Salvador Alvarado facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Salvador Alvarado
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Salvador Alvarado
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| Governor of Yucatán | |
| In office 1915–1918 |
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| Preceded by | Abel Ortiz Argumedo |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Castro Morales |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 16, 1880 Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico |
| Died | June 10, 1924 (aged 43) El Hormiguero Ranchero, near Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico |
| Political party | Partido Socialista de Yucatán |
| Spouses | 1st unknown; 2nd Laura Manzano |
| Profession | soldier |
Salvador Alvarado Rubio (born September 16, 1880 – died June 10, 1924) was an important general and politician during the Mexican Revolution. He served in the Constitutionalist Army under President Carranza. Alvarado was the Governor of Yucatán from 1915 to 1918. He also served as the Secretary of the Treasury under President de la Huerta. A place called Salvador Alvarado Municipality in Sinaloa, where he was born, is named in his honor.
Contents
Who Was Salvador Alvarado?
His Early Life and Family
Salvador Alvarado was born on September 16, 1880, in Culiacán, a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. His parents were Timoteo Alvarado and Antonia Rubio. When he was about eight years old, his family moved to a Yaqui village called Pótam in Sonora.
As a young man, he moved to the port city of Guaymas. There, he worked in a pharmacy. Later, he moved to Cananea and opened his own pharmacy. He worked for several years as a pharmacist and a merchant.
Alvarado was a widower when he came to Yucatán. After some time, he married Laura Manzano, a young woman from the area.
Joining the Revolution
In 1906, Salvador Alvarado joined the Partido Liberal Mexicano (Mexican Liberal Party). This group was against President Porfirio Díaz staying in power for many terms. Alvarado began working secretly for Díaz's opponent, Ricardo Flores Magón.
In 1910, Alvarado joined the Anti-Reelectionist Party in Sonora. This party was started by Benjamín G. Hill. Later that year, Alvarado and other young people who believed in the revolution attacked a military base in Hermosillo, Sonora. Their attack failed. Some rebels were executed, but Salvador Alvarado escaped to Arizona.
Alvarado's Military Journey
Fighting for Change
In 1911, Francisco I. Madero, who was also exiled in Texas, wrote the Plan de San Luis Potosí. This plan called for the election to be canceled and for Díaz to be overthrown. Alvarado returned to Mexico and joined the revolutionary army as a captain. He fought against Porfirio Díaz.
In February 1911, Madero's forces attacked and defeated Díaz's troops in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. Soon after, two of Madero's generals, Pascual Orozco and Pancho Villa, defeated Díaz's federal troops in Ciudad Juárez. These wins led to Porfirio Díaz resigning and leaving Mexico in May 1911. A peace treaty was signed, and Francisco Madero became Mexico's new President in November 1911.
Rising Through the Ranks
At this time, northern Mexico was in rebellion. The Yaqui people in Sonora were fighting. Other areas like Morelos and Durango were also unstable. Pascual Orozco, who had supported Madero, tried to take power in Chihuahua. These conflicts kept Alvarado busy. He steadily rose through the military ranks, becoming a Major, then Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, and finally General.
In November 1911, Emiliano Zapata was upset that Madero had not made land reforms. He wrote the Plan of Ayala, which called Madero a traitor. Zapata created a land reform plan and named Orozco as the leader of their revolt. Madero sent General Victoriano Huerta in 1912 to stop this revolt. Huerta quickly defeated Orozco and sent him into exile. Alvarado fought with Huerta against Orozco and was promoted.
Joining the Constitutionalists
Madero tried to balance the demands of different groups. The "La Decena Trágica" (Ten Tragic Days) happened from February 9 to 19, 1913. During this time, Mexico City was under attack. Huerta took control of the military, staged a coup, and had Madero and his loyal officers killed. Huerta then declared himself president.
Within days of Madero's murder, Venustiano Carranza became the new revolutionary leader. He called himself "First Chief of the Constitutionalist Forces." Alvarado did not accept Huerta as president. He immediately joined Carranza's revolution. Carranza promoted him to Brigadier General and gave him important commands.
By June 1914, some leaders were supporting Villa against Carranza. Alvarado faced challenges and was even captured and imprisoned in July by Maytorena, a governor who supported Villa. However, Alvarado escaped in late September. He joined Carranza in central Mexico and was ordered to organize troops in Puebla and Tlaxcala.
In July 1914, Huerta resigned as president. Carranza's forces won, and he sent his officers to bring order to different states. On February 27, 1915, Carranza named Alvarado Governor and military commander of Yucatán. Alvarado's forces quickly put down a rebel movement, and he arrived in Mérida, the capital, by March 19, 1915.
Governor of Yucatán (1915-1918)
Reforming Society
After arriving in Mérida, Alvarado spent six months studying the conditions in Yucatán. He gathered information from all parts of society. He worked with both conservative landowners and radical thinkers to change society.
One of his first actions was to help the Maya peasants. He freed them from a system similar to serfdom. He stopped practices like forced guardianship, keeping children, and whipping. He canceled their debts to landowners. He also created laws for women and child workers, including domestic workers. These laws set maximum working hours, minimum pay, required rest, and safety standards. His goal was to change the old Hacienda system into a modern one. He wanted peones (farm laborers) to become paid workers, which he believed would also help Henequin plantation owners.
Justice and Land Reforms
Alvarado set up "Tribunals of the Revolution" in each of the state's 16 districts. This made courts available to everyone. Lawyers were not allowed, only the military court commander and secretary could participate. This made judgments quick and less scary for poor or uneducated people. These military courts resolved over 3,600 cases.
Alvarado also stopped "Cohecho Investigations." This was a misuse of a law that landowners used to punish workers for speaking out against working conditions. Before Alvarado, those accused were always jailed. He stopped these prosecutions.
Alvarado said he passed over 1,000 decrees during his three years as governor. He reformed important areas like labor, land, property registration, state money, and local government. Besides freeing the Maya from debt, he created Agrarian Committees in each town. These committees oversaw land and farm worker issues. He also created the agente de propaganda, a position like an ombudsman. These agents reported abuses against common people by landowners or merchants. Local agents, like Felipe Carrillo Puerto (who later became governor), spoke both Spanish and Maya. They helped bring a sense of local justice to even the smallest villages.
Education and Labor
After helping peasants and landowners, Alvarado focused on education. He passed laws making education mandatory, non-religious, and free. It focused on reading, writing, math, and civic responsibility. Alvarado started schools for agriculture, fine arts, and crafts. He also founded a free law school. In total, he created over 1,000 schools, some of them for both boys and girls, and 300 libraries. He also helped start a music conservatory.
His labor reforms included minimum wages, maximum working hours, and accident compensation. He also set rules for child labor and gave workers the right to strike. He made it illegal for employers to force their religious beliefs on workers. He passed laws that recognized and legalized unions. He also created an organization called Casa del Obrero Mundial (The House of the World Worker) to encourage union members to be active in politics.
Women's Rights and Social Change
Alvarado had studied ideas about women's rights and socialism. He passed laws to help free women from traditional roles, similar to how he helped the Maya. Protections for workers were extended to include domestic workers. He believed that certain vices harmed women and families. So, he passed laws outlawing bullfights, gambling, and lotteries. Alvarado's alcohol prohibition law was very strict. It even made drunkenness a reason for divorce.
He believed that strong loyalty to the church, rather than the state, was harmful to a modern society. So, Alvarado closed churches, took religious items, and removed priests from government jobs. He also passed laws to create old age pensions and a public works office.
Alvarado encouraged people to participate in civic life. He asked teachers to hold the First Congress on Educational Campaigns in the State. He also organized the First Feminist Congress in Mexico, which took place in Mérida, Yucatán in 1916.
When Alvarado was called away for military duty in other parts of Mexico in 1918, he appointed Carlos Castro Morales to be the next governor. He also named Felipe Carrillo Puerto as the head of the Partido Socialista de Yucatán, the Yucatecan Socialist Party.
Later Years and Death
Return to Federal Service
In 1917, Venustiano Carranza appointed Alvarado as Chief of Military Operations for Southeast Mexico. This meant Alvarado spent many months away from Mérida. In November 1918, Carranza permanently called Alvarado back to federal service.
After the Constitution of 1917 was passed, Carranza seemed to move away from revolutionary ideas. Lands that had been taken by the government were given to his generals. This made it seem like a new group of powerful landowners was forming. Emiliano Zapata and his rebels became targets of Carranza's government. This caused a lot of destruction in Morelos, where people were also fighting the 1918 flu pandemic.
Zapata's assassination in 1919, the resignation of Álvaro Obregón as Minister of War, and Carranza's failure to follow Alvarado's idea of "give them land, and you bind them to Mexico" caused many of Carranza's former allies to turn against him. This led to different groups forming. One powerful group was Los Sonorenses (The Sonoran Men). This group included Adolfo de la Huerta, Alvaro Obregón, Plutarco Elías Calles, Benjamín G. Hill, and Salvador Alvarado.
Political Activities and Exile
In 1919, Alvarado started a newspaper called El Heraldo de México. He used it to share his ideas. Some people, including Obregón, thought Alvarado was using the paper to become famous for a presidential election. Alvarado denied this, but tensions between him and Obregón slowly grew.
Alvarado's political actions also angered Carranza, who had him arrested. He was released in January 1920 and sent away to the United States. When he returned from exile, Alvarado and other Los Sonorenses joined Obregón's Plan of Agua Prieta in April 1920.
Secretary of the Treasury and Rebellion
After Carranza's assassination, Adolfo de la Huerta was elected as the temporary President of Mexico on June 1, 1920. Alvarado was named Secretary of the Treasury. De la Huerta's government was almost bankrupt. Alvarado made many trips to New York City to get money through loans and by promoting Yucatán's henequin (a type of fiber).
In 1921, de la Huerta handed over power to Álvaro Obregón. Alvarado left the Treasury and became the Director of Free Ports and Secretary of the Advisory Board of Petroleum. In 1922, Alvarado was in Yucatán. U.S. newspapers reported that he was meeting with leaders who were against Obregón and his chosen successor, Plutarco Elías Calles. By 1923, an open rebellion started between de la Huerta and Obregón. Alvarado supported his childhood friend, de la Huerta.
Persecution and Death
De la Huerta was forced into exile in Los Angeles, California on March 7, 1924. Alvarado tried to escape to Canada, the United States, and then Guatemala. However, Obregón's men chased him without stopping. A few months after de la Huerta's exile, Alvarado was ambushed while fleeing from Obregón's forces. This happened at El Hormiguero ranchero, between Tenosique, Tabasco and Palenque, Chiapas. Salvador Alvarado was killed on June 10, 1924.
Published Works
Salvador Alvarado published three books in Spanish during his life:
- Salvador Alvarado, Mi Actuación Revolucionaria en Yucatán (My Revolutionary Performance in Mexico), 1918.
- Salvador Alvarado, (1879-1924) La Reconstrucción de México (The Reconstruction of Mexico), 1919.
- Salvador Alvarado, Carta al pueblo de Yucatán: Mi Sueño (Letter to the People of Yucatán: My Dream)
Images for kids
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Salvador Alvarado
See also
In Spanish: Salvador Alvarado Rubio para niños
