Since Mexico was essentially confederalist, rather than federalist, the Mexican Charter was closer in spirit to the first US Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, than to the U.S. Constitution of 1787. Entire sections of the Cádiz Charter were repeated verbatim in the Mexican document because Mexicans did not reject their Hispanic heritage, and because some of the individuals who drafted the new republican constitution had served in the Cortes of Cádiz and had helped write the 1812 Constitution. Both the 1812 Constitution and the Mexican Constitution of 1824 established powerful legislatures and weak executives. However, the 1824 constitution was not a mere copy of that of 1812. Events in Mexico, particularly the assertion of states' rights by the former provinces, forced Congress to frame a constitution to meet the unique circumstances of the nation.