The Context of the Peninsula and the Isthmus, 1808–1823

French troops invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 1808, when King Charles IV of Spain and his son, Ferdinand VII, fought for power. Finally, the father relinquished the crown to his heir. The Portuguese monarchy managed to flee to Brazil while the Bourbons were apprehended in Bayonne, a French city on the Spanish border. Both father and son abdicated in captivity, ceding the crown to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte who designated his brother, Joseph, as the new ruler. After defeating the Spanish troops, the new king arrived at the Royal Palace of Madrid in July 1808,³ and enacted the Bayonne Constitution. At the end of the text, Joseph Bonaparte signed as King of Spain and the Indies. In response, the Spanish provinces revolted against the intruding king and rejected his Constitution.

Immediately following these events, provincial juntas (governing boards) were created. In September 1808, along with the board delegates, the Junta Soberana Central (Central Sovereign Board) was organized, which called for a new agreement, and requested an oath of allegiance to the monarch and to the Junta itself.⁴ In the Peninsula, the formation of the Central Board was criticized. The territories reestablished the old procedure with the creation of a Regency Council in January 1810, a structure used in the absence of a monarch of when the successor was not of age. The Regency convened the Cortes, with the representation of Spain and the overseas territories. The Kingdom of Guatemala took an oath to recognize the Council, while requesting that Manuel José Pavón y Muñoz, the councillor for the municipality of Guatemala, elected to become part of the recently dissolved Central Board, be admitted into the Regency Council as supernumerary.⁵

The Americas followed in the footsteps of the Peninsula, forming provincial juntas. The Kingdom of Guatemala did not recognize the transfer of power to the French. On December 12, 1808, in the central square of Guatemala City, the oath of allegiance to Ferdinand VII took place with much fanfare, and in January of 1809, a ceremony in recognition of the Sovereign Board was held. The provinces’ councils proceeded in largely the same manner.⁶

The Regency appointed José de Bustamante Captain General and Chairperson of the Kingdom’s Hearing, and he assumed these roles in March 1811. Shortly after, Archbishop-elect Ramón de Cassaus Torres arrived of the Order of Saint Dominic, the first native of Santander originating from South America, and the second born in Aragón to have come to New Spain. Both men were considered passionate and strong willed, and made a good duo for the defense of the monarchy.⁷

In 1818, Bustamante was succeeded by Carlos de Urrutia—who stepped down in 1821 due to illness—and was replaced by Gabino Gaínza. Central American independence, which was declared on September 15, 1821, reinstated Cádiz constitutionalism and ruled that a congress with delegates from the provinces would decide the new form of government; the convocation did not take place until after the fall of the First Mexican Empire in 1823.

During the period under consideration, the administrative political divisions were modified at the request of representatives from the Americas and the Intendencias gave way to provincial governments. Within the Kingdom of Guatemala, Guatemala’s provincial government (which included Chiapas, Honduras, and El Salvador) was permitted, as well as that of Nicaragua and Costa Rica; in 1820, the court ordered the creation of a government in each province. Elections, citizenship, and political representation were established via a process of indirect elections. The elected representatives took up positions in three different spheres of power: the Spanish courts and the Mexican constituent congress; provincial councils; and, of course, the local powers that were known as the constitutional city councils.

Tension Between Captain-General José de Bustamante and the Provinces

Neither the Archbishop nor Bustamante was able to control the diffusion of liberal ideas. The Consulate of Commerce, dispatched to the representative in the Cortes, Antonio Larrazábal, Apuntamientos sobre la agricultura y el comercio del Reyno de Guatemala (Judicial Reports on the Agriculture and Commerce of the Kingdom of Guatemala). The text highlights the richness of the isthmus’s geography and the abundance of land. In terms of commerce, it names obstacles such as bad roads; the lack of ports; and smuggling, particularly of cotton fabrics. The text also points out that the workforce has limitations in its use of distribution; its participation in the multiple associations in villages; and the abuse of sacristy services; and adds that mestizos are not, like indigenous people, forced to repair roads. To resolve this issue, traders—under the influence of Enlightenment—requested a reform under the protection of the new laws and institutions. All of the issues listed above served the purpose of making a formal request in the Cortes, maintaining their freedom of commerce, and freeing indigenous labor, which was controlled by the subdelegates within the Intendencias and in the clergy of each parish.

In 1811, the Guatemalan governing board was divided and sent two documents to its representative in the Cortes: Instrucciones para la Constitución Fundamental de la Monarquía (Instructions for the Fundamental Constitution of the Monarchy) and the Apuntes Instructivos (Informative Notes). The first text expressed the conception of a constitutional monarchy, adopting the principles of sovereignty, division of power, political representation, and state and nation; in the economic section, a fiscal reform plan was included. The second backed the presence of the Cortes, the Regency Council, and the full recognition of the prerogatives of the monarch. As far as taxation, it did not seek to make changes.⁸

It was obvious that the Captain General and the Archbishop were displeased with the new political system: they took part in the committee to create the electoral council, but Bustamante postponed the deadline for elections at all levels—in the Cortes, as well as local and provincial elections. The elites of the kingdom complained about the delay in orders and correspondences coming from Cádiz, and about not receiving any response to their petitions.⁹

On November 4 and 5, 1811, in San Salvador, a multitude of mestizo and indigenous inhabitants stoned the homes of the Spanish and overtook the Intendencia. They had two demands: first, that they release the priest Nicolás Aguilar, who had been found with “seditious” letters, as had his brother Manuel, also a priest. The second demand was the rejection of sales taxes and monopolies, two economic measures taken during the Bourbon reforms. During this time, criollos positioned themselves at the forefront and, during an open cabildo, appointed new authorities: the intendant, Antonio Gutiérrez y Ulloa, was forced to leave the capital. They subsequently elected a junta to govern at the provincial level; through it they sent out a call to meet with the Spanish councils of San Miguel, San Vicente, and Santa Ana. All three rejected the invitation and made preparations to support the troops sent by the Captain General.

Guatemala’s council asked Bustamante not to carry out any military action and acted as an intermediary in the conflict. Accordingly, Guatemalan councilmen Juan Fermín Aycinena and José María Peinado convinced the insurgents, who defended their behavior. Among those who participated in the negotiations were the town halls of El Salvador and the Clergy, and the final agreement came when the marquis of Aycinena assumed the role of Intendant of El Salvador; several months later, senior councilman José María Peinado took his place.¹⁰ This initial conflict in the command is what Barón Castro considers “the beginning of the clash between two powers”:¹¹ the sovereignty, represented in the local councils, and the royal powers, represented in the Spanish authority.¹²

Following the events in El Salvador, the authorities in Nicaragua were no longer recognized. On December 10, those living in Granada and the towns of Masaya and Rivas rejected the council members and appointed new officials. In the capital city of León, indigenous and mestizo inhabitants deposed Intendant José Salvador, citing complaints of the taxes that had been imposed with the Bourbon reforms. In an open cabildo, the inhabitants and the new council members appointed a provincial junta and designated Nicolás García Jerez as new intendant to the bishop. Although Bustamante sent troops from Olancho, San Miguel, and Cartago to control an uprising in the city of Granada, but it was not until April 1812 that an agreement was reached: Granada’s former council members would assume their posts, and the constitutionalists involved would not be tried.¹³ This agreement was not obeyed by the Captain General, and he earned a deep resentment among inhabitants in the east (Granada) as well as the west (León).

In Tegucigalpa, a province of Honduras, residents armed with sticks and machetes forestalled the inauguration of the new government—composed mostly of Spaniards—and forced them to quit. Elections took place immediately. To help restore calm, the Captain General sent troops to Tegucigalpa.¹⁴ In 1812, in spite of the measures taken by Bustamante, the cabildos in every post in the Kingdom of Guatemala fulfilled their oath to the Constitution of Cádiz.¹⁵

But still tempers did not subside. Guatemalans were disconsolate following the instructions given on June 23, 1813. The Cortes in the aforementioned document bestowed ample powers upon the new political leader, José de Bustamante. A conspiracy, under the cover of the Convento de Belén, in Guatemala City, was revealed and its members exposed. In San Salvador, an uprising plan in January 1814 was unsuccessful. Criollos from notable Salvadoran families eased the tensions and Peinado and the royal troops were able to control the situation.¹⁶

An issue of great significance that has not been sufficiently covered is the attempts at forming juntas. José Dolores Gámez, and later Constantino Lascaris, explained that the uprisings in El Salvador and Nicaragua did not proclaim independence, fired the intendants from their provinces, and formed “las Juntas de Gobierno provinciales en defensa del Rey” (“the provincial Governing Boards in defense of the King”).¹⁷

This issue remains obscure because the subject matter has centered on the conflict and personalities involved. The aforementioned junta used those of Spain as a reference, but also exhibited continuity with a discussion that had taken place in Guatemala City’s cabildo between August and September of 1810.¹⁸ In the Kingdom’s capital, the creation of provincial juntas was proposed, but the Captain General and the Archbishop pressured the councillors not to commit to the idea.

The project was expressed in the Instructions of Guatemala’s cabildo in 1811. The document established that the local governments would send delegates to establish the Junta de Gobierno Superior (Senior Governing Board) in each of the provinces. These agencies would deal with the branches of the treasury, military, police force, agricultural development, industry, arts and trade, public, and educational establishments, everything concerning the advancement and prosperity of the inhabitants. The Senior Board would also take on the role of royal patronage and establish taxes without establishing estancos (government-run shops selling liquor or tobacco) because they ran counter to the constitutional principles.¹⁹

Likewise, the capitals of the provinces made their own interests clear through the actions of their representatives in the courts. Some recurring issues included free trade from their ports in the Caribbean or the Pacific, exploitation of mining resources with its own court, and the elimination of estancos, above all those where tobacco was sold. The most far-reaching issue proposed was that of an interoceanic canal through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec or the San Juan River. They also requested a council office in each constituency, accompanied by its own diocese—where there was not one already—and seminaries to train new priests. Along these lines, El Salvador’s Intendencia reaffirmed its claim to the rights to a diocese, but the Guatemalan ecclesiastical authorities opposed it. The province of Nicaragua and Costa Rica had bigger plans, demanding a Captain General with an audience and a corresponding archbishop. The Cortes recognized only the council seminary the city of León as constituting a university. Bustamante responded to the southern provinces’ motives by closing off commercial traffic between Guatemala and the port of Puntarenas, Costa Rica, which had recently opened by order of the Spanish legislature.²⁰

When the Napoleonic Wars ended in April 1814, Ferdinand VII returned to the Peninsula as legitimate king. In a decree dated May 4, he annulled the Constitution of 1812 and dissolved the Cortes. In December 1815, all authorities in the kingdom were directed to gather any copy of the instructions, which were later burned in the public square; this was followed by legal persecution of those who had supported constitutionalism. From Guatemala, a process was ordered against the leaders involved in the events that had taken place in El Salvador and Nicaragua. After their trials, some were held as prisoners in Spain, Guatemala, and the ports of Trujillo and Omoa, while others were sentenced to death.²¹

The provincial governments and the government in the capital requested the removal of José de Bustamante, and finally, on February 28, 1817, the Council of the Indies signed the order for his immediate dismissal and ordered the release of the political prisoners, although the military ignored the mandate. The Council’s order was carried out by Carlos de Urrutia, the new Captain General.

New and Old Practices: Citizenship, Elections, and Political Representation

In 1810, in the absence of Ferdinand VII, the Regency Council called a meeting of the Extraordinary Cortes. During these first elections, the members of the local government or cabildo acted as electorate. Afterwards, the Constitution of Cádiz introduced a change: elections would be indirect. Political rights were given to certain citizens who met predetermined requirements: Spaniards or their children, born and residing in the Spanish Empire; naturalized foreigners or those who had been there for ten years; and those from groups provided services or held special talents. In order to be citizens, one had to have a well-known way of living or a job, have no debt with the treasury nor any pending lawsuits, and not be a domestic servant. The Constitution reaffirmed that only those who had citizenship could be elected to municipal office, and they must be at least twenty-five years old, have resided in the election area for at least five years, and not be a civil servant or of royal designation. Although, in order to serve as a representative in the Cortes, the requirements increased: to be at least twenty-five years old, to be native to the province that elects you, or to have lived there for at least seven years and have assets in the form of personal property.²²

In the Kingdom of Guatemala, the first step was the formation of a Preparatory Junta consisting of the Captain General José de Bustamante, the archbishop Cassaus, José Cecilio del Valle, and several legislators from the cabildo of Guatemala. The Guatemalan electoral instruction modified the concept of citizenship established by Cádiz. It was recognized that the “Indian: the White European, or American: the mestizo, or son of Indian and white: the mulatto, or son of black and white: the sambo, or son of Indian and black, are Spaniards in the third sense, the same in which this opinion will be taken whenever it is used.”²³

With the foregoing definition, local elections, elections carried out to restore the representatives in the Cortes, and provincial council elections took place at four levels: delegates, parishes, districts, and provinces. At the first level, men voted who were of legal age and any racial background, in a practice that took place in a citizenry with a high number of males, a practice that was carried out in the first half of the 19th century.

Undoubtedly, social recognition became the start of citizen status, but it also constituted a kind of bottleneck in which it was not possible to count every person who voted. The aforementioned instruction defined the electoral territory as they had been defined in the parishes, thus returning to ecclesiastical divisions. In each headquarters or district, those in charge of registration were cabildo members and parish priests. It was also decided that in the event of a disagreement, a third member would be appointed to resolve the issue. The verbal recognition was final, but the person in question could present his evidence for citizenship to a judge; if approved, he could vote in the following election. This work was supported by the mayors of the district, tasked with convening the citizens. With the backing of a thousand people, Central American indigenous, white, and mestizo populations rose to constitutional city councils, while conserving their old treasury, military, judiciary, and administrative designations.²⁴ But the Constitution of Cádiz entrusted the municipal board with the right to organize and direct elections.

Political representation, summoned from Spain, for the provincial governments of Guatemala and Nicaragua-Costa Rica had the same characteristics as the representatives in the Cortes. Elected citizens became councillors, priests, landowners, employees of the Universidad de San Carlos, and members of the bar association, the ecclesiastical cabildo, or the Consulate of Commerce. The majority belonged to the Economic Society of the Friends of the Country and lived in the government’s key cities.²⁵

Following the union of provinces in the Kingdom of Guatemala to the First Mexican Empire in 1822, the Sovereign Governing Junta sent instructions to elect representatives to a constituent congress. The Provisional Advisory Junta of Guatemala created their own; therefore, they were elected with two instructions. The provinces of Chiapas, Granada, and Nicaragua, as well as the government of Costa Rica, carried out their own elections according to the Empire’s instructions. The province of Guatemala, the district of Tegucigalpa and Olancho in Honduras, León in Nicaragua, and Santa Ana and San Miguel in El Salvador followed the Guatemalan instruction. The electoral process took place in accordance with the 1812 Constitution of Cádiz.

The labor pool of elected officials did not change: two-thirds (thirty-one representatives) were professionals or religious leaders. Analysis of the career path of the representatives shows that they came from the bar association, the clergy, cabildos, the military, universities, or the Consulate of Commerce. They had held positions in the colonial administration or in the constitutional local government. Many belonged to the Economic Society of the Friends of the Country or to patriotic tertulias.²⁶

Political representation—twenty-seven in the Cortes and forty-seven in Mexico—was made up of notable individuals, at least twenty-five years of age, who owned property, born in the Americas or native to the Kingdom, and were seculars, professionals, civilians or military members, businessmen, councilmen, and electors. A broader investigation is needed to place them in a certain group or party, but we know of at least three different positions: monarchists, constitutional monarchists, and republicans. Just as in the first instance of the Constitution of Cádiz, supporters had as a foundation the political system of their preference.

Autonomy, Emancipation, and Joining the Mexican Empire

On August 28, 1821, in Comitán, Chiapas, in an open cabildo, the residents gathered and adopted “the system of Imperial Government and naturally declare free and independent the city of Comitán and those that comprise it, under the same protests to preserve unchanged Our Holy Religion, respect its Ministers, who are the intermediaries between God and man, abide by the laws of the Nation and obey its Magistrates, preventing separation and rivalry, maintaining a perfect union and fraternity among its inhabitants without regard to class or origin.” Statements from San Cristóbal de las Casas (then Ciudad Real), Chiapa de Corzo, and Tuxtla Gutiérrez followed in the first week of September; later, the municipalities gained the support of the Provincial Council.²⁷

Cabildos from within the Province of Guatemala and urban residents pushed for a declaration of independence. The news aroused concern among the highest authorities of the General Captaincy, and following hours of discussion, they reached an agreement and a Declaration of Independence was adopted on September 15 and signed by members of the Provincial Council and the City Council of Guatemala.

The declaration, firstly, proclaimed a split from the Spanish government²⁸ and proposed the immediate acquiescence of a congress in order to determine the form of government and fundamental laws. Article seven established that “in the meantime, until new authorities are established, they are to continue exercising their respective powers, in accordance with the Constitution (of 1812), orders, and laws, until a suitable Congress determines the most just and beneficial action.”

In the points stipulated, old and new political outlooks converge. The declaration expresses that the political decision was in the hands of los pueblos, in the words of the era, the constitutional city councils. Representative elections to the future congress would be carried out by the same provincial electoral juntas that had elected the representatives in the Cortes: for the interior government of the provinces, the provincial and city councils stipulated in the Cádiz Constitution would remain.

Taking into account the practice of juntas in Spain, the members of the Provincial Council established in the declaration a Provisional Governing Junta, adding to it other representatives from within the country. The upper government also integrated Brigadier Gabino Gaínza as Head of State and authorized him to announce the news and seek the recognition of existing cabildos and boards within the kingdom.²⁹ As in the Cádiz Constitution, the declaration evinced the protection that the Catholic Church would receive, and asked for the support of the clergy in governing the territory.

The declaration was sent to the interior government for approval and adoption by boards, cabildos, and officials, who pledged an oath of fidelity. Reports sent by towns and cities indicated that two documents were discussed: the Declaration of Independence and the Plan of Iguala.³⁰ Independence was a two-pronged measure: the high authorities of the kingdom intended to maintain control of the Captaincy, but the provinces understood it as a means of freedom, not only from the Spanish crown, but also from Guatemalan control.

In the city of San Salvador, on September 21, 1821, the declaration was read during liturgy in the parish church and later in the municipality headquarters. Amidst cheers from the residents, the head of state presiding over the event received an oath from the mayor, who stated “by God our Lord, the Holy Cross, and the Holy Gospels, to preserve and maintain independence, to be loyal to the American Monarchy and observe the Government that is established and the laws that sanction it.” According to the Salvadoran record, it was declared on September 29 by swearing-in of the boards and September 30 by the general public.³¹

In the city of León, Nicaragua, on September 28, the Intendant and the provincial council met and declared its independence from Guatemala and its independence “from the Spanish government until the light of day is clear and this province can work in accordance with the demands of their religious endeavors and their true interests.”³² The Nicaraguan declaration orders the continuation of all authorities and operations established in the Constitution of 1812. Also on September 28, in Comayagua, Honduras, the intendant, provincial council, and residents met in open cabildo and all agreed that “independence is sworn in the province of Comayagua, with the essential condition that it be subject only to the supreme government established in North America, in all its branches: political, military, treasury, and ecclesiastical.”³³

On September 29 in the city of Cartago, the capital of Costa Rica, executive boards, clergy, and residents met and agreed to proclaim absolute independence from the Spanish government, but “will continue to observe the Constitution and laws promulgated by the Mexican Empire; with the firm belief that in the adoption of this plan lies the prosperity and true interests of these provinces.”³⁴

The incorporation of the former Kingdom of Guatemala into the Mexican Empire in 1821 was achieved with the Plan of Iguala. The plan compiled in its twenty-three articles the prevailing political ideas, not only in New Spain, but in the General Captaincy of Guatemala as well. The three essential points—independence from Spain, preservation of the Catholic religion, and a constitutional monarchic government—ensured the union of the provinces. Iguala proposed a political reconstitution from several of the kingdoms of the Hispanic monarchy.³⁵

The proposal was an old one. Charles III of Spain had received a plan to decentralize the Americas into two entities, North and South, but the king rejected the idea. Later, there was another proposal to create three monarchies, one in the North and two in the southern region. In 1808, faced with the crisis caused by the French invasion, New Spain had attempted to convene a General Congress of the provinces, an initiative that had been stymied by groups from the capital who were loyal to the crown. The proposal made by Congress, which was circulated that same year, stated “so that all of northern Spanish America may have in this serious issue one shared spirit, we may propose that the Kingdom of Guatemala hold a General Junta and that this Junta will appoint seven representatives with full powers to act in its name in the National Congress.”³⁶

In 1812, the Constitution of Cádiz defined the territories of New Spain, Guatemala, and the Caribbean islands as North America. In the Cortes of 1820, this division was adopted by representatives from the Americas on June 25, 1821, to propose the formation of two monarchies in the Americas: North America, formed by the Provincias Internas, Mexico, and Guatemala; and South America, which incorporated New Granada, the mainland provinces, Peru, Argentina, and Chile.³⁷ The northern and southern territories thus acquired legal and political significance.

Following his triumphant arrival in Mexico City, Agustín de Iturbide sent a written notice to Guatemala inviting the provinces to unite under the Northern Empire. The document in question was also sent to the municipalities of the Kingdom of Guatemala. The Provisional Advisory Junta of Guatemala discussed and agreed to respond to Iturbide that the Junta did not have the power to make a decision of that nature, as it would require a general vote of the provinces. The discussion turned toward the problem of clarifying who had the right to make a decision about the union, the municipalities, or the Junta. The interim government of the kingdom concluded that, according to scholastic influence, “the union was a pact, and the contracting parties are Iturbide and our municipalities, the government being the mediating body, and not absolutely necessary, that which replaced the open cabildos adopted on September 15. If the municipalities play a role, all of them and especially los exitados must be heard within another month that those who are four hundred leagues away need. If not, they are not obligated.”³⁸

On January 5, 1822, the Junta issued the Act of Aggregation to the Mexican empire. In the vote count: “. . . the city councils that have plainly agreed upon the union, according to the notice given by the Mexican Government, number one hundred four. Eleven have agreed with some conditions, which they have been inclined to add. Thirty-two have committed their will to the decision of the Provisional Junta, taking all circumstances into account. Twenty-one refer to what the congress expresses, which convened on September 15 and should meet again on February 1. Those who expressed no desire to form part of the union are two. The rest have not given a response, or if they have, it has not been received.”³⁹ These results indicate that 147 cabildos were in favor of the union, 21 in favor of the decision made by the congress of the provinces, and 2 were against it; thus, of a total of 200 municipalities in the captaincy, 170 had cast their vote by January 5, 1822. In addition, the Junta took into account that three provinces had declared their union to Mexico: León in Nicaragua, Chiapas, and Comayagua in Honduras, so the duty “in this case, is none other than transfer to the Government of Mexico that which the people want.”⁴⁰

How threatening was Iturbide’s notice to each of the municipalities of the Kingdom of Guatemala? How decisive was the traditional open-cabildo practice in the municipalities? How strong was the resentment of the provinces against the dominant group of Guatemala City? In-depth analyses of this situation remain to be seen.

Apparently, the elite were attracted by the idea of a direct relationship with Mexico City: they would enjoy military protection and hoped to gain the freedom to trade their products and benefit from the progress of each of the provinces. In Guatemala City, as in San Salvador, Tegucigalpa, Granada, and San José, groups formed to oppose the union. The provincial council of El Salvador was the only one to openly oppose the union with Mexico and proposed as an alternative a confederate republic to include the territories of the Yucatán, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.

The disagreement produced conflict between the provinces of Guatemala and San Salvador: the former invaded the latter, but was unsuccessful. A second military raid, led by the imperial troops, commanded by Vicente Filisola and backed by the Guatemalans, annexed the province of San Salvador.⁴¹

The designation of Iturbide as Emperor was not enough. He persecuted or imprisoned political and military leaders, and closed the Mexican congress. These abuses promoted various conspiracies to overthrow him. The Plan of Casa Mata brought the old forces together in conflict in the 1810s, and the Empire fell on March 19, 1823. Filisola, according to the Guatemalan Act of Independence, convened a congress headquartered in Guatemala City. Several of the representatives who had experience in Spain and Mexico joined this group.

The Second Declaration of Independence, or the Absolute Declaration

During its first sessions on July 1, the constituent congress released a second Declaration of Independence, better known as the absolute declaration. The objective of the representatives was to release a statement in favor of liberty, independence, unity, and governance.

The statements issued in this important document centered on the relationship to Spain and Mexico. According to the representatives, the Kingdom of Guatemala found itself at a great distance from Spain; for three hundred years, it was in the position of a colony with its rights usurped, and its inhabitants wished to preserve and sustain the independence proclaimed on September 15, 1821.

Concerning its relationship with Mexico, the representatives described the union as a forceful event, a decision made using illegal means (municipalities) because it was not determined by a congress. Therefore, they declared the decisions issued during the Mexican Empire invalid. The text displays two different ideas about sovereignty: the old idea, which designates the municipalities as the owner; and the modern idea, which the nation, transferred to a body of representatives, was the legislative power.

These circumstances demonstrate the necessity of issuing a new declaration of independence:

1^st That the aforementioned Provinces, represented in this Assembly, are free and independent from Old Spain, from Mexico, and from any other such former power such as that of the New World; and that they are not nor should they be the patrimony of any person or family.

The representatives, in their first sessions, were in agreement with a model of United Provinces of Central America, which recalls a continental discussion on forming a Confederation or a Federation. This process generated an array of reactions and brought a series of internal conflicts to the former Kingdom of Guatemala during the decade from 1820 to 1830. Finally, each province established a unitary republic.

Final Thoughts

The Constitution of 1812 fostered a new regime, the constitutional monarchy. Although liberal historiography rejects the inclusion of the Kingdom of Guatemala in this political system, the uprisings of settlers and local elites between 1811 and 1814, branded as pre-independence movements, were, in reality, uprisings and protests for the application of constitutionalism. In this sense, the demands and protests were generated by the compliance with the Cádiz legislation on diverse issues, such as the freedom of the press or the elimination of taxes and the recognition of election results.

The corporative vision accompanied the adaptation of the representative system. At the base of the indirect election process, full citizenship was granted to men of legal age, but was dependent on place of residence. In addition, the election took place publicly, a clear commitment to the political community. In another area, the political loyalty of citizens was expressed with a public oath; for example, to the image of Ferdinand VII, the Constitution of 1812, the Declaration of 1821, and the Plan of Iguala. In the sphere of legislation, representatives were limited by the instructions issued by their province of origin, and provincial interest prevailed over individual interests.

September 15, 1821, became a foundational date, and the signatories of the declaration became heroes or founding fathers. There is still an unknown process of autonomy that was set into motion following the Declaration of Independence. Taking Spanish institutionalism into account, the provinces organized governing juntas and provincial assemblies in an apparent process of state-province formation.

In the Kingdom of Guatemala, between 1808 and 1823, the presence of Cádiz constitutionalism is clear, influenced as much by institutionality as it is by the various declarations of independence. The construction of a representative system (sovereignty, citizenship, elections, and political representation) seems to have maintained a close relationship with the territories and not the modern imaginary nation.

Discussion of the Literature

The liberal 19th-century historiography pioneered by Alejandro Marure, Lorenzo Montúfar, and J. D. Gámez left its legacy by describing the independence of the Kingdom of Guatemala as a rupture between colony and republic. From 1900 to 1930, in the context of the centennial celebration of independence, documentary reports were disseminated.⁴² During the same period, the Academies of Geography and History edited magazines in each country of the isthmus. These entities, consisting largely of attorneys, dedicated their attention to three main ideas: the conquista, independence, and biographies of notable people. The authors’ objective was to lay the bases for a nation, and from this perspective emerged several pre-independence movements and countless founding fathers. The historiographic production in 1971, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the agreement, did not overlook the description of the incident, its relevance to the date, or the vainglory of the people involved. In 1964, Salvadoran Dagoberto Marroquín and later, in 1969, Guatemalan Severo Martínez Peláez, from a Marxist view, introduced the social-economic analysis.⁴³

At the end of the 20th century, the professionalization of Central American historians (from both within the isthmus and elsewhere), external historiographic production, and the formation of networks fostered a change in the focus on independence by introducing historical analysis as a political, economic, and social process.

This new way of studying the era of independence entailed a change of methods. The comparative history of Spain, Mexico, and Central America became necessary, as did the relationship between local, departmental, and national centers of power. Recent studies rely on different resources: the General Archive of the Indies in Seville; in Mexico City, the National Archives and the Historical Archives of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs; in the isthmus, the Archives of Central America in the Guatemalan capital, as well as national and municipal archives. The special funds of the national libraries of the countries mentioned are also immensely helpful. However, the analysis of the independence era must be interdisciplinary; it is essential to form a theoretical link between constitutional law, political science, and sociology.