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Enacted on 4 October 1824, the constitution stated that the newly independent nation was to be styled the "United Mexican States" and was to be a representative federal republic of the people, with Roman Catholicism as the state religion.
Congress was bicameral, with a Chamber of Deputies (one deputy per 80,000 inahbitants) and a Senate (two senators per state). A president and a vice-president were to be elected, for four-year terms, by the individual state congresses, with the lower house of the federal congress deciding in the event of a tie. Judicial power was in the hands of an eleven-member Supreme Court
The republic's component parts were: the states of
Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila y Texas, DurangoESTADO DE DURANGO Other Mexican States Capital Durango Other major cities Gomez Palacio Lerdo list of municipalities Area123,181 km² Ranked 4th Population(2000 census)1,445,900 Ranked 23rd Governor(2004-2010) Ismael Hernandez Deras ( PRI) Federal Deputies, GuanaxuatoESTADO DE GUANAJUATO Other Mexican States Capital Guanajuato Other major cities Leon, Salamanca, list of municipalities Area30,491 km² Ranked 22nd Population(2000 census)4,656,760 Ranked 6th Governor(2000-06)Juan Carlos Romero Hicks ( PAN/ PVEM) Federal D (sic), México, MichoacánESTADO DE MICHOACAN DE OCAMPO Other Mexican States Capital Morelia Other major cities Lazaro Cardenas list of municipalities Area59,928 km² Ranked 16th Population(2000 census)3,979,180 Ranked 7th Governor(2002-08) Lazaro Cardenas Batel ( PRD) Federal Depu, Nuevo LeónESTADO DE NUEVO LEON Other Mexican States Capital Monterrey Other major cities Area64,924 km² Ranked 13th Population(2000 census)3,826,240 Ranked 9th Governor(2003-09)Jose Natividad Gonzalez Paras ( PRI/ PVEM) Federal Deputies (11) PRI/ PVEM 10 PAN 1 Fede, OaxacaMexican states Oaxaca is the name of a city and a state in Mexico. This article is about the state. For the city, see: Oaxaca''. ESTADO DE OAXACA Other Mexican States Capital Oaxaca Other major cities Salina Cruz Area93,952 km² Ranked 5th Population(2000, Puebla de los ÁngelesPuebla is the name of a city and a state in Mexico. This article is about the state. For the city, see: Puebla. ESTADO DE PUEBLA Other Mexican States Capital Puebla Other major cities Tehuacan Cholula Area33,902 km² Ranked 21st Population(2000 census)5,07, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sonora y Sinaloa, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Xalisco (sic), Yucatán, and Zacatecas; the territories of Alta California, Baja California, Colima, and Santa Fe de Nuevo México; and Tlaxcala, which had enjoyed special status since the time of the Conquest and the exact situation of which within the federation was to be determined at a later date.This document is also important in the history of the United States for it was to this liberal constitution that the defenders of the Alamo referred on the flag they flew, which was emblazoned with the date "1824". Under this constitution, American and European settlers were drawn to Mexican Texas by its broad promises of freedom. After the Anglo settlers of Texas had become accustomed to their land, however, the political and social conditions suddenly became much less liberal under the harsh rule of President Antonio López de Santa Anna, who rescinded the 1824 Constitution and replaced it with the anti-federalist 1835 Constitution, thereby dissolving the federation of "free and sovereign states" (which were replaced by French-style "departments"), centralising national power in Mexico City, and providing much of the impetus for the secession of Texas and the Mexican-American War.