Federal Republic of Central America

Federal Republic of Central America República Federal de Centroamérica
1823–1838/1841
Flag (1824–1841) Coat of arms (1824–1841)
Motto: Dios, Unión y Libertad "God, Union, Liberty"
Anthem: La Granadera "The Grenadier"
Capital	Guatemala City (until 1834) San Salvador (from 1834)
Common languages	Spanish
Religion	Catholicism
Demonym(s)	Central American
Government	Federal republic
President
• 1825–1829	Manuel José Arce (first)
• 1835–1839	Francisco Morazán (last)
Legislature	Federal Congress
Historical era	Spanish American wars of independence
• Independence from the Spanish Empire	15 September 1821
• Independence from the First Mexican Empire	1 July 1823
• First civil war	1826–1829
• Second civil war	1838–1840
• Dissolution	2 February 1841
Currency	Real
Preceded by Succeeded by First Mexican Empire Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Los Altos British Honduras

Part of a series on
Central America
Countries Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Culture Central American Spanish Cuisine Mesoamerica Music Ethnic groups Ethnic groups List of indigenous peoples Visual arts by indigenous peoples Religion Anglican Church Bahá'í Faith Buddhism Roman Catholicism Sport Central American Games Central American and Caribbean Games Football Union By country Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Demographics By country Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Economy By country Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Education By country Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Environment Bioregion Deforestation List of mammals Dry forests Montane forests Mountain peaks Pine–oak forests
History Central American crisis Mexican rule Federal Republic Heads of state Greater Republic Maya civilization Trade By country Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Geography Central Highlands Cities Geology Islands Mountains (Extreme summits Ultra-prominent summits) Rivers Volcanoes Middle America Middle America Trench By country Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Politics and government Integration System Parliament Elections by country Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama Foreign relations by country Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama
Transportation List of busiest airports List of largest airlines Rail transport
Related topics Index of articles Americas (terminology) Central Time Zone Latin America
v t e

The Federal Republic of Central America (Spanish: República Federal de Centroamérica), originally known as the United Provinces of Central America (Provincias Unidas de Centroamérica), was a sovereign state in Central America which existed from 1823 to 1841. The federal republic was composed of the territories of the former Captaincy General of Guatemala (a colony of the Spanish Empire) and consisted of the modern countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, as well as parts of Belize and Mexico.

Shortly after Central America declared its independence from the Spanish Empire in September 1821, it was annexed by the First Mexican Empire in January 1822 before regaining its independence and forming a federal republic in 1823. The federation was unstable and quickly descended into a series of civil wars, first from 1826 to 1829 and again from 1838 to 1840, with conservatives fighting against liberals, and separatists fighting to secede. These factions were unable to overcome their ideological differences and the bloody conflicts ended in the federation's dissolution in 1841.

Name

The country also the name "United Provinces of Central America", in reference to the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Argentina).^{[citation needed]}

History

Central American independence

From the 16th century through 1821, Central America, apart from Panama, formed the Captaincy General of Guatemala within the Spanish Empire. In 1821 a congress of Central American criollos in Guatemala City composed the Act of Independence of Central America to declare the region's independence from Spain, effective on September 15 of that year.^[2] The process was bloodless with no resistance from the Spanish authorities as the Governor General Brigadier Gabino Gaínza, along with all the royal governors of the five provinces, were retained in office as executive powers pending a full transition to local rule. That date is still marked as independence day by most Central American nations.

Independence proved short-lived, as local law and order broke down. Driven by regional rivalries, many localities refused to accept the newly formed federal powers in Guatemala—San Salvador, Comayagua, León, and Cartago were in open revolt. On 5 January 1822, the Consultive Junta in Guatemala City voted for annexation.^[3] A few weeks later Brigadier Vicente Filísola, the envoy of Emperor Agustín de Iturbide of the First Mexican Empire, arrived in Guatemala as the new ruler.^[4]

The annexation was controversial, with some seeing the Mexican constitution with its abolition of slavery and establishment of free trade as an improvement over the status quo. Central American liberals in San Salvador objected to annexation and refused to accept Filísola's authority as captain general. The Mexican army was ordered by Emperor Agustín I to quell dissent.

In the case of Costa Rica, the country decided not to join the Mexican Empire as part of the resolutions upon conclusion of the Ochomogo War (5 April 1823), where imperialists lost against Republicans in the first civil war of Costa Rica.

After Iturbide abdicated (19 March 1823), Mexico became a republic (formally proclaimed on 1 November 1823) and offered the previously annexed Central American provinces the right to determine their own destiny. Filísola turned over his power to the hastily formed National Constituent Assembly, which comprised representatives from each of the five provinces. On 1 July 1823, the Congress of Central America declared absolute independence from Spain, Mexico, and any other foreign nation, and established a republican system of government.^{[4][further explanation needed]}

Reconstitution of the federal republic

The liberal-dominated Assembly elected Manuel José Arce as president but he soon turned against his own faction and dissolved the Assembly. San Salvador rose in revolt against federal authority. Honduras and Nicaragua joined the rebellion and Arce was deposed in 1829. The victors led by the Honduran Francisco Morazán took power and Morazán was proclaimed president in 1830. To appease liberal supporters, the capital was relocated from Guatemala City to San Salvador in 1831 but as Morazán's hold on power was waning the opposition regained control in the provinces.^[4]

The Assembly in 1838 adjourned with the declaration that the provinces were free to rule themselves as the Federal Republic dissolved. In 1839 Morazán was exiled as rebels from Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua entered San Salvador, evicting the governing institutions that held the region together.^[4]

Dissolution

The union slid into civil war between 1838 and 1840.^[5] Its disintegration began when Nicaragua separated from the federation on 5 November 1838, followed by Honduras and Costa Rica^[6] (other sources give Nicaragua's secession date as 30 April). Because of the chaotic nature of this period an exact date of disestablishment does not exist, but on 31 May 1838, the Congress met to declare that the provinces were free to create their own independent republics.^[7] In reality, this merely legally acknowledged the process of disintegration that had already begun.^[8] The union effectively ended in 1840, by which time four of its five states had declared independence. The official end came only when El Salvador declared itself an independent republic in February 1841.^[9]

Government

The Federal Congress was the country's legislature.^[10]

The federal republic adopted its constitution [es] on 12 June 1824, but it was not ratified and published until 4 July.^[11]

National symbols

The country's first flag was adopted on 21 August 1823.^[12]

The flag shows a white band between two blue stripes, representing the land between two oceans.^{[citation needed]} The coat of arms shows five mountains (one for each state) between two oceans, surmounted by a Phrygian cap, the emblem of the French Revolution.^{[citation needed]} The flag was introduced to the area by Commodore Louis-Michel Aury and inspired by the Argentine flag.^{[citation needed]}

Later Central American federal unions

Despite the failure of a lasting political union, the sense of shared history and the hope for eventual reunification persist in the nations formerly in the union. Various attempts were made to reunite Central America in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but none succeeded for any length of time:

• The first attempt was in 1844 by former President Francisco Morazán, who became involved in a struggle for control over Costa Rica. After taking control of the capital, Morazán announced he would create a large army to re-create the Federal Republic as the Confederation of Central America and planned to include El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, but popular feeling rapidly turned against him and a sudden revolt resulted in his arrest and execution by firing squad on 15 September of that year.
• A second attempt was made in October 1852 when El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua created a Federation of Central America (Federación de Centro América). The union lasted less than a month.
• In 1856–1857 the region successfully established a military coalition to repel an invasion by the U.S. freebooter William Walker.
• Guatemalan President General Justo Rufino Barrios attempted to reunite the nation by force of arms in the 1880s but he died in battle near the town of Chalchuapa, El Salvador.
• A third union of Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador as the Greater Republic of Central America (República Mayor de Centroamérica) lasted from 1896 to 1898.
• The latest attempt occurred between June 1921 and January 1922, when El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica formed a (second) Federation of Central America. The treaty establishing this federation was signed at San José, Costa Rica, on 19 January 1921. The treaty stipulated for the future creation of one state of all the four signatories, under one constitution. This second federation was nearly moribund from the start, having only a Provisional Federal Council of delegates from each state.
• In 1991 an economic and political organization called the Central American Integration System was formed with all Central American countries as well as the Dominican Republic. In addition to the historic backdrop in Central America, advocates of this latest integration effort regularly cite the European Union as a model to emulate.

See also

• Gran Colombia – another short-lived post-Spanish federal state
• Peru–Bolivian Confederation – another short-lived post-Spanish federal state
• Central American Integration System
• Central America-4 Border Control Agreement
• History of Central America
• Central American reunification

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Meléndez Chaverri, Carlos (2000). José Matías Delgado, Prócer Centroamericano [José Matías Delgado, Central American Hero] (in Spanish). Vol. 8 (2nd ed.). San Salvador, El Salvador: Dirección de Publicaciones e Impresos. ISBN 9789992300572. OCLC 1035898393. Retrieved 28 March 2024.

Further reading

• "Constitución de la República Federal de Centroamérica" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
• Smith, Robert S. (1 November 1963). "Financing the Central American Federation, 1821–1838". Hispanic American Historical Review. 43 (4). Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press: 483–510. doi:10.1215/00182168-43.4.483. JSTOR 2509898. Retrieved 3 August 2022.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Federal Republic of Central America.

• Map of the Federal Republic of Central America
• Maps showing the collapse of the Central American Republic

14°37′N 90°31′W / 14.617°N 90.517°W / 14.617; -90.517

This page was last edited on 15 April 2024, at 08:11