OK, class. Put your books under your chairs, take out a pencil and a piece of paper, and get ready for your morning quiz.
Ready? Today is one of Mexico's statutory holidays. What is the holiday? And why is it not being celebrated today?
If you answered Constitution Day, you are correct. It was celebrated last Monday. We will get to that in a moment.
For all of its civic holidays and religious fiestas, Mexico has only seven federal statutory holidays (eight in a presidential election year). Constitution Day (Día de la Constitución) is one of the Lofty Seven.*
And even though it does not have the cachet of the big holidays like Independence Day and Revolution Day, it is a very important historical day. It is the day Mexicans celebrate the Constitution of 1917.
Until 2006, It was celebrated on the anniversary of the day the Constitutional Convention approved the Constitution on 5 February 1917. Since 2006, the day is celebrated on the first Monday of February -- guaranteeing workers a paid holiday. And something the current president wants to change (strike three).
The Constitution of 1917 is the document that enshrined the political and social accomplishments of the Mexican Revolution, and was the first national constitution that stated the positive rights that the government must provide its citizens rather than negative rights protecting the citizens from the actions of the government.
As an example, Article 26 provides: "The State will encourage the development of democracy which will support economic growth." That is classified as a positive right.
In contrast, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution limits governmental action. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." It is classified as a negative right.
The revolution itself was the most important event in Mexico's history. It finally answered the question what type of country Mexico was and what being a Mexican meant. The 1917 Constitution provides some answers.
As is true of all revolutions, there were winners and losers at the 1917 constitutional convention in Santiago de Querétaro. (The photograph at the top of this essay is of the delegates swearing their allegiance to the new constitution with that somewhat unnerving Roman salute. The same photograph also appears on the reverse side of the 100-peso note commemorating the centennial of the constitution.)
The big losers at the convention were 1) the Mexican Catholic Church that lost almost all of its power and property that had not yet been seized by the government during President Juarez's reforms, 2) the owners of large estates who saw the land taken for land reform -- or to enhance the wealth of revolutionary generals, and 3) the foreigners (British, Canadians, and Americans, primarily) who owned most of Mexico's mines and infrastructure.
The Constitution discarded the earlier concept espoused by liberals like President Benito Juárez that government should take only a limited, passive role. The new national government now had an obligation to take the lead in promoting the social, economic, and cultural well-being of its citizens.
The Constitution was so admired by both the Weimar Republic and revolutionary Russia that both nations used the Mexican Constitution of 1917 as a model for their own. Of course, neither of those documents or governments turned out to be very successful.
These provisions may give you an idea what its framers intended for Mexico's future.
- Restricted participation in political affairs to citizens of the Republic
- Provided that "National benefit" would be a limitation on private contracts and property
- Established a system of free, mandatory, and secular education -- restricting another traditional role performed by the Catholic church
- Set up the foundations for land reform through the ejido system
- Declared all mineral resources in the subsoil belonged to the state
- Provided for labor rights -- minimum wages, right to strike, and freedom to join a union
- Placed ownership of all property in the hands of the state and restricted foreign ownership of property near borders or on the coast ("Private property is a privilege created by the nation")
- Increased the restrictions on the Catholic church beyond those of Juarez's constitution -- including the seizure of church buildings
- Empowered the government to expropriate property -- from the hacienda owners, and particularly property owned by foreigners
- Prohibited the reelection of any official -- especially, the president
- Guaranteed the right of persons to own firearms in their homes
- Established social security, public health, and welfare systems
The Constitution has been amended almost 150 times since it was enacted -- one of the most recent removed the prohibition of officials to seek reelection. The only elected official in Mexico who cannot seek reelection now is the president. That makes sense because the issue of presidential reelection was one of the primary triggering events of the revolution.
So, that is why there were so many tourists in town last weekend -- though not as many as usual. Most were celebrating this major step in the development of the Mexican state just as Americans celebrate the Fourth of July or Canadians celebrate Canada Day -- by lugging the family to the beach for good food and a lot of sand.
And I suspect there may be some traditionalists who will do the same thing today -- on the anniversary of the day when the constitution of 1917 was actually approved.
Feliz cumpleaños, señor Constitución.
* -- The others are New Year's Day, Benito Juárez's Birthday, Labor Day, Independence Day, Revolution Day, and Christmas Day.
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