This is the first book to demonstrate the crucial role that the urban masses played in shaping political change as Mexico struggled to become a stable, independent nation state in the nineteenth century. Vagrants and Citizens: Politics and the Masses in Mexico City from Colony to Republic is ideal for courses on Mexican history and Latin American studies.

Introduction: Mexico City's Masses and the Transition from Colony to Nation-State
Chapter 1: The Crisis of Colonial Order, 1808-1820
Chapter 2: Three Guarantees, Two Constitutions, One Mexican Caesar, 1820-1824
Chapter 3: The Rise of Republican Mass Politics, 1824-1830
Chapter 4: Decent Men and Jacobins, 1830-1834
Chapter 5: The Transition to Centralism, 1834-1837
Conclusion
Selected Bibliography