Mexican States No Longer Exist: Traced Disappearance
In the early years of its independence, Mexico underwent significant changes in its territorial organization. One of the initial provinces was the Province of New Biscay, which included the states of Chihuahua and Durango. However, after the collapse of the First Mexican Empire, these provinces became separate entities.
The sparse population and control of powerful Indigenous nations in northern Mexico necessitated the creation of the Internal State of the West for administrative and defense purposes. Sinaloa y Sonora, which includes part of modern-day Arizona, was frequently governed as part of the same territory since the colonial era. Yet, local elites' competition for influence and commercial opportunities led to deep rivalries.
In 1824, Sinaloa y Sonora became one of the Internal States, known as the Internal State of the West. Around the same time, the State of the East was established, encompassing Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Texas. Coahuila, known as the "home of wine in the Americas," was part of the Internal State of the East during the drafting of Mexico's first constitution.
Central America, which consisted of the territories that are now Chiapas, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, was under Spanish rule as the Kingdom of Guatemala. Agustín de Iturbide, who later became Emperor of Mexico, invited Central America to join his country, and the government of Guatemala City accepted in January 1822. However, after Iturbide's abdication in March 1823, Mexico's interim government allowed Central America to decide its own fate, leading to Central America declaring independence from Mexico in July of that year.
The Province of the Isthmus was declared in 1823 but was immediately wracked by conflict due to the government's attempt to distribute resources without consulting the Indigenous Zapotec majority. The province was briefly resurrected in 1852 and dissolved again in 1855 during the Porfiriato.
In 1830, Sinaloa and Sonora became the first states admitted to the federation ever to separate. In 1840, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas formed the separatist Republic of the Rio Grande due to President Antonio López de Santa Anna's adoption of a centralist constitution. Santiago Vidaurri, a military leader from Nuevo León, unilaterally annexed Coahuila in 1856, forming the state of Nuevo León y Coahuila. This annexation occurred during that year as a significant political event in Mexican history.
The State of the North, under the Constitutive Act of 1824, comprised Durango, Chihuahua, and New Mexico. In 1857, the new Liberal government of Mexico officially ratified Nuevo León y Coahuila as a state. Chiapas voted to remain part of Mexico in 1824, keeping it as a part of the country. The Province of the Isthmus was not the only territory to undergo changes; Sinaloa y Sonora's history is marked by periods of union and separation, reflecting the complex political dynamics of early independent Mexico.
