Nueva Vizcaya (New Biscay, Basque: Bizkai Berria) was the first province in the north of New Spain to be explored and settled by the Spanish.

The Internal Provinces were originally designed to function independently from the New Spanish Viceroy, but being financially supported by him, they soon lost their autonomy.

A month before Miguel Hidalgo’s capture, a number of insurgents were detained, and a conflict at San Francisco between several hundred men occurred early in 1812.

Towards the end of 1814, José Félix Trespalacios and Juan Pablo Caballero planned an outbreak at Chihuahua but the plot was revealed to Commandant General García Conde, who now controlled the western section from that city.

The trade and tribute system, which the Viceroyalty had established at the end of the 18th century to pacify the nomadic tribes, had broken down due to the war.

Tensions grew with the young United States, which followed the French boundaries of the recently purchased Louisiana Territory, including several areas which Spain considered its own.

[2] When the Spanish Constitution was restored in 1821, Mariano de Urrea was installed as Jefe Político (governor) of Nueva Vizcaya, while Antonio Cordero y Bustamante, who had governed effectively in Durango as civil and military governor during the past three years, was rewarded with the post of Commandant General of the West, replacing Diego García Conde.

The Governor and Intendant of Nueva Galicia, General José de la Cruz, retreated to Durango to make a final effort in behalf of the royalist cause.

He entered that city on July 4, 1821, with a force of several hundred soldiers accompanied by fleeing officials from Zacatecas and nearby localities.

On August 30, Negrete finally found a vulnerable point in de la Cruz's defenses and placed an artillery battery against it, gaining a decisive advantage.

A party from Chihuahua and Durango temporarily persuaded the Congress to create a new state — Estado Interno del Norte — by reuniting the two former provinces and including New Mexico.

Chihuahua established a legislative council of not less than eleven deputies, while Durango created bicameral state legislature, with a senate of seven members and a lower house.