First Chilean National Congress
The First Chilean National Congress was the first legislative body established in Chile. It was inaugurated on July 4, 1811, being one of the oldest congresses in Latin America. It was convened to decide the best kind of government for the Kingdom of Chile during the captivity of King Ferdinand VII in the hands of Napoleon. It was in session from July 4 until December 2, when it was dissolved by a coup d'état by General José Miguel Carrera.
With an initial moderate tendency, through the coup d'état of September 4, hegemony was handed over to the so-called radical or patriotic sector, who imposed during the course of the Congress various reforms, such as the law of freedom of womb, or prepared the bases for future transformations, such as the law of cemeteries or the reform of education, which also included the beginning of a process of drafting a constitution, which, due to the closure of the Congress, did not come to fruition.
Call for the first Congress
The gestation of this first congress came directly from the First Government Board, installed on September 18, 1810, since the junta had been elected only by the inhabitants of Santiago, being therefore the expression of a single city, and therefore only took the title of provisional government, only "while the deputies of all the provinces of Chile were summoned and arrived, to organize the one that was to govern from now on".Before the junta sent instructions, some provincial councils had already held elections. In Petorca the subdelegate Manuel de la Vega had himself elected deputy by the council he presided over, and in Concepción Andrés del Alcázar, Count de la Marquina, was elected through an open council. These elections were to be invalidated, at the request of the Santiago council, although they were later accepted as long as they were in accordance with the rules established in the text of the convocation.
Many of the patriots who were already thinking of full independence had their doubts about the immediate results of the action of the congress, based on the conditions of Chile's political development. Bernardo O'Higgins wrote:
By order of the junta, the council of Santiago proposed on October 13 certain rules for the election, about the electors and possible candidates, although the junta did not decide anything for many days.
The junta discussed at length the call for the congress, and there was a lot of resistance to it. Again the council insisted on December 14 with an energetic proclamation by José Miguel Infante for a convocation. Finally, on December 15, mainly thanks to the impulse of Juan Martínez de Rozas, the main member of the junta, the approval of the , which was quite inspired by the Spanish call to the Cortes of Cadiz, was achieved, distributing it to the other provinces of the kingdom.
The main mandates of the congress were:
To agree on the system that best suits their regime and security and prosperity during the absence of the King. They must discuss, examine and resolve calmly and peaceably, what kind of Government is suitable for the country in the present circumstances; they must dictate rules to the different authorities, determine their duration and powers; they must establish the means of preserving internal and external security and of promoting the means of giving occupation to the numerous class of the people that will make them virtuous, multiply them and retain them in the quietude and tranquility on which that of the State so much depends: and finally, they must deal with the general happiness of a people, who place in their hands the fate of their posterity.Forty-two deputies were to be elected, and for each of the proprietary deputies there was to be a substitute, and the election was to be carried out by means of secret ballots. Deputies could be elected:
These could not be elected:
Priests, subdelegates, and veteran officers, whose jobs require precise residence... those who have offered and admitted bribery so that the election falls on a certain person, and in the act of the election may be accused: the college of electors will determine the cause in a public and verbal trial, and the same penalty will be incurred by the slanderers.The main institution in charge of the election in each locality was the council, which was responsible for electing those who voted, reviewing the electoral process and verifying the results. According to the text of the convocation they had the right to elect:
All individuals who by their fortune, employment, talents, or quality enjoy some consideration in the districts in which they reside, being neighbors, and over twenty-five years of age, as well as secular ecclesiastics, priests, subdelegates and military personnel", excluding "foreigners, bankrupts, those who are not neighbors, those prosecuted for crimes, those who have suffered infamous punishment, and debtors to the Royal Treasury."Some neighbors, mainly José Miguel Infante, believed that all Chileans should vote by universal suffrage, since everyone had the imprescriptible right to name their deputies, although this opinion did not prosper.
Although at first there were no major objections to the text sent by the junta, the council complained because it considered that the representation of the capital, 6 deputies, did not match either the population or the importance of the city, so they proposed doubling their number. The council approved the proposal.
Election
There was some skepticism about the process, because Chile was a country always respectful of the laws coming from the metropolis, which was dictated by a monarch of divine right, so it was not understood how a group of men born in Chile could have a legislative authority and give the country a constitution. In an attempt to promote the election, the council tried to influence the minds of the neighbors through the clergy, relying on the new internal bishop of Santiago, Domingo Errázuriz, who had earlier pronounced himself in favor of the revolution. The bishopric issued a document on March 2 in favor of the elections, but the majority of the clergy gave it scant compliance, since most had no interest in the course of the revolution, and only a minority cooperated with the council's wishes.Elections began to be held in the provinces, where different parties began to be distinguished, which were divided by the impulse or not they gave to the revolution. On one side were the radicals or exalted, led by Juan Martínez de Rozas, the moderates, who had the council of Santiago as their main source of political expression, with Agustín Eyzaguirre as one of their main exponents, although they did not have any leader to lead them, and a realist sector, whose stronghold was the Royal Audience.
Elections in the provinces were not lacking in electoral influences. Families who were on one side or the other sent letters recommending certain candidates, and the influence of government authorities was felt, as occurred in the election of Concepción.
The election was carried out in the following manner: A solemn mass was held in the parish church, after which the electors gathered in the council hall, depositing the votes on written ballots, and then proceeding to the scrutiny, generally carried out with little difficulty, since there was usually a low number of electors. After the election they again went to the parish church, where a Te Deum was sung.
For Santiago the elections had been set for April 1. The most exalted group feared that those opposed to the revolution would prevent them from having representatives in the congress, so Bernardo de Vera y Pintado and Carlos Correa asked the junta to exclude 34 neighbors who were recognized enemies of the revolution, and the council accepted this proposal and even excluded some more.
Figueroa mutiny
The elections in Santiago were set for April 1. In order to keep order, the chief of the plaza commander Juan de Dios Vial ordered lieutenant colonel Juan Miguel Benavente to take 50 men from the San Pablo barracks and to station himself in the small square of the consulate, where the event would take place. After the first hours of the morning, Benavente began to notice signs of insurrection, the soldiers asked for whom they were going to fight, and only when he told them that it was to defend the cause of King Ferdinand VII did the soldiers set off. The soldiers asked that the infantry company Concepción, which was in Santiago under the orders of Tomás de Figueroa, be sent to Santiago. Benavente tried to repress one of the revolted soldiers, but Corporal Eduardo Molina came out in defense of him, who said that they did not recognize any other superior than Figueroa. Corporal Molina proclaimed to the insurrectionists the need to overthrow the junta's government and reinstate the former governor García Carrasco.Soon Captain Figueroa appeared and took the lead of the mutiny. He headed his group towards the consulate square, believing to find the members of the junta and the council, but he found it deserted. Disconcerted, they went to the main square, and Figueroa entered the room of the Royal Audience. This court answered him that it was not in disposition to give him any orders without consulting the Board, which they were going to do immediately, and that therefore he should wait for the result and answer, restraining himself and his troops to avoid bloodshed.
The members of the junta were still at home when they heard rumors of the insurrection. Immediately the members Rozas, Carrera and Rosales, who were in charge of the junta after the death of Mateo de Toro y Zambrano, met in the house of Fernando Márquez de la Plata. They ordered commander Vial to go to the place where the mutineers were with the grenadier battalion and two pieces of artillery. Orders and counter-orders that were given created a great confusion in the atmosphere, being generally considered that it was the energy and direction imposed by Rozas what saved the situation. Commander Vial managed to form a column of 500 men, which was joined by a picket of artillerymen under the command of Luis Carrera and Bernardo Montuel. The troops loyal to the government set out, while Figueroa's troops remained in the eastern part of the plaza.
After some unsuccessful attempts at dialogue, a rifle shot was heard, which was answered by Vial's men with shrapnel from one of the cannons. This caused enormous confusion, which led to the dismemberment of the rebel troops, leaving 20 wounded and 10 dead, among them Corporal Molina, the instigator of the revolt. Figueroa escaped shouting, "I am lost, I have been tricked".
Martínez de Rozas went to the San Pablo barracks, where it was said that the fight could be vindicated, but the infantrymen of Concepción, lacking command, abandoned the barracks and dispersed towards the road to Valparaíso. Subsequently, Rozas confronted the members of the audience, accusing them of being instigators. He was also in charge of the capture of Figueroa, who had taken refuge in the convent of Santo Domingo.
A trial was held against Figueroa, from which a confession could be extracted, and to this, added to the declarations of ten witnesses, the junta proceeded to pronounce sentence. The vocals Rozas and Rosales demanded the death penalty, while Carrera and Reina opted for perpetual banishment. Márquez de la Plata, as accidental president of the junta, broke the tie by pronouncing death. He declared himself a traitor to his country and to the government and that, four hours after the notification, he would be shot in the dungeon where he was being held. After the sentence was carried out, his body was exposed under the portico of the jail.
As a result of the mutiny, the junta toughened its measures against the opposition, dissolving the Royal Court and expelling many residents of the kingdom, as happened with the ex-governor García Carrasco.