Apatzingan

Apatzingán lies in the hot lowlands of Michoacán, south of the volcanic highlands. Its name is inseparable from the struggle for Mexican independence: here an insurgent congress issued a constitutional decree intended to give a new political order to Mexican America. The town provided a refuge for the congress as royalist forces pursued the insurgents through southern Mexico.

On 22 October 1814 the Congress of Anáhuac promulgated the Constitutional Decree for the Liberty of Mexican America, known as the Constitution of Apatzingán. It drew on ideas promoted by José María Morelos and set out principles of government in 242 articles. The decree never came fully into effect amid the war, but it expressed the insurgents’ aspirations for independence and constitutional rule. Its place of publication gave Apatzingán a lasting name in the history of the movement.