against him which now began to brand him as a traitor. In response he published a manifesto, emphasizing that his administration was dedicated to personal rights and to free speech. He explained that he viewed the independence of Texas as the lesser of two evils compared to American annexation, and that as a matter of domestic policy he also preferred a smaller but well trained body of troops to the mass of undisciplined and ineffective conscripts that up until now had characterized the Mexican Army. On December 14, 1845, the troops at San Luis Potosí, mutinied led by Mariano Paredes. The revolution was seconded by several of the departmental assemblies and military revolt spread even to Mexico City. On December 30, unable to offer further resistance, President Herrera resigned. He was succeeded by Mariano Paredes. The Mexican-American War would begin four months later Third Presidency Herrera experienced a rehabilition through the course of the war and found himself the first president elected once again after peace was reestablished in 1848. On June 14, 1848, he passed a decree reforming the treasury department, reducing the budget for the civil service and the army, and presented a plan to congress for the consolidation of the national debt. The Constitution of 1824 had been restored during the Mexican-American War, but further considerations on constitutional reform stalled in congress. The new state of Guerrero however was successfully formed on May 15, 1849, out of districts taken from the states of Mexico, Puebla, and Michoacan. It was named after the hero of independence and former president Vicente Guerrero. The first measures to build a telegraph in Mexico were under taken by building a line between Mexico and Puebla in 1851. Financial issues On November 30, 1850, the national debt was consolidated into one fund with the interest rate set at 3 percent, that was to receive twenty percent of custom house revenues. A committee was set up to manage the debt and oversee the collection of duties. Forty million pesos of bonds were set to be issued. The plan however failed due to a lack of financial data. The amount of national debt was underestimated and even taking into account the indemnity paid by the United States after the war, it was discovered that there were not enough funds to realistically pay off the debt under the new plan. There was outcry by debtors both