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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, March 21, 2018, marks the 212th anniversary of the |
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birth of the influential Mexican lawyer and politician Benito |
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Juarez; and |
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WHEREAS, A Zapotec Indian and native of Oaxaca, Benito Juarez |
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was a teenager when he gained the patronage of the family in whose |
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home his sister worked as a servant; tutored privately at first, he |
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graduated from the Franciscan seminary in Oaxaca in 1827 and went on |
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to receive a law degree from the Institute of Science and Art; and |
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WHEREAS, Attracted to politics at an early age, he spent |
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virtually all of his adult life either in government or waging |
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opposition; he served as a city councilman for Oaxaca from 1831 to |
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1833, during which time he strongly supported Indian rights, and in |
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the 1840s he served as a civil judge and federal deputy; from 1847 |
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to 1852 he held the governorship of Oaxaca; and |
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WHEREAS, Driven into exile when Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna |
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came to power in 1853, Sr. Juarez joined the successful |
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revolutionary movement against Santa Anna; after the ruler was |
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forced into exile, Sr. Juarez became minister of justice, and while |
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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, this |
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rising national leader became minister of the interior in November |
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1857 and the next month took office as president of the supreme |
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court; when a military coup deposed the government, he became |
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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, Benito Juarez was elected to the presidency in 1861; |
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soon, however, he found himself fighting the French, who captured |
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Mexico City in 1863; once again he and his troops prevailed, with |
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the United States clearly favoring their cause, and in 1867 he was |
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again elected president; and |
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WHEREAS, Known for his commitment to the indigenous people of |
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Mexico and for his support for equal rights and economic reform, |
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President Juarez died while working at his desk in the National |
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Palace on July 18, 1872; in 1888, the city of El Paso del Norte was |
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renamed Ciudad Juarez in his honor; and |
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WHEREAS, Benito Juarez is 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 85th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay special tribute to the life of Mexican hero |
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and president Benito Juarez on March 21, 2018, the 212th |
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anniversary of his birth. |