ABSTRACT
The first phases of the many-faceted Revolution struck Merida in a sudden flurry; the rest of Yucatan would take more time to absorb the shock, if indeed all parts of the interior were ever to feel much of the Revolution. In most cases, however, wherever social reform was injected into local society it was identified, agreeably or disagreeably, with the person of Salvador Alvarado. There were merchants who wanted social reform and merchants who opposed such changes, just as there were merchants who could not make up their minds at all in that respect. By 1915 the same was true of hacendados, for again there was no one mold which applied to all members of such a group. There is much evidence to show that Alvarado placed great faith in public education as both a regenerating force in dealing with the ills of society, and a way to prepare free citizens for a better future.
