[The Hispanic Nations of the New World by William R. Shepherd]@TWC D-Link bookThe Hispanic Nations of the New World CHAPTER VII 28/32
At the same time the various "states" were increasing their powers at the expense of the federal Government, and the country was rent by factions.
In order to give the republic a thoroughly centralized administration which would restore financial confidence and bring back the influence of the Church as a social and political factor, a genuine revolution, which was started in 1876, eventually put an end to both radicalism and states' rights.
At the outset Rafael Nunez, the unitary and clerical candidate and a lawyer by profession, was beaten on the field, but at a subsequent election he obtained the requisite number of votes and, in 1880, assumed the presidency.
That the loser in war should become the victor in peace showed the futility of bloodshed in such revolutions. Not until Nunez came into office again did he feel himself strong enough to uproot altogether the radicalism and disunion which had flourished since 1860.
Ignoring the national Legislature, he called a Congress of his own, which in 1886 framed a constitution that converted the "sovereign states" into "departments," or mere administrative districts, to be ruled as the national Government saw fit.
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