LAUSR

In the historiography on the first half of the 19 th Century, little attention has been given to local legislative bodies, whether they were labelled provincial governments, state congresses or departmental councils, a subject which can shed light on the political transition in the interior of what was New Spain and became Mexico in 1821. This article analyzes the institutional operation of the provincial governments of San Luis Potosi, New Spain and New Galicia from 1820 to 1822. It was in those intense years that these bodies, also known as provincial councils, had to confront institutions inherited from New Spain in order to be considered the “highest authorities in the provinces.” These institutional struggles allow us to study two of the primary concepts that nourished the political culture of the time: natural institutions and artificial institutions, that is, the struggle between those who affirmed an eternal political order and those who insisted that the political system was a product of the will of its constituents.