2 The Shattered Dreams of Independence
1. Manuel Montúfar, Memorias , p. 45. For background on the independence movement see Mario Rodríguez, The Cádiz Experiment in Central America, 1808 to 1826 (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1978).
2. In May of 1838 the federal congress declared the states free to find their own form of government. The term of Francisco Morazán as president of the Provincias Unidas expired in February of 1839 marking the end of the last symbol of the existence of the federation.
3. Average tax revenues between 1812 and 1817 amounted to 357,745 pesos, and the situados were between 100,000 and 200,000. George A. Thompson, Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala from Mexico (London: John Murray, 1829), p. 476. Alejandro Marure, Bosquejo histórico de las revoluciones de Centro América desde 1811 hasta 1834 , 2 vols. (Paris: Librería de la vda. de Ch. Bouret, 1837), 1: 95. Manuel Montúfar, Memorias , p. XXX.
4. "29 citizens to the Suprema Junta Nacional," Oct. 13, 1821, Boletín del Archivo General del Gobierno (Hereinafter cited as BAGG ), vol. 2, no. 1, p. 54; "Comision de Hacienda to 29 citizens," Oct. 25, 1821, BAGG vol. 2, no. 1, p. 55. Mario Rodríguez, The Cádiz Experiment , p. 153.
5. Mario Rodríguez, The Cádiz Experiment , p. 154.
6. Letter from Iturbide to Conde de la Cadena, Nov. 20, 1821, reproduced in Vicente Fillisola, La cooperación de México en la independencia de Centro América , 2 vols. (Mexico: Librería da la vda. de Ch. Bouret, 1911), 2: 104.
7. Ayuntamiento de Matagalpa to Gabino Gaínza, Oct. 18, 1821, BAGG vol. 1, no. 1, p. 58.
8. Quoted in Ramón López Jiménez, José Cecilio del Valle, Fouché de Centroamérica (Guatemala: Editorial José de Pineda Ibarra, 1968), p. 120.
9. Acta de la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Sesión del 30 de junio de 1823, BAGG , vol. 1, no. 4, p. 444. These feelings were somewhat exaggerated since Spanish intendentes had collected information on the territories under their supervision. A good example is Antonio. Gutiérrez y Ulloa's, Estado General .
10. Act of the Junta Consultiva Provisional, Jan. 5, 1822, reproduced in Ramón López Jiménez, José Cecilio del Valle , p. 163.
11. On the origins of these divisions see Ralph Lee Woodward, Jr., "Economic and Social Origins of the Guatemalan Political Parties (1773-1823)," HAHR 45 (November 1965): 556-566.
12. Manuel Montúfar, Memorias , p. 12.
13. Vicente Filisola, La cooperación 2: 31.
14. Alejandro Marure, Efemérides de los hechos notables acaecidos en la República de Centro América (Guatemala: Tipografía Nacional, 1895), p. 2
15. George A. Thompson, Narrative , p. 470; and Dunn, Guatimala , p. 224.
16. For a detailed account of commercial activities in Central America see Robert A. Naylor, "British Commercial Relations with Central America, 1821-1851" (Ph.D. dissertation, Tulane University, 1958).
17. Foreign Office to Thompson, January 7, 1825, FO 15-1. Thompson was fluent in Spanish and had learned about Spanish America when he translated and edited the English version of Antonio de Alcedo's Geographical and Historical Dictionary of America and the West Indies , 5 vols. (London: James Carpenter, 1812-1815).
18. Juan de Dios Mayorga, "Articles of Barter or Consumption in the Republic of Guatemala," January 12, 1824. Mayorga's report was submitted as an appendix to George Thompson's report to the Foreign Office, FO 15-3, fol. 94.
19. Hubert H. Bancroft in his History of Central America (San Francisco: The History Company, 1887), 3: 650, uses Mayorga's total as the value of the "yearly products of Central America" in 1826.
20. Thompson's rough estimate of the population of Central America at that time was 2 million people, FO 15-1, fol. 21. A very rough estimate of the GNP per capita is estimated by Héctor Lindo-Fuentes in "Economic History." The upper-bound estimate was thirteen pesos.
21. Quoted by Italo López Vallecillos, Gerardo Barrios , 1: 45.
22. In 1825 the minister of finance, José Beteta, gave George Thompson a financial report stating virtually the same. FO 15-3, fol. 23.
23. Manuel Rubio Sánchez, Historia del añil , quoting a federal commission, 1: 371-372. Also, Henry Dunn, Guatimala , p. 211, and FO 15-3, fol. 81.
24. Manuel Rubio Sánchez, Historia del añil , 1: 375.
25. Michael Mulhall, The Dictionary of Statistics (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1899), p. 470.
26. Ayzinena to Consul O'Reilly, January 10, 1826, FO 15-5.
27. Dashwood to FO, January 27, 1830, FO 15-10. Dunn made the same point in 1828. Henry Dunn, Guatimala , p. 232.
28. Robert S. Smith, "Financing the Central American Federation, 1821-1838," HAHR 43 (November 1963): 498.
29. Ayzinena to O'Reilly, January 10, 1826, FO 15-5.
30. Semanario Político Mercantil de San Salvador , August 7, 1824.
31. This is an estimation done by Miles Wortman based on tax data. See Government and Society , p. 241.
32. FO 15-3, fol. 111.
33. FO 15-3, fol. 124.
34. O'Reilly to Foreign Office, February 22, 1826, FO 15-5.
35. Dashwood to Foreign Office, January 28, 1830, FO 15-10.
36. Report of the minister of finance, appendix to O'Reilly's despatch to Foreign Office, April 2, 1827, FO 15-7.
37. O'Reilly to Foreign Office, February 22, 1826, FO 15-5.
38. O'Reilly to Foreign Office, November 10, 1826, FO 15-5.
39. Quoted by Robert S. Smith, "Financing," p. 490.
40. "Arancel provisional para las aduanas de Guatemala," February 13, 1822, FO 15-3.
41. Robert S. Smith, "Financing," p. 490.
42. George A. Thompson, Narrative , p. 491.
43. Quoted in Italo López Vallecillos, Gerardo Barrios , 1: 45.
44. Manuel Montúfar, Memorias , p. XXVII.
45. George A. Thompson, Narrative , p. 72.
46. The data on exports to Great Britain have been computed from the tables in Robert A. Naylor, "British Commercial Relations," Tables of Commercial Statistics 1821-1951. Trade with Great Britain amounted to about three-fourths of all of Central America's foreign trade.
47. Ibid., p. 201.
48. Ibid., p. 168.
46. The data on exports to Great Britain have been computed from the tables in Robert A. Naylor, "British Commercial Relations," Tables of Commercial Statistics 1821-1951. Trade with Great Britain amounted to about three-fourths of all of Central America's foreign trade.
47. Ibid., p. 201.
48. Ibid., p. 168.
46. The data on exports to Great Britain have been computed from the tables in Robert A. Naylor, "British Commercial Relations," Tables of Commercial Statistics 1821-1951. Trade with Great Britain amounted to about three-fourths of all of Central America's foreign trade.
47. Ibid., p. 201.
48. Ibid., p. 168.
49. Henry Dunn, Guatimala , p. 228.
50. Manuel Rubio Sánchez, Historia del puerto , p. 336.
51. FO 15-5, fols. 108-110.
52. Robert A. Naylor, "British Commercial Relations," p. 219.
53. Chatfield to Duke of Wellington, June 1, 1835, FO 15-16.
54. La Unión is located on the Gulf of Fonseca at the easternmost end of El Salvador.
55. "Translated Extract of the Message of the Vice-President of Central America on the Opening of the Ordinary Sessions of Congress, 22nd April 1835," FO 15-16, fol. 105.
56. Manuel José Arce, Memoria , 29.
57. Gaceta de Guatemala (Guatemala), Mar. 1, 1824. "Decretos de 6 de Febrero y de 13 de Junio de 1824 habilitando los puertos de La Libertad y La Unión," in Isidro Menéndez, Recopilación de las leyes de El Salvador en Centro-América , 2 vols. (Guatemala, 1855-1856), 2: 229.
58. Marcial Zebadua, "Memoria presentada al Congreso General," pp. 150-151, FO 15-1, fol. 187-188.
59. José Cecilio del Valle, Obras de D. José Cecilio del Valle , Ramón Rosa, ed. (Tegucigalpa: Tipograffía Nacional, 1906), p. 9.
60. Robert S. Smith, "Financing," p. 490.
61. George A. Thompson, Narrative , p. 151.
62. The 1825 budget can be found in Henry Dunn, Guatimala , p. 191.
63. Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, Historia de la Federación de la América Central, 1823-1840 (Madrid: Ediciones Cultura Hispánica, 1951), p. 120, quoting Valle. Fulgencio Maiorga, "Memoria que el Secretario General Interino del Estado del Salvador D. Fulgencio Maiorga presentó a la legislatura del año de 1828 sobre los diferentes ramos de la administración," in Biblioteca Nacional, ed., Documentos , p. 19. Manuel Montúfar, Memorias , p. XXXI.
64. Alejandro Marure, Bosquejo histórico , 1: 129.
65. Manuel Montúfar, Memorias , p. XXXI.
66. Ibid., p. 46.
65. Manuel Montúfar, Memorias , p. XXXI.
66. Ibid., p. 46.
67. "Dictamen de la Comisión de Hacienda de la Asamblea Ordinaria del Estado de El Salvador, 28 de marzo de 1825," New York Public Library, Miscellaneous Documents (Hereinafter cited as NYPL MD).
68. Report of the minister of finance, appendix to O'Reilly's despatch to Foreign Office, April 2, 1827, FO 15-7.
69. Robert S. Smith, "Financing," p. 486.
70. Fred J. Rippy, British Investment in Latin America, 1822-1949 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1959), p. 35.
71. Fulgencio Maiorga, "Memoria," p. 19.
72. Quoted by Constantino Láscaris, Historia de las ideas en Centroamérica (San José, Costa Rica: EDUCA, 1970), p. 377.
73. Ralph Lee Woodward Jr., "Central America," in Leslie Bethell, ed., Spanish America After Independence, c. 1820-c. 1870 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), p. 180. For insights on the problems of the federation see Mario Rodríguez et al., Applied Enlightenment: 19th Century Liberalism , Publication 23 (New Orleans: Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, 1972).
74. Alejandro Marure, Efemírides , pp. 141 and 154.
75. Robert G. Dunlop, Travels in Central America (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1847), p. 148.
76. H. de T. D'Arlach, Souvenirs de L'Amerique Centrale (Paris: Charpentier, 1850), p. 103.
77. Robert Dunlop, Travels , p. 149.
78. Alejandro Marure, Bosquejo histórico , 2: 87.
79. Ibid.
78. Alejandro Marure, Bosquejo histórico , 2: 87.
79. Ibid.
80. Gaceta del Salvador , September 16, 1860.
81. Robert G. Dunlop, Travels in Central America , p. 24.
82. Iván Molina, La alborada del capitalismo agrario en Costa Rica (San Josá: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 1988), pp. 20-21.
83. Manuel Rubio Sánchez, Historia del añil , 1: 184.
84. Antonio Grimaldi, Opinión del Senador Lic. Don Antonio Grimaldi sostenida en el debate que tuvo lugar en la sesión del 13 de Abril y la sentencia pronunciada por el Senado en la misma sesión contra el ex-presidente D. Francisco Dueñas (San Salvador: Imprenta de Palma, 1872), p. 3. A copy of this pamphlet was included as an appendix to Biddle despatch to the Department of
State, June 20, 1872, Diplomatic Despatches El Salvador, National Archives, vol. 3 (hereinafter cited as DDES).
85. This is a very rough estimate based on a simple extrapolation. The total population in 1821 was about 250,000 and, according to Antonio Gutiérrez y Ulloa's Estado general , the labor force was about 35 percent of the total population.
86. Alejandro Marure, Bosquejo histórico , 1: 63.
87. Alastair White, El Salvador (New York: Praeger, 1973), app. 3, p. 264.
88. According to Gutiórrez y Ulloa's figures, in 1807 the male labor force was 34.7 percent of the total population. In 1829 the total population was, according to Thompson, 330,000. Therefore, the size of the labor force was around 114,510 men.
89. Alejandro Marure, Bosquejo histórico , 2: 43.
90. Ibid., 2: 42, 43.
89. Alejandro Marure, Bosquejo histórico , 2: 43.
90. Ibid., 2: 42, 43.
91. Robert G. Dunlop, Travels in Central America , p. 24.
92. Julius Froebel, Seven Years' Travel in Central America, Northern Mexico and the Far West of the United States (London: Richard Bentley, 1859), p. 198.
93. E. G. Squier, Notes on Central America: Particularly the States of Honduras and San Salvador (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1855), p. 305.
94. Chatfield to Foreign Office, July 9, 1834, FO 15-14.
95. Lorenzo López, Estadística general de la República del Salvador (San Salvador: Imprenta del Gobierno, 1858), p. 52; Sosa to O'Reilly, February 16, 1826, FO 15-5.
96. Robert G. Dunlop, Travels in Central America , p. 50.
97. Lorenzo Montúfar, Reseña histórica de Centro América (Guatemala: Tipograféa El Progreso, 1878), 2: 63.
98. Alejandro Marure, Bosquejo histórico , p. 78.
99. Vicente Filisola, La cooperación , 2: 155.
100. Alejandro Marure, Bosquejo histórico , 2: 106.
101. Autobiografía del Dr. Manuel Gallardo in Miguel Angel Gallardo, ed., Papeles históricos , 5 vols. (n.p., 1954), 1: 45.
102. Lorenzo Montúfar, Reseúa histórica , 1: 41.
103. Robert G. Dunlop, Travels in Central America , p. 148.
104. Alejandro Marure, Bosquejo histórico , 2: 78.
105. Hall to Foreign Office, December 26, 1833, FO 15-13.
106. Henry Dunn, Guatimala , p. 198.
107. Michael G. Mulhall, The Dictionary of Statistics , p. 473.
108. Hall to Foreign Office, December 26, 1833; FO 15-13.
109. Chatfield to Foreign Office, September 10, 1834, FO 15-14.
110. Ibid.; Robert S. Smith, "Financing," p. 504.
109. Chatfield to Foreign Office, September 10, 1834, FO 15-14.
110. Ibid.; Robert S. Smith, "Financing," p. 504.
111. The figure for the 1840s is the average for the decade. The average for the decade of the 1830s was 6 s . 8 d . Michael G. Mulhall, Dictionary of Statistics , pp. 473-474.
112. John Baily, Central America; Describing Each of the States of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica; Their Natural Features, Products, Population, and Remarkable Capacity for Colonization (London: Trelawney Saunders, 1850), p. 84.