Title: Reform War - Wikipedia
Headings: Reform War
Reform War
Contents
Liberals vs. Conservatives in post-Independence Mexico
Liberals take power in the 1850s
The Liberal Reform
Civil war
The Juárez government up to the French Intervention
See also
Notes
References

Content: The Juárez Law, named after Benito Juárez, restricted clerical privileges, specifically the authority of Church courts, by subordinating their authority to civil law. It was conceived of as a moderate measure, rather than abolishing church courts altogether. However, the move opened latent divisions in the country. Archbishop Lázaro de la Garza ( es) in Mexico City condemned the Law as an attack on the Church itself, and clerics went into rebellion in the city of Puebla in 1855–56. Other laws attacked the privileges traditionally enjoyed by the military, which was significant since the military had been instrumental in putting and keeping Mexican governments in office since Emperor Agustín de Iturbide in the 1820s. The next Reform Law was called the Lerdo law, after Miguel Lerdo de Tejada. Under this new law the government began to confiscate Church land. This proved to be considerably more controversial than the Juárez Law. The purpose of the law was to convert lands held by corporate entities such as the Church into private property, favoring those who already lived on it. It was thought that this would encourage development and the government could raise revenue by taxing the process.