on February 14, 1781. He attended university in the same city, studying to be a physician. During his studies he learned French and read the Enlightenment works that were clandestinely being shared throughout New Spain at the time. His dissertation contained such a strong influence from Enlightenment authors that he managed to get the attention of the Mexican Inquisition, but no legal action was ever taken against him, and he opened a successful medical practice in Guadalajara. In 1821, Mexican Independence was won under the leadership of Agustin de Iturbide through the Plan of Iguala which established the new nation as a monarchy. A congress was also elected to draft a constitution, a congress to which Gómez Farías was elected to. The original proposal for the throne was a member of the Spanish royal family, but after the Spanish government rejected the offer, Iturbide's supporters urged congress to elect him emperor. Among those supporting Iturbide at this time was Gómez Farías, who actually gave a speech in congress defending the right and legality of congress to elect Iturbide as Emperor, and Iturbide was subsequently elected as the emperor of the First Mexican Empire. The liberal Gómez Farías expected Iturbide to be a constitutional monarch, but in the subsequent months, Iturbide became increasingly autocratic, and viewed himself as sovereign over congress, even dissolving the body whereupon Gómez Farías turned on him. After the fall of the Mexican Empire in 1823, Gómez Farías supported the ultimately successful presidential candidacy of Guadalupe Victoria who was inaugurated as the first president of Mexico. When under liberal president Vicente Guerrero, Lorenzo de Zavala resigned as minister of the treasury, due to the fact that he was also governor of the state of Mexico at the time, Gómez Farías was given the offer to replace him, but he refused the post. When Santa Anna proclaimed the Plan of Veracruz against conservative president Anastasio Bustamante in 1832, Gómez Farías helped convince Governor Garcia of Zacatecas to side with the rebels. The rebellion would rage for most of the year and end with the overthrow of the president. After the fall of Anastasio Bustamante, Gómez Farías supported the candidacy of Gomez Pedraza. Manuel Gomez Pedraza was invited to hold the presidential seat until the next scheduled elections which were on March, and he chose Gómez Farías as Minister of the Treasury. First Presidency In the elections of March,