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Doña
Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez, a
Mexican patriot as well as a heroine
of Mexico’s Independence War,
made her name in history for
her bravery when she risked her own
life alerting the rebel insurgents
about the discovery of the
Queretaro Conspiracy for
Independence.
Thanks to
her, Father Miguel Hidalgo
moved forward the date in which the
Independence movement would start to
the early hours of September 16th,
1810. Without her timely notice, the
struggle for independence would have
been discovered and the efforts of
the conspirators would never have
achieved their ultimate purpose:
Mexico's Independence from the
Spanish Crown.
Maria de la Natividad Giron
Josefa Ortiz is best known
as Doña Josefa Ortiz de
Dominguez, “La
Corregidora”
(the Chief Magistrate) of Queretaro.
She was the daughter of the
Spaniards Juan Jose Ortiz and
Maria
Manuela
Giron.
She was born in
Valladolid– what is
now Morelia– in 1768
and was raised in Mexico City.
Her parents died when she
was a small child so her older
sister Maria Sotero
was granted custody. Maria
enrolled her sister in the
Colegio de las Vizcaínas,
a very prestigious school to which
she was accepted because she was a
criolla, creole, that is, the
children of Spaniards born in
the New Spain.
While still a
college student she met Miguel
Dominguez, a widower who
often visited the school. They fell
in love and were married secretly in
1791; they had 14 children.
As secretary of the Royal Court,
Miguel Dominguez was subsequently
appointed magistrate of Queretaro in
1802 where the family settled.
They quickly won over the
sympathy of the Queretaro society of
the time,
joining various social groups.
It is well
known that Doña Josefa was
vehemently against the
abuse that the Spaniards– that is,
the European-born Spaniards –
exercised over the natives
considering and treating them as second-class
citizens. She
always
identified with the native’s social
problems, for they were relegated to
secondary positions in public
administration as
well as in the military.
Throughout
her life she fought for
the recognition of the Indigenous
people's
rights, in addition to using her position as Chief
Magistrate to involve herself in numerous
charitable ventures.
La Corregidora of Querétaro was a
key figure at the very beginning of
the struggle for independence. She
actively participated in the Querétaro
conspiracy, an underground movement
that in essence gave way to the armed
struggle for independence from the
Spanish rule.
Its main objective
was to establish a governing board
to
assume power and thus, she opened
the doors of her house to hold
so-called literary social gatherings, which were in
fact, meetings of a political nature
where decisions were made to
initiate the independence movement.
These meetings were also attended by
some of the most important
revolutionaries that participated in the first stages
of the struggle such as Don
Miguel Hidalgo, Igancio
Allende, Juan Aldama
The best known passage in the life
of Doña Josefa Ortiz was when – on
September 13, 1810– it was
discovered that the supporters of
the revolutionary movement were
stockpiling weapons in their homes. The Chief magistrate,
Doña Josefa's husband, was immediately
informed and ordered to raid the
homes and the rioters jailed.
The
Corregidor, Miguel Dominguez,
aware of the clandestine
meetings in which his wife
participated, decided to warn
her of the plot’s discovery and
in
order to protect her, also
decided to lock her in her
bedroom, for he well knew that she
was very determined and that she
would immediately give notice to
her friends.
Doña Josefa was
not one to be
restrained or intimidated, so
she wrote a note made from
newspaper clippings,
so that her handwriting could
not be identified. She
loudly stomped her heels on the floor of
her room to
draw attention, and was thus able to
give the missive to the mayor,
Ignacio Perez, who in turn sent
it to Father Miguel Hidalgo.
Upon receiving the note, Father
Miguel Hidalgo decided to
advance the date of the
insurgency to the
morning of September 16, 1810,
instead of as previously planned
– for the 1st of October of that
year.
The priest summoned the faithful
to fight for a more just
government in what is now known
as
El Grito de Dolores.
Hidalgo's call was
successful,
for most of those who joined the
struggle were victims of the
terrible conditions of life and
of tremendous
social inequalities.
Thanks to La Corregidora’s
timely
alert, many conspirators were
able to escape before being
arrested and jailed, though she
herself was the victim of
Captain Arias’
betrayal, on 14
September. She was arrested and
taken to Mexico
City, where a trial was held in
which she was convicted of
treason. She was jailed in various
convents until finally, in
June of 1817, her husband
was able to have her released.
Once Independence
from the Spanish rule was achieved,
Agustin Iturbide – who
proclaimed himself emperor –
invited her to be part
of his court, but she refused
the appointment of
Doña Josefa
to the empress, because she
considered that
the Empire was completely
contrary to the ideals for which
the
War of Independence had been
fought. Moreover, she
refused any reward for her
services to the insurrection.
Doña Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez
died on March 2,
1829 at the age of 61 in Mexico City. Her remains were
moved to the city of Queretaro
and deposited, along with her
husband’s, in the Mausoleum of
the Illustrious in
Queretaro.
Chela Orozco
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