Santa Maria de los Lagos, like the rest of New Spain, underwent rapid political change in the early 1800s. The lawyer Francisco Primo de Verdad y Ramos spoke to Spanish authorities, advocating for Mexican independence. He died under mysterious circumstances in the dungeon of the Mexico City Trustee building. In the initial phase of the war, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla visited Santa Maria de los Lagos and provided religious services there, and recruited some families for the fight against the forces of the Spanish Viceroy.