Constitution of 1857contained many reforms; it ended slavery and forced labor, and limited the armys power in the government. Although it did not actually guarantee freedom of religion, it did not establish Catholicism as Mexicos official religion. These reforms stirred up controversy among army leaders, church leaders, and powerful landowners, and the War of the Reform was fought between the reformers and their opponents.

War of the Reform weakened Mexico, leading to debt, unemployment, and the deaths of many Mexicans; left the country an easy target for a foreign takeover

Hacienda systemWealthy ranch owners held most of the land in Mexico; they took even more land from village farmers in the 1880s and 1890s. The many poor, landless people were eager to fight a revolution to change the social and political system.

Constitution of 1917promised to distribute land more equally among the Mexican people, and between 1920 and 1940 the government followed through by breaking up many of the giant haciendas.

Benito Juárez was a leading reformer who became president of Mexico in The Mexican Revolution was a war from 1910 to 1920 among armies from many parts of Mexico. Leaders included Madero and Zapata; issues included honest elections and land reform. The Institutional Revolutionary Party is the political party that provided all Mexican presidents from the 1920s until 2000.