but it was afterwards the scene of many a revolution until the dictatorial authority of Porfirio Diaz put an end to petty pronunciamentos and partisan intrigues.
In the war between Mexico and the United States the most decisive campaign was that of General Winfield Scott directed against the Mexican capital. With the advanced guard of an army of about 10,000 men he arrived on the 10th of August 1847 at Ayolta, on the national road 16 m. south-east of the city; but as the approaches from this direction were very strongly fortified he cut a new road southward along the eastern shore of Lake Chalco and westward along the southern shore of lakes Chalco and Xochimilco to San Augustin, where his army arrived on the 17th and 18th of August. The city was now 10 m. distant by a direct road to the northward, but as the village of San Antonio, only 3 m. ahead, was strongly fortified, another short detour was made to the westward by cutting a road through a field of broken lava. This movement brought the Americans to the hill of Contreras, which was held by General Valencia with a force of some 7000 and 22 pieces of artillery, while President Santa Anna was in the neighbourhood with reinforcements numbering 12,000 or more. The Mexicans were routed on the morning of the 20th of August after suffering heavy losses. San Antonio was easily taken about noon of the same day, and in the afternoon the main division of the Mexican army was driven from the stone church and intrenchments at Churubusco. Three days later General Scott agreed to an armistice, but Mexico rejected the terms of peace, and hostilities were resumed on the 7th of September. During the armistice the American troops were quartered in and about the village of Tacubaya, about 25 m. west by south of the city. Near Tacubaya, on the north by west, were some massive stone buildings known as El Molino del Rey, or the King’s Mill. When attacked by the Americans under the immediate command of General W. J. Worth in the early morning of the 8th of September these buildings were defended by more than 10,000 Mexicans under Generals Leon, Alvarez and Perez, and they were captured only after a most desperate fight, which cost the Americans 787 killed and wounded and the Mexicans at least 2000 killed, wounded, and prisoners. To enter the city by way of the Tacubaya causeway it was still necessary for the Americans to capture Chapultepec. This hill, defended by about 4000 Mexicans under General Nicolas Bravo, was bombarded on the 12th of September, and was carried by assault on the 13th. On the following day the City of Mexico surrendered. It was then occupied by the American army under General Winfield Scott, and held by them until the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (May 1848).
The French intervention of 1861 led to a second occupation by a foreign power—a French military force under General Forey taking possession in June 1863. Maximilian, archduke of Austria, was crowned emperor of Mexico in the cathedral in June 1864, and held possession of the capital until the 21st of June 1867, when it was captured by General Porfirio Diaz. Earthquake shocks are of frequent occurrence, but the city rarely suffers any material damage. The great earthquake shocks of the 30th and 31st of July 1909, however, caused considerable damage in the city, and a few lives were lost.
For further description see H. H. Bancroft, History of Mexico (6 vols., San Francisco, 1883); Robert S. Barrett, Standard Guide to the City of Mexico and Vicinity (Mexico: 1900); Thomas A. Janvier, The Mexican Guide (5th ed., New York, 1890); D. Charnay, Ancient Cities of the New World (Eng. ver., New York, 1887); and the Plano de la ciudad de México, in the Diccionario enciclopédico hispano-americano (Barcelona, 1893), xii. 740.
MEXICO, FEDERAL DISTRICT OF, a territory set apart for the independent and exclusive use of the Mexican Federal Government, occupying the south-eastern part of the Valley of Mexico, and taken from and lying within the State of Mexico, which forms its boundaries on all sides except the south where it touches the state of Morelos. Pop. (1900), 540,478, largely Indian and half-breeds; area, 463 sq. m., or accordingly to later computation 149834 sq. kilom. (57858 sq. m.). The district is very irregular in outline, its greatest length (N.W. to S.E.) being 30 m., and its greatest breadth 25 m. It was formerly divided into one urban municipality and four rural prefectures, but under the law of the 26th of March 1903 it is divided into 13 municipalities,
Mexico, Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Atzcapotzalco, Tacuba, Tacubaya, Mixcoac, Cuajimalpa, San Angel, Coyoacan, Tlalpám, Xochimilco, Milpa Alta and Ixtapalapa; the first of these comprises the national capital and its immediate suburbs, and the other 12 the unequal divisions of the district with a considerable number of towns and villages. Indians and half-breeds form more than one-half of the rural population engaged in agriculture and gardening,
beside which there is a large percentage employed in manufacturing industries. The government of the district is exercised by the national executive in accordance with the organic law of 1903,
though some measure of popular government is vested in municipal councils (ayuntamientos) elected by popular vote for terms of four years. These councils have lost much of their original legislative character, but they must be consulted in matters of local importance, such as water supply, sanitary works, and the exploitation or sale of municipal property, and in regard to all contracts affecting the municipality. They can veto by a two-thirds vote the execution of any contract or administrative project, which then, at the end of four months, if again vetoed must be taken before the President of the Republic for adjudication. The administrative officers, who
are appointed by the national executive, consist of a governor of the federal district, the director-general of public works, and the president of the superior board of health. The three
form a superior council of district government which exercises
a supervisory and advisory power, “revising, confirming,
reforming or revoking the acts of each one of the members of
the council, whenever these acts are called in question.” The
council also exercises a general supervision of the making of
contracts. The governor represents the national government,
and has special charge of the fire and police departments, prisons,
imposition of penalties for violation of ordinances, public diversions
and festivities, civil registry, street traffic, inspection of
weights and measures, and the sale of intoxicating liquors. The
director-general of public works has special charge of the water
supply, streets and roads, parks, monuments, public lighting,
drainage, street cleaning, public buildings not under federal
control, cemeteries, slaughter-houses and markets, building
operations, and all municipal or communal property. The
president of the superior board of health has charge of all
sanitary works, general sanitary inspection, the sanitary administration
of markets, slaughter-houses and cemeteries, and the
introduction of meats from other localities. The government
of the district is copied, in part, from that of the District of
Columbia in the United States, but its citizens are not disfranchised.
They elect the ayuntamientos, which exercise no
slight influence in local affairs, and, like any state, elect senators
and deputies to the National Congress.
