Antonio López de Santa Anna
Mexican general and president who lost vast territory to the U.S.
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón, commonly called Santa Anna, was a Mexican general, politician, and caudillo who held the presidency of Mexico at various times between 1833 and 1855. Historians have described him as an "uncrowned monarch," and the three decades following Mexico's independence are sometimes called the "Age of Santa Anna." In Mexico, he is often viewed as a *vendepatria*—a sellout—because Mexican territory was lost to the United States while he was in power.
Born on 21 February 1794 in Xalapa, Veracruz, New Spain, Santa Anna came from a respected Spanish criollo family. His father, a lawyer and university graduate, wanted him to become a shopkeeper, but his mother supported his military ambitions. Through her friendship with the governor of Veracruz, Santa Anna secured an appointment to the Spanish Army on 6 July 1810, despite being underage. He had four sisters and two brothers; he was especially close to his sister Francisca and his brother Manuel, who also served in the military.
Santa Anna fought as a royalist officer for more than a decade during the Mexican War of Independence before switching sides to join the insurgents in 1821. He then commanded a garrison in Veracruz until the insurgent victory on 27 September 1821. He was a key figure in both the rise and fall of the First Mexican Empire and the First Mexican Republic. His long career included the Texas Revolution, the Pastry War, the Mexican–American War, and the creation of the Centralist Republic of Mexico through the Siete Leyes in 1835 and later the Bases Orgánicas in 1843.
Throughout his career, Santa Anna frequently changed political allegiances, a pattern that began during the War of Independence and continued in conflicts between liberals and conservatives. He played a central role in discarding the liberal Constitution of 1824 in 1835 and in restoring it in 1847. He was elected president as a liberal in 1833 and again in 1847, each time sharing power with liberal Vice President Valentín Gómez Farías. On both occasions, once in power, Santa Anna switched to the conservative side and overthrew Farías. He ruled in an ostentatious and dictatorial manner, using the military to dissolve Mexico's Congress several times. Later in his career, he adopted the honorific title "His Most Serene Highness."
Santa Anna's intermittent rule from 1832 to 1855 saw the loss of Texas, the military conflicts of the Mexican–American War, and the Mexican Cession. His determination to fight during the Mexican–American War prolonged the conflict; historians note that more than any other person, Santa Anna denied President Polk's hope for a short war. Six years after that war ended, in 1854, Santa Anna ceded additional Mexican territory to the United States through the Gadsden Purchase. In 1855, while still president, he was removed from office by the Plan of Ayutla and went into exile. In 1874, an elderly Santa Anna was allowed to return to Mexico by President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada. He died in Mexico City on 21 June 1876.
Growing up in Veracruz, Santa Anna developed immunity to yellow fever, which was endemic to the region. This gave him a strategic advantage over officers from elsewhere, since the port and its surroundings were unhealthy for outsiders. As a provincial middle-class officer in wartime, he rose from obscurity to national leadership. He often felt uncomfortable among the elite cliques in Mexico City and frequently retreated to his base in Veracruz. He cultivated ties with ordinary Mexicans and enjoyed pastimes like cockfighting. Throughout his career, he acted as a populist caudillo—a strongman wielding both military and political power—similar to other leaders who emerged after the Spanish American wars of independence.
- field
- Military, politics
- nationality
- Mexican
- known_for
- Multiple presidencies, loss of Mexican territory to the United States, switching sides in conflicts
Lore & Background
Throughout his career, Santa Anna frequently switched sides, a pattern that began in the War of Independence and continued in political conflicts between liberal and conservative factions. Santa Anna was known for his ostentatious and dictatorial style of rule and use of the military to dissolve Mexico's Congress on several occasions. Later in his career, he referred to himself by the honorific title 'His Most Serene Highness.' A provincial from Veracruz, Santa Anna developed immunity to yellow fever, a disease endemic to his home region that often incapacitated officers from elsewhere, giving him a strategic advantage. He was a populist caudillo, a strongman wielding both military and political power, who felt uncomfortable in Mexico City’s elite circles and frequently retreated to his base in Veracruz. There he cultivated contact with ordinary men and enjoyed entertainments like cockfighting. His career spanned the Texas Revolution, the Pastry War, and the Mexican–American War, during which his willingness to fight to the bitter end prolonged the conflict. He was instrumental in discarding the liberal Constitution of 1824 in 1835 and later restoring it in 1847. Elected president as a liberal in 1833 and again in 1847, he shared power with liberal Vice President Valentín Gómez Farías, but in both instances switched to the conservative side and overthrew Farías. His intermittent rule from 1832 to 1855 saw the loss of Texas, the Mexican Cession, and the Gadsden Purchase. He was removed from office by the Plan of Ayutla in 1855 and went into exile, returning to Mexico in 1874 before dying in Mexico City in 1876.
Reader's Guide
Santa Anna’s behavior and political style were defined by frequent, calculated shifts in allegiance, a pattern established during the War of Independence when he fought as a royalist officer for over a decade before joining the insurgency in 1821. He repeatedly switched between liberal and conservative factions, discarding the liberal Constitution of 1824 in 1835 and restoring it in 1847, and was elected president as a liberal in both 1833 and 1847 only to later side with conservatives and overthrow his liberal vice president, Valentín Gómez Farías. His rule was ostentatious and dictatorial; he used the military to dissolve Congress on several occasions and later adopted the honorific “His Most Serene Highness.” Ecologically, his origins in Veracruz gave him immunity to yellow fever, a strategic advantage in a region deadly to outsiders, and he often retreated to his provincial base, cultivating ties with ordinary Mexicans through pastimes like cockfighting. As a populist caudillo, he wielded both military and political power, similar to other strongmen after the Spanish American wars of independence. His significance lies in his central role during the “Age of Santa Anna,” a 30-year period after Mexico’s independence, spanning the Texas Revolution, the Pastry War, the Mexican–American War, and the creation of the Centralist Republic. He prolonged the Mexican–American War by fighting to the bitter end, denying the U.S. a short conflict, but later ceded territory through the Gadsden Purchase. In his field, he is a controversial figure: a pivotal politician and general, yet remembered in Mexico as a vendepatria for the territorial losses under his rule.
Did You Know?
- He referred to himself by the honorific title 'His Most Serene Highness' later in his career.
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