The independence of Guayaquil was the beginning of the independence of all the provinces of Ecuador and took place on October 9, 1820. At that time Ecuador was under the power of the Royal Court of Quito and was a colony of the Spanish kingdom.
At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, various national and international events took place that created the framework for the independence of the American colonies.
The independence of the United States of America in 1776 and the French Revolution made known to the world the value of freedom and the existence of rights that made all men equal. Several intellectuals traveled from Ecuador to confirm and learn it.
Various political and intellectual leaders traveled to Europe with the idea of training in the new libertarian ideology.
Among them were Simón Bolívar, José de San Martín and the Ecuadorian José María Antepara. They were motivated to follow in the footsteps of Francisco de Miranda, who had participated in various European armies and from whom they inherited the ideas of liberation from the peoples of America.
During the first eight days of October 1820, in Guayaquil strategies were woven to convene and obtain the support of various sectors that did not feel satisfied with the government of the Spanish crown.
After several conspiratorial meetings, the seizure of power was possible on October 9, and the consequent declaration of the Free Province of Guayaquil.
History
Towards the end of the 18th century, South America was going through an economic crisis and a great recession.
However, the province of Guayaquil in Ecuador prospered thanks to the production of cocoa, the construction of boats and the manufacture of straw hats. Despite the situation, trade in the Guayaquil region was prospering.
Meanwhile, the intellectual elites were developing the idea of obtaining greater autonomy from the Spanish crown.
The main motivation originated because a large part of the population's profits had to be paid in taxes, which were increasingly higher because the Spanish crown needed to cover the expenses of the war it faced against France.
The new political environment and the abuses of the Spanish crown made the seeds of freedom and independence germinate in many people.
The meetings of the conspirators were more frequent. José de Villamil lent his house for meetings; There the "Forge of Vulcano" was organized, a party attended by merchants, politicians, intellectuals and leaders sympathetic to independence.
The party took place on October 1 and the next day a political destabilization plan began. Several barracks were taken for six days, until on Sunday, October 9, the independence of Guayaquil was declared.
A month later, on November 8, all the towns that made up the province were summoned and the new state was proclaimed as the Free Province of Guayaquil.
The proclaimed president was José Joaquín de Olmedo and the provisional government regulations were issued.
In the independent period of Guayaquil, between 1820 and 1822, a law was approved that prohibited importing slaves, as contemplated by the laws of Gran Colombia.
A manumission fund was also established, consisting of an inheritance tax.
Main characters
The poet José Joaquín de Olmedo, trained with liberal ideas, became a deputy for Guayaquil in the Cortes of Cádiz in 1812, and became the most important promoter of independence. He was the first president of the Free Province of Guayaquil.
José María de la Concepción Antepara y Arenaza was one of the precursors of the independence of Guayaquil and the main promoter of the ideas of independence after his trips to Europe and frequent encounters with Francisco de Miranda.
Upon his return, in 1914, he met with José Villamil and José Joaquín de Olmedo to start the revolutionary cause.
Causes
In the political sphere, the independence of Guayaquil has four important antecedents: the independence of the United States of America, the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Spain, and the independence of Colombia.
At the end of the 18th century, the world's printers were in charge of promoting a new vision of man; With the Declaration of the Rights of Man originated in France, a new world order was created.
Wars were forged to establish republics in the manner of France, and the Latin American states were quick to claim them for themselves.
In the economic sphere, the Spanish crown was weak with Napoleon's attempt to overthrow King Carlos IV and his son Ferdinand VII, and began to show itself as a sovereign state by multiplying taxes to finance the war it was waging against France.
Ecuadorian merchants increasingly felt this pressure on their companies and commerce, thus creating an ideal environment to promote the ideas of freedom and independence.
A year earlier, Colombia had declared definitive independence from the Spanish crown after the Battle of Boyacá, leaving the Spanish army weakened. This motivated the province of Guayaquil to fight for its independence.
Consequences
With independence, the Free Province of Guayaquil was proclaimed, a republic that lasted two years. Subsequently, Ecuador fully declared its independence and adopted it again as a province.
The new proclamation of freedom gave rise to the battles of the south, which culminated in the famous battle of Pichincha.
Once the royalist forces were defeated in the battle of Pichincha, on May 24, 1822, President Bolívar acted against the incipient state of Quito and on July 13 he subdued the hitherto independent province of Guayaquil.
All of Ecuador was incorporated into the Republic of Colombia. In 1830 Ecuador regained its independence and also its name as a state, with the fall of Bolívar's power and the destabilization of Colombian politics.
References
- Cubitt, DJ, & Cubitt, DA (1985). Economic nationalism in post-independence Ecuador: The Guayaquil Commercial Code of 1821-1825. Ibero-Amerikanisches Archiv, 11 (1), 65-82.
- Conniff, ML (1977). Guayaquil through independence: urban development in a colonial system. The Americas, 33 (3), 385-410.
- Rodríguez, JE (2004). From fidelity to the revolution: the process of the independence of the old province of Guayaquil, 1809-1820. Processes Ecuadorian History Magazine, 1 (21), 35-88.
- Cubitt, DJ (1982). The Social Composition of a Hispanic-American Elite to Independence: Guayaquil in 1820. Journal of the History of America, (94), 7-31.
- Gray, WH (1947). Bolivar's conquest of Guayaquil. Hispanic American Historical Review, 603-622.