Black Eagle Party

When the Great Black Eagle Legion was created in Mexico by Guadalupe Victoria and Simón de Chávez, Guadalupe Victoria was commanding general of Jalapa. With the failure of Agustin de Iturbide's empire, Mexico faced the challenge of establishing itself since Congress had annulled the Treaty of Córdoba and the Plan of Iguala. The country was opened to a form of government closer to the preference of the majority of the people. A republic was established as its system, although it had not been decided whether it would be central or federal. There was also intense pressure for autonomy on the part of the provinces. In addition to these problems, there were different positions on the intervention of the church in society.

José Ignacio García Illueca

It is known that the struggle for independence had religious aspects for both the insurgents and the colonial army, but once the empire was established, the role of the church was rigorously questioned. This uncertainty grew more around the rise of Freemasonry in the period from 1821 to 1823. At the end of the struggle for independence, freemasonry based on the Scottish Rite had already been established in Mexico, led by Felipe Martínez de Aragón and Fausto Elhuyar. It had been joined by men who served Juan O'Donojú, like Manuel Codorniú; deputies who were back from Cádiz, such as Miguel Ramos Arizpe, Mariano Michelena and Lorenzo de Zavala, and Mexicans of the elite like José María Fagoaga, José Ignacio García Illueca, and Tomas Murphy.

Manuel Codorniu

It is said that Scottish Freemasonry played a very important role in the fall of the empire of Iturbide. The Scots were mostly followers of the constitutional monarchy and Bourbonists. The foundation of The Great Legion of the Black Eagle had two objectives: the collaboration in the search for Cuban independence and the desire of Guadalupe Victoria to create a political party that would favor him and neutralize the political impulse and power of The Scottish Rite members. Concerning Cuban independence, it is evident that the Great Black Eagle Legion intended to favor it or even achieve the annexation of Cuba by Mexico. The Black Eagle Party claimed to work against despotism and in favor of freedom.

In 1823, the GLAN indicated that its object was to completely remove the yoke of slavery which the Spanish had been using for 300 years[1]

In this epoch, the supporters of several political projects that included the republicans, federalists, centralist, those who supported a constitutional monarchy, representatives of several ecclesiastical sectors, and who expounded a moldable position were considered liberals. For the Great Legion of the Black Eagle, however, the true liberals were the republicans - those who they recognized as proponents of freedom, independence from Spain, equality, and patriotism. Guadalupe Victoria proposed to constitute a government headed by an insurgent and that he was also the only insurgent who differed by rejecting the Iguala Plan so as not to abandon his independence plan, for which he proclaimed himself a republican. Therefore, being a member of the Great Black Eagle Legion indicated that you had to support Guadalupe Victoria for the presidency and support her political plan.

The antipathy of the Great Legion of the Black Eagle for religion was very radical compared to other political sectors, like the Yorkinos. According to the documents of the Great Black Eagle Legion, they were not opposed to religion, but as time passed their opinions hardened as they upheld the rule of preventing Clerics and Friars from entering the association as being of the utmost importance because they saw them as being harmful to society for growing their religious fanaticism, making people live in brutality. For the Great Legion of the Black Eagle, it was not only a matter of fighting against religious fanaticism, but they also wanted to banish faith entirely. They considered this to be fundamental for the union and social order since in the Constitution of 1824 the Catholic religion was established as the only one in the whole nation.

In the statutes of the Great Legion of the Black Eagle, this was declared alien to the other associations of the Masonic type, comunero and coalman; and they were the opposite of a Masonic society because they did not ask for quotas or oaths, the degrees did not agree with those of any other Masonic rite, they did not meet constantly and there were no relations of brotherhood between them. But in the "instructions to the deputies of the states," it showed in some way that the Great Legion of the Black Eagle had merged with the York Rite.

Lorenzo de Zavala.

In March 1823, Guadalupe Victoria was appointed a member of the provisional Executive Power. On June 8, 1824, the members of the Great Legion of the Black Eagle met in Jalapa, the current capital of Veracruz, to make agreements before the departure of Guadalupe Victoria to Mexico City, who on October 1, 1824, became president-elect of the Mexican Republic. Abandoning thus the Great Legion of the Black Eagle. Once promoted to power, it took a lot of momentum with a performance almost equal to that of Freemasonry of the York Rite.

Once in power, Guadalupe Victoria maintained his plan to promote the independence of Cuba. At this time, he presented a new plan for a military expedition to the Congress of his country, which was accepted by the Senate after many discussions.

(...) 1. The Government is authorized to undertake a military expedition with the Republic of Colombia in order to support the efforts of the inhabitants of Cuba in the consummation of their independence. 2. In the event that the cause of freedom triumphs in Cuba, the Government is obliged to seek by all means to establish in it the national representation with the same bases and rights of the people as in the new American Republics.[2]

For Guadalupe Victoria, this alliance gave the green light for Antonio López de Santa Anna to make the expedition that he had prepared in Yucatán. However, this did not go ahead due to other international events that affected the Latin American environment. Among these problems was that the United States still considered Cuba and Puerto Rico within its commercial interests and as good options for its territorial expansion. Before the expedition could not be done, it was possible to consolidate the alliance between Colombia and Mexico on March 17, 1826. These countries signed a treaty that regulated their collaboration to fight against Spain, both in the Antilles and on the coasts of the continent. This agreement was called the Operations Plan for the combined squad of Mexico and Colombia. In this project Mexico - Colombia members of the Great Black Eagle Legion were involved.

The separation of the conspiracy of the Great Legion of the Black Eagle occurred at the same time as the transformations occurred in European politics that discouraged the Spanish plans for the reconquest of America. The independence of the Hispanic countries and Mexico along with the loss of commercial exchange between Havana and Veracruz due to an 1826 treaty with Cuba caused the abandonment of efforts to free Cuba.

Through the action of Simón de Chávez and other Cubans, the Great Legion of the Black Eagle spread from Mexico to Cuba with ease. In 1826 the musician José Rubio traveled to Havana carrying a copy of the tenets of the Black Eagle, which were then handed over to Manuel Rojo to establish the Legion in Cuba. These statutes had to be adopted by the different groups in Mexico, but retained its purpose. Once the Great Legion of the Black Eagle was founded in Cuba, it had the full support of Mexico and Colombia. This continued until the Spanish authorities in Havana discovered its existence in 1829.

The Great Legion of the Black Eagle in Cuba aimed to obtain supporters to achieve the Independence of Cuba and change the government there through the help of Mexico.

On December 23, 1829, the Spanish minister in Philadelphia reached out to the government of La Habana to inform them that Mr. José Solís was in contact with and member of a society called San Juanista of which he was a member. This society was governed under the same customs as those with the name of Sol de Bolívar. Solís was born in New Orleans and moved to Havana.

On January 25, 1830, the president of the Military Commission, José Cadaval, appointed Captain Tomas de Salazar prosecutor for the investigation of the case. Captain Tomas de Salazar quickly began his investigation and discovered that there was a father and son with the same name and surname. Father and son both had a bad reputation. These two were investigated but there were no results. On February 8 of that same year, Captain Tomas de Salazar was ordered to apprehend the Solís. Their respective homes were investigated. They found no issue with the father, but the son was in possession of suspicious documents. Among the documents of José Solís Jr. were letters, a Masonic diploma in his name, documents in number and documents of the Masonic type. Solís Jr. was determined to be great danger and accused of conspiring to disturb public order.

The Great Legion of the Black Eagle was looking for the independence of Cuba

Solís gave his first statement on February 12, 1830. Solís explained that Lucas Ugarte, Secretary of the Patriotic Society, had asked him to be a Mason. Solís found out through Ugarte that this Masonic society had been transformed into The great legion of the Black Eagle. One of the letters that José Solís had in his possession was addressed to Mateo Somellan and sent by Manuel Ronquillo from New Orleans. In this letter, he reported that the people whose assistance was needed for matters of Independence had not confirmed their participation due to lack of money. José Solís also stated that he had learned from conversations that Manuel Abreu had weapons to use at any time for the benefit of independence. He was only waiting on news that was expected from Veracruz, Mexico. Once the crimes of freemasonry and conspiracy for independence were announced, the prosecutor Tomás de Salazar questioned Solís again, in order to discover who was the boss of The great legion of the Black Eagle. On February 24, 1830, José Solís, after being held incommunicado in the Bethlehem Barracks, on February 19, 1830, declared that he did not know how many people were introduced in The Black Legion's Great Legion and did not know the time when he began. Solis was aware that the first establishment of this society was in Mexico, where it had extended to Cuba.

On the night of the 26th and the morning of the 27th, Lucas Ugarte, Diego Araoz, Felix Rodriguez Hermida, Gabriel Peláez, Manuel Abreu, José Rodríguez, Gabino Hernández, Juan Saldaña, Marcos Fernández Castañeda, Gaspar Acosta, Miguel Vázquez, José González Ávila, José Encalada, Francisco Pacheco, Manuel Rojo, Pedro Pablo Peláez, Francisco Cordero and Rafael Gatica were among those who were captured. Pedro Muros could not be apprehended due to being in New Orleans, and Juan Nepomuceno Escobedo became at large in the countryside.[3]

It was never known exactly who was the leader of the Great Legion of the Black Eagle in Cuba, although there were suspicions that it was Manuel Rojo, one of the most prestigious lawyers in Havana.

• History of Mexico
• First Mexican Empire
• First Mexican Republic

• Del Valle, Adrian. (1930) Historia Documentada de la Conspiración de la Gran Legión del Águila Negra. La Habana, Editorial El Siglo.
• Guerra, Sergio. (1998). México y Cuba: primeros esfuerzos por la independencia cubana, 1820-1830. Instituto de Investigaciones Histórico- Sociales. Universidad Veracruzana.
• Vázquez, María Eugenia. (2007). "La Gran Legión del Águila Negra. Documentos sobre su fundación, estatutos y objetivos." Revista Relaciones, vol.XXVIII (111), 143-166.
• López Silva, Blanca Elizabeth (2015) "México en la Historia 1" Intervenciones Extranjeras,"BOSCO IMPRESIONES" Editorial Éxodo, pag 170-190
• Soucy Dominique (2004), La ´´gran legión del águila negra`` un águila de dos cabezas. (México - Cuba, 1823 - 1830). En torno a las Antillas hispánicas: ensayos en homenaje al profesor Paul Estrade, 2004, págs. 242-256.