Junta (Spanish American Independence) facts for kids
A Junta (pronounced HOON-tah) was a special type of self-government that formed in Spanish America during the time of the Spanish American wars of independence. These juntas were created as a patriotic way to govern themselves, instead of being ruled directly by the central government in Spain.
Juntas usually started in cities. They often grew out of existing city councils, called ayuntamientos, with other important people from the community joining in.
Why Juntas Formed
Juntas appeared in Spanish America because Spain was in a big political crisis. The king, Ferdinand VII, was kidnapped by Napoleon Bonaparte and forced to give up his throne. Napoleon then invaded Spain.
People in Spanish America reacted much like the Spanish people in Europe. They used an old law that said if there was no rightful king, power would go back to the people. This idea is called the retroversion of the sovereignty to the people.
Once this idea of power belonging to the people was accepted across the Spanish Empire, a conflict began. Some people wanted to stay united with Spain, while others wanted full independence.
The Spanish government declared these new juntas illegal. They completely denied that the juntas had any right to exist. Spain fought to keep its monarchy whole.
The juntas in the Americas did not accept the European governments. They didn't accept the government Napoleon set up in Spain. They also didn't accept the Spanish governments that formed to fight Napoleon, like the one in Cadiz. They even rejected the Spanish Constitution of 1812.
Most Spanish Americans still wanted to keep Ferdinand VII as their king, but they didn't want him to rule as an absolute monarch (a king with total power). In the end, ideas for a republic (like those from Simón Bolívar) became more popular than ideas for a Constitutional monarchy (like those from José de San Martín).
Timeline of Important Juntas
| Year | Date | Name | Place | Current Country | Heads of Junta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1808 | August 5 | Junta 1808 México | Viceroyalty of Nueva Spain | México |
Francisco Primo de Verdad Melchor de Talamantes José de Iturrigaray |
| 1808 | September 21 | Junta de Montevideo | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Uruguay |
Francisco Javier de Elío |
| 1809 | May 25 | Junta of Chuquisaca | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Bolivia |
Bernardo de Monteagudo Jaime de Zudáñez |
| 1809 | July 16 | Junta Tuitiva (created by La Paz revolution) | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Bolivia |
Pedro Murillo |
| 1809 | August 10 | Junta of Quito | Viceroyalty of New Granada | Ecuador |
Juan Pío Montúfar |
| 1810 | April 19 | Junta Suprema de Caracas | Captaincy General of Venezuela | Venezuela |
José de las Llamozas Martín Tovar Ponte |
| 1810 | May 22 | Junta de Cartagena | Viceroyalty of New Granada | Colombia |
José María García de Toledo |
| 1810 | May 25 | Primera Junta de Buenos Aires | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Argentina |
Cornelio Saavedra Mariano Moreno/Juan José Paso Juan José Castelli/Miguel de Azcuénaga/Manuel Belgrano/Manuel Alberti/Domingo Matheu/Juan Larrea |
| 1810 | July 3 | Junta extraordinaria de Santiago de Cali | Viceroyalty of New Granada | Colombia |
Joaquín de Caycedo y Cuero |
| 1810 | July 20 | Junta de Santa Fe | Viceroyalty of New Granada | Colombia |
Francisco José de Caldas Camilo Torres |
| 1810 | September 16 | (created after the Grito de Dolores) | Viceroyalty of New Spain | México |
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla |
| 1810 | September 18 | Government Junta of Chile (1810) | Captaincy General of Chile | Chile |
Juan Martínez de Rozas Mateo de Toro y Zambrano |
| 1811 | February 27 | (created after the Cry of Asencio) | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Uruguay |
Pedro José Viera Venancio Benavides |
| 1811 | May 15 | Junta del Paraguay | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Paraguay |
Pedro Caballero Fulgencio Yegros Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia |
| 1811 | November 5 | Primera Junta de San Salvador, in 1811 Independence Movement | Captaincy General of Guatemala | El Salvador |
José Matías Delgado Manuel José Arce Pedro Pablo Castillo Juan Manuel Rodríguez |
| 1814 | August 3 | Junta de Gobierno del Cuzco | Viceroyalty of Perú | Perú |
Mateo Pumacahua Domingo Luis Astete Tomás Moscoso Hermanos Angulo |
See also
- Junta (Peninsular War)
- Retroversion of the sovereignty to the people
- Spanish colonization of the Americas
