Benito Juárez's Major Reforms: Separating Church and State, Land Redistribution, and the 1857 Constitution

Key Reforms of President Benito Juárez (1858–1872)

1. Ley Juárez (1855): Separated church and state; barred religious orders from owning property; placed education and bishop appointments under state control.
2. Ley Lerdo (1856): Forced sale of corporate (church and indigenous community) lands to private owners; aimed to create a class of small landholders.
3. Ley de Nacionalización de los Bienes Eclesiásticos (1859): Nationalized all remaining church property.
4. Constitución de 1857: Established a federal republic; guaranteed freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly; abolished slavery; enshrined separation of church and state.

These liberal reforms laid the foundation for modern Mexico, though they sparked fierce conservative opposition and the Reform War.