History of El Salvador - Independence (1838)

Independence (1838)

The first "shout of independence" in El Salvador came in 1811, at the hands of Criollo elite. Many intellectuals and merchants had grown tired of the overpowering control that Spain still had in the American colonies, and were interested in expanding their export markets to Britain and the United States. Indigenous uprisings aimed at Spanish subjugation plagued the territory at this time, and they were re-interpreted by the Republicans to serve their purpose and show popular support for independence.

Thus a movement grew amongst the middle class Criollo and Mestizo classes. Ultimately, the 1811 declaration of independence failed when the governor-general of Guatemala sent troops to San Salvador in order to halt the movement. However, the momentum was not lost and many of the people involved in the 1811 movement became involved in the 1821 movement.

In 1821, El Salvador and other Central American provinces declared their independence from Spain. When these provinces joined the First Mexican Empire in early 1822, El Salvador resisted, insisting on autonomy for the new Central American countries. Guatemalan troops sent to enforce the union were driven out of El Salvador in June 1822.

El Salvador, fearing incorporation into Mexico, petitioned the United States government for statehood. But in 1823, a revolution in Mexico ousted Emperor Agustín de Iturbide, and a new Mexican congress voted to allow the Central American provinces to decide their own fate. That year, the United Provinces of Central America was formed of the five Central American states under General Manuel José Arce.

In 1832, Anastasio Aquino led an indigenous revolt against Criollos and Mestizos in Santiago Nonualco, a small town in the province of San Vicente. The source of the discontent of the indigenous people was the lack of land to cultivate. The problem of land distribution has been the source of many political conflicts in Salvadoran history.

The Central American federation was dissolved in 1838 and El Salvador became an independent republic.