Reform War begins in Mexico

Background. The Constitution of 1857, promulgated on February 5, 1857, incorporated the Juárez and Lerdo Laws. It separated Church and State, stripped the Church and military of privileges (fueros), mandated the sale of Church-owned and indigenous community lands, and secularized education. Conservatives revolted over the constitution, touching off the Reform War between Liberal and Conservative governments, a conflict also known as the Three Years' War or the Mexican Civil War.

Plan of Tacubaya. General Félix Zuloaga led army troops to the capital, closed congress, and issued the Plan of Tacubaya on 17 December 1857. The plan declared the Constitution of 1857 nullified and offered supreme power to President Comonfort, who was to convoke a new constitutional convention to produce a document more in accord with Mexican interests.

Political Shift. On 11 January 1858, Comonfort resigned from the presidency and went into exile. He left the capital after being abandoned by most of his loyal troops, and the constitutional presidency passed to the president of the Supreme Court, Benito Juárez.