Federal Constitution of 1824 — Republic Established

After Iturbide's empire collapsed, a constituent congress drafted Mexico's first republican constitution, enacted October 4, 1824. Modeled partly on the US Constitution, it established a federal republic with 19 states, separation of powers, and elected president and congress. However, it retained the Catholic Church as the established religion and gave the clergy significant political powers. The constitution failed to resolve fundamental tensions between federal and centralist factions that would dominate 19th-century politics.