Blackwell Reference Online

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Francisco I. Madero was a member of one of the most affluent families in northern Mexico in the early twentieth century. He is known, through his writings and political action, as an originator of the Mexican Revolution . Madero was born on the estate of El Rosario, Coahuila, on October 30, 1873. His family belonged to the rural Mexican aristocracy, with business holdings in agriculture, commerce, and industry throughout the north-east. He was educated in the United States and Europe. In 1904 Madero decided to enter politics in his native Coahuila, unsuccessfully supporting local political opponents of the government of Porfirio Díaz. Politically he was a liberal, but his main motivation was not necessarily humanitarianism. Indeed, it was fear of a true social revolution that led him to call for concessions to peasants and workers. Such concessions, he hoped, would stem the growth of radicalism and reverberations for social transformation and create enough contentment among the laboring classes of Mexico to foster order and stability. When Díaz refused to heed his warnings, Madero became convinced of the necessity to organize a national opposition party. In 1908 he wrote The Presidential Succession in Mexico , a book that harshly criticized the Díaz government and introduced the Antirreeleccionista National Party. That party, in turn, nominated him as its candidate for the presidential ... log in or subscribe to read full text