Ley Lerdo

The Ley Lerdo was a Mexican law of June 1856, named after the finance minister Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, that required the Church and civil corporations, including indigenous communities, to sell their landed property. Intended to create a class of small landowners and raise state revenue, it largely transferred land to wealthy buyers and stripped many villages of their common lands. It was a key measure of La Reforma and was incorporated into the Constitution of 1857.