Coleccion de los Decretos y Ordenes del Soberano Congreso Mexicano, Desde Su Instalacion en 24 de Febrero de 1822, Hasta 30 de Octubre de 1823 en Que Ceso [bound with]: Coleccion de los Decretos y Ordenes del Soberano Congreso Constituyente Mexicano, Desde Si Instalacion en 5 de Noviembre de 1823, Hasta 24 de Diciembre de 1821, en Que Ceso

Mexico City, 1825. Still very good.. Two volumes in one. [2],xxvi,221,xi,[2]; [2],xviii,190,xviii,iii pp. Contemporary quarter calf and paper boards, spine gilt. Light rubbing and a pair of small perforations to spine leather. Edges worn; corners bumped. Light tanning, scattered foxing. A handsome copy of an early Mexican imprint that Lathrop Harper described succinctly as the "First edition of the first decrees of the first independent Mexican Congress." This collection of decrees, issued for the first and second sessions of the Mexican Congress established after the promulgation of independence in 1821, contains a wealth of information relevant to the founding of the country. These include the act relating to the "coronation of D. Agustín de Iturbide, the hereditary successor to the throne," formalizing that "the acts of his government are declared invalid...."

Of particular interest are two decrees directly relating to Anglo-American settlement in Texas. The first of these, dated April 11, 1823, begins "Que el gobierno, si no encuentra inconveniente, acceda a la solicitud de Estevan Austin, sobre que se confirme la concesión de establecer 300 familias en Tejas...." Roughly translated, this decree states that "the government, if it finds no objection, agrees to Estevan Austin's request for confirmation of the concession to establish 300 families in Texas...." Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" families were the foundation of Anglo-American settlement in Texas, and here, the nation of Mexico authorizes their emigration.

The second decree, dated September 29, 1823, is titled "Esención de derechos por siete años a los efectos que se introduzcan en Tejas." The text of the decree reads, in full: "El Soberano Congreso mexicano tomando en consideracion el deplorable estado a que las hostilidades de los barbaros han reducido a la provincia de Tejas, y para ocurrir en parte a la miseria de sus habitantes civilizados, ha venido en decretar y decreta. Que todos los efectos de cualquiera clase, nacionales o estrangeros que se introduzcan en la provincial de Tejas para el consume de sus habitants, sean libres de derechos; durando esta esencion siete anos contados desde su publicacion en aquella capital." This second decree effectively extended the term for duty-free trade allowed to the Texas settlers as recompense for the troubles they experienced at the hands of the local "barbarians," i.e., the indigenous native peoples who had lived on the land for centuries.

Of course, the works also stand alone as a significant document of the first independent Mexican government, and contains many important details on the early organization of the new country, the Constitution of 1824, and the first presidential elections, amongst much else. The two works present here were printed simultaneously, but were issued separately and are not always found together, as here. The first compilation of laws governing the fledgling nation of Mexico, with early Texas colonization content.
Palau 56388. Lathrop Harper 220:116.