Morelos Issues Sentimientos de la Nación — Blueprint for Independent Mexico

At the Congress of Chilpancingo (Solemne Acta de la Declaración de Independencia de la América Septentrional), Morelos presented his Sentimientos de la Nación — 23 articles that constituted the intellectual foundation of Mexican independence. Key principles: sovereignty resides in the nation, Catholicism as state religion, abolition of slavery and caste distinctions, property rights. This was one of the earliest independence documents in the Americas to explicitly address social equality.