| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation is an analytical study of Lucas Alaman as a Mexican historian. The leading conservative statesman of nineteenth-century Mexico, Alaman's historical writings reflected the culmination of his political philosophy. As independent Mexico struggled to achieve self-government and failed, Alaman became increasingly convinced that political stability and economic progress depended upon preservation of the very Hispanic heritage that the liberals sought to eradicate. By the mid-1840's, therefore, he began writing his narrative of New Spain and Mexican independence, appealing to his countrymen through his interpretation of the past for a return to traditional Hispanic values and for restoration of Spanish institutions. Alaman's defense of the Spanish past is the key to understanding both his political position and his historical writings. By glorifying Cortes as the founder of Mexico, he intended to prove that Spain was the sole progenitor of the Mexican nation. His extensive treatment of Spanish history was designed to illustrate the historical unity of Spain and Mexico and to demonstrate the benefits derived under monnarchical rule. In his five-volume study of the revolutionary era, Alaman made a clear distinction between the Hidalgo-Morelos movements and the revolution led by Iturbide. The rebellions led by the two priests were simply class struggles which not only failed to achieve independence but had actually impeded separation from Spain. The creoles, he concluded, refused to support a revolution which imperilled their own lives and property. In 1821, however, they rallied behind Iturbide whose Plan de Iguala embodied the goals of independence. Iturbide's failure to fulfill the three guarantees had doomed the Mexican nation to anarchy and chaos. Alaman's historical writings are more valuable as intellectual history than as a source of factual information and interpretation. A study of the Disertaciones and the Historia de Mejico reveals the basis of his political position. Because Lucas Alaman established the conservative tradition of Mexican historiography, an analysis of his works provides insights into the interpretations of his intellectual descendants of the twentieth century. | |
