carried the point, as indeed he did all, by outlining the work and attitude of the assembly.[1]
In consonance with the act of independence were confirmed the decrees already issued by Morelos, merging all race and caste distinctions under the one equalizing term of Americans, removing the ignominious tribute tax, affirming the liberation of slaves,[2] and opening offices in church and state to all classes. Past indebtedness to Europeans was cancelled, in virtue of the authority of the nation to confiscate the property of its opponents.[3] Taxes were reduced practically to excise, including tobacco, and to tithes and parochial fees, to all of which Indians were subjected in common with others, to their no small prejudice if we consider the previous burdens. Bustamante takes credit for a decree to restore the Jesuits, with a view to educate the youth and spread the faith.[4] For the maintenance of the revolutionary cause, it was proposed to enlist half the serviceable population in each town and provide them with the best arms possible, drawing from this source for the army.[5]
- ↑ The act was supplemented by a proclamation to the people in support thereof. Hernandez y Dávalos, v. 215-17. Compare Cos' manifest against royalist rule. Gaz. Mex., 1815, vi. 1103-14.
- ↑ A fac-simile of the decree against slavery, dated October 5th, maybe found in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, ép. 2, iii. 49, with elaborate rúbricas by Morelos and his secretary. The lash had been abolished by decree of September 8th. Mex. Col. Dec. y Órd., 105. All classes, from laborers to clergy and women, were enjoined to work, partly as a means to counteract the vices flowing from idleness.
- ↑ A document to this effect, of extremely communistic tendencies, is given in Hernandez y Dávalos, Col. Doc., i. 879-80; v. 271-2.
- ↑ Cuad. Hist., ii. 407; Jesuitas en Mex., 3.
- ↑ Training should be given on Sundays and feast days. For lack of other weapons, each man should be provided with slings and four dozen arrows. Gambling was prohibited, including the manufacture of cards, as cause for quarrel, and consequently duelling. Hernandez y Dávalos, v. 207, etc. In order to increase the means for campaigns, a reduction was projected by Rosains in the number and pay of treasury employés, to three chiefs, eleven aids, with a pay of $18,440 instead of $25,083 paid before July 1813. Id., 84-5.
The following authors have been studied for preparing the foregoing chapter: Alaman, Méj., i. 266-7; Id., iii. 165-6, 245, 304-575, passim, app. 42-3, 49-52, 53-5, 58-67; Id., iv. 724; Id., Apuntes Biog., 11-12; Bustamante, Campañas de Calleja, 78-9, 174, 176-7; Id., Cuad. Hist., i. 335-55; Id., ii. 40, 128-32, 180, 239-98, 301-7, 315-407; Id., iii. 8-9, 11, 87-97, 213-15, 291-303; Id., iv. 7-143, 310; Id., v. 42-3; Id., Elogio Morelos, 9-10, 17-20; Id., Notic. Biog., 16; Córtes, Act. Ord., 1813, i. 62, 89, 232, 384; Id., Col. Dec., iii. 189--
