After Emperor Iturbide abdicated, the sovereignty of the nation passed over to Congress, which appointed a triumvirate, made up of Guadalupe Victoria, Pedro Celestino Negrete, and Nicolas Bravo, to serve as the executive, while a new constitution was being written.

[5] The lack of a congress, the arbitrary nature of the emperor and the absence of solutions to the serious problems that the country was facing increased conspiracies to change the imperial system.

[6] Antonio López de Santa Anna proclaimed the Plan of Casa Mata, and was later joined by Vicente Guerrero and Nicolás Bravo.

Iturbide then was forced to reestablish the Congress and in a vain attempt to save the order and keep the situation favorable to his supporters, he abdicated the crown of the empire on March 19, 1823.

[8] In its place, was established a body known as the Supreme Executive Power, and chose to fill the office with a triumvirate made up of Nicolás Bravo, Guadalupe Victoria, and Pedro Celestino Negrete.

When a deputy attempted to declare that his vote for the emperor, representing the wishes of his district, had been free and uncompelled, the chamber rose in hostile uproar.

[14] On May 11, escorted by Nicolas Bravo, and supervised in his departure by Guadalupe Victoria at La Antigua, Iturbide and his family left the country on the British merchant frigate Rawlins, with Livorno as his destination.

[18] On July 19, 1823, Congress honored 11 deceased heroes who had fought for Mexican independence: Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, Juan Aldama, Mariano Abasolo, José María Morelos, Mariano Matamoros, Miguel Bravo [es], Leonardo Bravo, Galeana, Jiménez, Mina, Pedro Moreno, and Rosales.

In the aftermath of the ceremonies, a mob plotted to visit the tomb of Hernán Cortés in order to desecrate his bones, and the government had to send for the remains to be hidden and protected.

Anticipating the unpopularity of the measure, two days later the executive published a public appeal, explaining that the government was facing a grave financial crisis, and that the poll tax was established as a matter of necessity.

[25][26] On May 1, 1823, Congress approved the borrowing of £3,200,000 from Goldschmidt & Co.[27][28][29] Three English commissioners by the name of Harvey, Ward and O'Gorman arrived in January 1824 in order to produce a report from the British government on the state of affairs in Mexico.

[30] Central America, known at this time as the Captaincy General of Guatemala had at first chosen to unite itself to the empire, and yet many were discontented with matters such as the difficulties in transport and communication with the capital, and the tariff and excise taxes that the Mexican authorities imposed upon the provinces.

[32] In San Luis Potosí Santa Ana, who had already led the movement to overthrow the empire, rose up and declared himself protector of the federal system.

Santa Ana was captured and sent to the capital to answer for his conduct, however he was pardoned after his efforts were vindicated with the triumph of the federal system and subsequently sent to command the military in Yucatán.

Meanwhile, the third member of the executive, Victoria, was in Veracruz to prevent the influence of Santa Ana, in the wake of his rebellion in San Luis Potosí from creating another disturbance.

The cause for Iturbide's restoration however, effectively ended in July 1824 when the ex-emperor himself, returned from his exile, and landed in Tampico, upon which he was subsequently tried by local authorities and executed in accordance with a bill of attainder that had been passed by congress on September 27, 1823.

Through the minister of justice, the executive announced to the congress on November 14, that they must now set to work on answering the popular call to establish the government most suited for the nation.