEREAS, Sr. Juárez assumed the presidency officially in |
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1861; soon, however, he found himself fighting the French, who |
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captured Mexico City in 1863 and set up a puppet regime; once again |
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Sr. Juárez and his troops prevailed, with the United States clearly |
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favoring their cause, and in 1867 he was again elected president; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Plagued with numerous difficulties throughout his |
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final term, Sr. Juárez died in office on July 17, 1872; in 1888, the |
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city of El Paso del Norte was renamed Ciudad Juárez in his honor; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Notwithstanding the difficulties of his final |
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years, Benito Juárez remains a towering figure in the history of |
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Mexico; he was instrumental in the transfer of political power from |
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creoles to mestizos, in asserting the authority of civil law, and in |
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preserving the nation's autonomy in the face of foreign invasion, |
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and it is a privilege to honor the memory of this national hero; |
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now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay special tribute to the life of the esteemed |
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Mexican statesman Benito Juárez on March 21, 2007, the 201st |
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anniversary of his birth. |