Herrera would find himself overthrown at the end of the year amidst accusations that he was committing treason by attempting to recognize the independence of Texas, though his intentions were to create a buffer state as a guard against further American encroachment.

Jose Joaquin Herrera was born in Jalapa in 1792 and joined the regiment of La Corona in 1809, the year before the Mexican War of Independence began.

He formed part of the expedition to Ajuchitlán where he fought at Coyuca, Tepantitlan and Tlacotepec, routing the forces of the insurgent chief Victor Manuel.

He was then sent to relieve the siege of Jaujilla and fought a battle at the river of Zacatula where the opposing armies had entrenched themselves on the opposite shore.

Iturbide needed more officers and as his forces passed through Perote, lieutenant colonel Herrera was asked to join them.

From there he passed into Puebla to aid Nicolas Bravo and reached Tepeaca, where he fought the royalist Hevia who pursued Herrera back to Cordova beginning the Battle of Cordoba.

He joined in the uprising that resulted in the fall of the First Mexican Empire in 1824, and the interim Provisional Government appointed him to be Minister of War.

He intended to rule the nation under this new constitution, but also preferred to do so through the puppet ruler Valentin Canalizo, who was officially called to the presidency on September 12.

Not being present in the capital, the post was in the meantime given interim to Herrera who was nominally president for ten days until the arrival of Canalizo.

[5] During his ten-day administration, Herrera celebrated Independence Day on September 16, and oversaw his ministers plead with congress for a new loan, before handing over power to Canalizo.

[4] About a year later General Mariano Paredes proclaimed an uprising against the Santa Anna-Canalizo government, and was joined by five of the northern departments.

Anticipating that without the loyalty of the capital, Santa Anna would head to either Veracruz, Puebla, or Oaxaca, he put those departments on war alert.

As more regions of the nation adhered to Herrera, the government became more confident of their ultimate victory and even offered Santa Anna the opportunity to turn himself in peacefully.

[7] As the tide was turning against him, Santa Anna asked the government for a passport to leave the nation, a request which was denied and instead met with an arrest warrant.

Herrera was congratulated by the governors of Zacatecas and Jalisco, and by Generals Alvarez and Arista, by municipal governments, and departmental assemblies.

Herrera had a pragmatic approach to the matter, accepting after ten years of failed efforts to recover it, that Texas would never return to Mexico.

[10] The threat of war now loomed between the two nations, and the Mexican congress resolved not to resume diplomatic relations without the condition that the United States would not annex Texas.

[10] Despite the popular indignation, Herrera was aware of the nation's poverty and relative weakness against the United States, and hoped to find a diplomatic solution.

Luis de la Rosa of Finance sought authorization so that the president could take out a loan of three million pesos, while Mr. Cuevas, Minister of Foreign Affairs sought authorization to listen to the proposals being made about Texas to seek a treaty that would allow the nation to save face, letting Congress keep up with such diplomatic developments.

[10] Knowledge that Herrera was open to the possibility of recognizing Texas inflamed the opposition against him, and turned public opinion against him which now began to brand him as a traitor.

He explained that he viewed the independence of Texas as the lesser of two evils compared to American annexation, and that as a matter of domestic policy he also preferred a smaller but well trained body of troops to the mass of undisciplined and ineffective conscripts that up until now had characterized the Mexican Army.

On June 14, 1848, he passed a decree reforming the treasury department, reducing the budget for the civil service and the army, and presented a plan to congress for the consolidation of the national debt.

[18] In addition to the aforementioned measures the government faced the prospect of paying off the deficit by getting into even more debt or by raising taxes and possibly provoking another one of the many revolutions which had regularly afflicted Mexico during the past few decades.

The project was hampered by lack of funds, but by 1851, despite not being as extensive as originally planned, reasonable progress on the colonies had nonetheless been made, and three successful settlements were home to over two thousand individuals.

[25] Towards the end of his administration, Herrera began to negotiate a treaty with the United States to either construct a canal or a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

The treaty was approved by the administration, but rejected by congress due to a clause that permitted the United States to send troops in order to protect the construction.

[27] The 1851 election was won by Mariano Arista, and Herrera was the first Mexican president to complete his term since the inaugural holder of the office, Guadalupe Victoria has passed power over to Vicente Guerrero in 1828.