Act of Independence of Central America

The Act of Independence of Central America, located in the premises of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador

The Act of Independence of Central America, also known as the Act of Independence of Guatemala, is the legal document by which the Provincial Council of the Province of Guatemala proclaimed the independence of Central America from the Spanish Empire, as well as inviting the other provinces of the Captaincy General of Guatemala to send envoys to a congress to decide the form of the region's independence. It was enacted on 15 September 1821.

Independence movements

The events of the Peninsular War (in particular the removal of Ferdinand VII from the Spanish throne) inspired and facilitated a series of revolts in El Salvador and Nicaragua aimed at winning Central America greater political autonomy or independence. Though quickly suppressed, these uprisings formed part of the general political upheaval in the Spanish world that led to the establishment of the Spanish Constitution of 1812. Between 1810 and 1814, the Captaincy General of Guatemala elected seven representatives to the new Cádiz Cortes, in addition to forming locally-elected provincial governing councils.

However, shortly after being restored to power in 1814, King Ferdinand repudiated the 1812 constitution, dissolved the Cortes, and suppressed liberalism in peninsular Spain, which provoked renewed unrest in the Spanish Americas. The brief restoration of the constitution during the Liberal Triennium beginning in 1820 allowed the Central American provinces to reestablish their elected councils, which then became focal points for constitutionalist and separatist sentiments. In 1821 the provincial council of Guatemala began to openly discuss a declaration of independence from Spain.

Promulgation of the Act

A painting by Chilean painter Luis Vergara Ahumada, depicting the signing of the Act by Father José Matías Delgado

The council meeting at which independence was finally declared was chaired by Gabino Gaínza, and the text of the Act itself was written by Honduran intellectual and politician José Cecilio del Valle and signed by representatives of the various Central American provinces, including José Matías Delgado, José Lorenzo de Romaña and José Domingo Diéguez. The meeting was held at the National Palace in Guatemala City, the site of which is now Centennial Park.

The Province of San Salvador (El Salvador) accepted the decision of the Guatemalan Council on 21 September, and the Act was seconded by the provincial councils of Comayagua (Honduras) on 28 September and of Nicaragua and Costa Rica on 11 October. However, the other provinces were reluctant to accept the primacy of Guatemala in a new Central American state, and the form of the new polity that would succeed the Captaincy General was not at all clear.

Aftermath and union with Mexico

Article 2 of the Act of Independence provided for the formation of a congress to "decide the point of absolute general independence and fix, in case of agreement, the form of government and the fundamental law of governance" for the new state. This constituent assembly was meant to meet the following March, but the opportunity never came. Instead, on 29 October 1821 the president of the provisional governing council of newly independent Mexico, Agustín de Iturbide, sent a letter to Gabino Gaínza (now the president of the interim government of Central America) and the council of delegates representing the provinces of Chiapas, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica with a proposal that Central America join the Mexican Empire under the terms of the Three Guarantees of the Treaty of Córdoba.

The various provincial and municipal governments of Guatemala were consulted and votes taken, with the five provinces excepting El Salvador voting in favor and with El Salvador opposing. On 5 January 1822, Gaínza sent a letter to Iturbide accepting Central America's annexation, and all the territories of Central America were incorporated into the Mexican Empire. They would remain united with Mexico for less than two years before seceding to form the Federal Republic of Central America as the Mexican Empire fell.