The Intendancy of San Salvador () was an administrative division of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, itself an administrative division of the Viceroyalty of New Spain which was a part of the Spanish Empire.
The intendancy was formed in 1785 as a part of the Bourbon Reforms and was formed along with the intendancies of Ciudad Real, Comayagua, and León. It was dissolved in 1821 following the signing of the Act of Independence of Central America on 15 September of that year that established the United Provinces of Central America, which San Salvador joined as a province.
History
Establishment Prior to 1785, the region of modern-day El Salvador was governed by the Greater Mayorship of San Salvador, a remnant of Habsburg rule in the area. During the Bourbon Reforms of the late 1700s, reformists sought to reorganize the relationship between the Spanish Crown and the colonies that made up the Spanish Empire by further centralizing governance of the colonies and taking away autonomy from wealthy elites, but the attempts at such reforms caused resistance among Creoles that began gaining influence in Spanish governance. As a part of the reform, the Intendancy of San Salvador was created, as were the intendancies of Ciudad Real, Comayagua, and León, which took away significant amounts of power and influence of the Captaincy General of Guatemala in the areas affected.
Late 18th century (1785–1800)
The Intendancy of San Salvador was created by royal decree issued by the monarch Charles III of Spain on September 17, 1785, as part of the Bourbon Reforms, which sought to improve Spanish administration over the colonies through the centralization of administrative functions in the office of intendant and through economic and social reforms implemented by the Bourbon dynasty upon its accession to the Spanish throne with Philip V.
To exercise the office of first intendant, the Royal Audiencia of Guatemala selected the licentiate José Ortiz de la Peña, who had previously served as an oidor (a judicial official) of the Royal Audiencia of Guatemala; the reason for his selection was that, as an oidor, he had studied the problems of tax collection, labor, and the cultivation of indigo (which was the principal product produced in the territory of the intendancy and the main export product of the Captaincy General of Guatemala) and was therefore considered capable of stimulating indigo cultivation while ensuring that landowners had labor and paid taxes. Ortiz held the office as governor-intendant (which implied military command) and was responsible for organizing the territory.
In 1789, Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet was appointed governor-intendant. He worked to stabilize the territory, pursued smuggling along the coasts, fought piracy (fortifying ports and strategic locations), attempted to reorganize the militias, freed agriculture from judicial obstacles, introduced silkworm cultivation, requested the removal of the tobacco monopoly, reorganized the indigo growers' board as a mortgage bank, established a vaccination board, set population policies, protected consumers, regulated weights and measures used by vendors, attempted to regulate the sale of crown lands, established primary and artisan schools, and founded the town of Dulce Nombre de María.
In 1791, Carondelet was replaced by José Antonio María de Aguilar. He was the first legal advisor appointed in this intendancy and the first to exercise the office as corregidor-intendant; the change in title was due to the fact that the office did not include military command. He held the position until 1793.
In 1794, the ship El Activo, commanded by Lieutenant Salvador Meléndez y Bruna (a member of the nautical and cartographic expedition of Alejandro Malaspina), arrived in the Gulf of Fonseca and explored and mapped the Salvadoran coast; in his diary, he noted that cannonballs fired by the galleons of the South Sea Armada in 1688 were embedded in the rocks at the southwestern end of Meanguera.
In 1793, Ignacio Santiago Ulloa was appointed corregidor-intendant, serving until his death on January 1, 1798. After Ulloa's death, the intendancy was governed by provisional intendants, which allowed criollos to hold different offices; the first of these provisional intendants was José Antonio María de Aguilar, who held the office for a second time until his death on September 15, 1799, and was succeeded by Bernardo José de Arce (who was also the father of Manuel José Arce (first president of Central America) and himself a figure in the Central American independence movement through his participation in later independence movements in San Salvador), who served until 1800.
1800–1821 In 1798, the king had appointed Luis de Arguedas as intendant, but he was unable to take office due to health problems; thus in 1800 the Guatemalan Royal Audiencia appointed the treasurer Luis Martínez Navarrete as interim intendant, and Antonio Isidro Palomo as legal advisor. In 1801 Navarrete left office for health reasons, and the San Salvador city council protested so that the first-vote alcalde ordinario would serve as interim intendant (and not the legal advisor); this was done, with Ventura Calera serving in 1801, followed in subsequent years by José Rosi and Buenaventura de Viteri. Antonio Isidro Palomo exercised the office in the period between the end of one municipal term and the assumption of the next. In 1804 the Guatemalan Royal Audiencia appointed Francisco Vallejo as interim intendant.
In 1804, Antonio Gutiérrez y Ulloa assumed the office of intendant (who would be the first officially appointed by the king since 1798); he wrote the book Estado general de la Provincia de San Salvador, in which he described the condition of the populations that formed part of the intendancy, presenting the information in two parts, the first published in 1807 and the second in 1811.
French occupation of Spain, independence movements, and the Constitution of Cádiz
In 1808, Spain was invaded by the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the royal family was imprisoned; shortly thereafter, the Supreme Central Junta was formed to fight the French. This news reached the intendancy in October of that year, and the different authorities swore loyalty to the new government; likewise, voluntary donations were offered to finance the war against the French.
Election of member to the Supreme Central Junta and deputy to the Cortes On January 22, 1809, the Supreme Central Junta called on the municipal councils to select by lot a candidate, who would compete (together with those chosen by the other councils) in a draw at the seat of their Royal Audiencia, in order to designate a representative to the junta.
In the San Salvador council (presided over by alcaldes ordinarios Gregorio de Castraciones and Ventura Calera), a selection was made among Vicente de Aycinena (marquis of Aycinena), Colonel José Alejandro de Aycinena, Bernardo José Pavón, and José Matías Delgado, with Colonel José de Aycinena being chosen; in Santa Ana (presided over by alcaldes José Vicente Vides and José Miguel Cárcamo), a selection was made among José Miguel de Cárcamo, José Ciriaco Méndez, and Domingo Figueroa, with Figueroa being chosen; in San Miguel (led by José María de Hoyos and José Manuel Escolán), a draw was held among Miguel Barroeta, Rafael Barroeta, and Manuel Antonio de Molina, with Miguel Barroeta being selected; and in San Vicente (with alcaldes José María Cevallos and Ramón Quintanilla), a selection was made among Manuel Antonio de Molina, the marquis of Aycinena, Joaquín Arechavala, and José Cecilio del Valle, with the latter being chosen.
The final draw among the candidates was held in Guatemala in November, and was won by Alejandro Ramírez (candidate of the councils of Sonsonate, Comayagua, and Granada); however, due to his resignation, another draw was held in March 1810. Likewise, the resignation of Valle required the San Vicente council (led by alcaldes Manuel Jiménez Basurto and Antonio José Cañas) to hold a new draw in January among Manuel Antonio de Molina, José Matías Delgado, and Jacobo de Villa Urrutia, with Molina being selected. Finally, in the definitive draw in Guatemala in March, Bernardo Pavón was selected; however, he was unable to make the journey, as the Supreme Central Junta was replaced by the Council of Regency of Spain and the Indies.
The Council of Regency ordered on February 14, 1810 that the municipal councils (which were provincial capitals) select by lot a deputy to the Cortes of Cádiz, intended to draft the first Spanish constitution. News of the call reached the Kingdom of Guatemala in June of that year; thus, on June 26, with José Matías Delgado, Manuel José Arce, and José Ignacio Ávila as candidates, the San Salvador council chose Ávila as deputy; he traveled to Spain in 1811, took office on July 11 of that year, and was one of the deputies who promulgated the Constitution of Cádiz on March 12, 1812.
Independence movements and the Constitution of Cádiz
On June 9, 1810, the tribunal of fidelity was established in Guatemala City, composed of artillery commander José Méndez de Quiroga, oidor Joaquín Bernardo Campusano, and war auditor Joaquín Ibáñez; it handled all cases of sedition against the Spanish Crown. The tribunal existed until February 20, 1811, and among those sentenced were Justo Zaldívar and Valentín Porras, from San Alejo, who were imprisoned and had their property confiscated in 1810 for promoting independence ideas.
On 5 November 1811, the First independence movement of San Salvador overthrew intendant Antonio Gutiérrez y Ulloa and José Mariano Batres y Asturias replaced him as interim intendant. This in turn led to independence uprisings in other towns. In december, the movement ended with the suppression of the uprisings and the surrender of the rebels in San Salvador after negotiations with the delegation sent from Guatemala to pacify the intendancy, composed of Colonel José Alejandro de Aycinena who took office as new intendant on 3 December 1811, José María Peinado as representative of the Guatemalan council, and the priest Mariano Vidaurre. Aycinena suppressed remnants of the independence movement and left the office of intendant after being elected Councillor of State, resigning theintendancy in 1812 in favor of José María Peinado y Pezonarte, who was appointed in his place. During his administration, on September 16, 1812, a copy of the Constitution of Cádiz arrived in San Salvador, and celebrations for the event were held on October 8. According to that text, all persons born in Spanish dominions (including indigenous peoples and mestizos) were citizens, and all settlements with more than 1,000 inhabitants became municipalities with their own councils. Peinado y Pezonarte governed San Salvador until he was replaced by José Méndez de Quiroga during the 1814 Independence Movement. He was in office until 1817 when he was succeeded by two interim intendants: Juan Miguel de Bustamante, who served from 1817 to 1818, and Simón Gutiérrez, who only served in 1818.
By decree of the Cortes of May 23, the former Captaincy General of Guatemala was divided politically into two provinces (Guatemala and Nicaragua and Costa Rica), with the Intendancy of San Salvador remaining within Guatemala; the intendants would thereafter also hold the title of political chief.
In 1813, the first elections to the Cortes were held, and Manuel José Arce was elected as deputy, but he was unable to travel to Spain due to lack of funds. Elections were also held for the provincial deputation of Guatemala, and José Matías Delgado was elected for San Salvador; the deputation began its sessions on September 2 of that year.