By
Elizabeth H. Elys
A rich and diverse mosaic of ancient cultures is the foundation of
Ecuador’s national identity today.
Archaeological facts have been found in the area
dating back 10.000 BC, and many cultures are thought to have evolved hear
between 500 BC and 500 AD. (Olmec’s, Incas, etc.) The Incas captured Quito in
1492. Until Pizarro, one of the Spanish invaders took over Quito in 1534 and
Ecuador remained under Spanish rule for almost 300 years.
The important concepts of nationalism and freedom
also penetrate Ecuador in the wake of Enlightenment, which started to gain
momentum. All this set the initial stage for Ecuadorian independence. Enlightenment
ideals embodied notions of nationalism and individualism and the concept of
equality and freedom. Message of the Enlightenment in Europe penetrate Quito
cultural isolation and began disseminated throughout the country on the back of
missionaries.
Some of the major ideas that originated the Age of Enlightenment,
also known as the Age of Reason, were confidence in humanity’s intellectual
powers, and the belief that rational and scientific though will lead to an
improved human existence.
One of the men, who helped to lead the movement in
Ecuador, was Eugenio of Santa Cruz
Espejo, who used his influence to take this step for the future of
Hispano-America and whose dreams came true on August 10, 1809.
For Eugenio Espejo intellectual activity developed
into versatile facts: he was mostly known as a writer and doctor of medicine,
also a journalist, educator and political thinker. The whole of his work and
thought is run by an existential frustration be known as “Beautiful Spirit.” As
for his political ideas it is common to say that Mirror was the great
forerunner of the Independence of Ecuador, however, this idea is controversial.
On one side are those who say they caught a glimpse republics self-determined politically
defended equality before the law as the basis of government, professed a rabid
anti-Spanish sentiment and befriended some of the martyrs of the First Cry for
Freedom: Morales, Quiroga, Larrea, Salinas, Juan Pio Montufar, Manuelita
Canizares…
Enlightenment had the influence in the Ecuadorian
political independence process. A fundamental fact in the Mirror thinking is
that manages to himself as a “man of letters”. In Quito 18th century
literature appears to Mirror a new awakening consciousness Quitena, his own
identity. According to Renaissance tradition identified with “being a lover of
Humanity” the literature was to Mirror the way to meet humanity, which was
connected to the enlightened universalism professed. Mirror was to introduce in Ecuador’s so decisive opposition between
“Civilization and Barbarism.” Eugenio Espejo struggles for truth, justice, and
law honesty, etc.
For the centuries before the First Cry of
Independence in 1809, the indigenous nations rose up against Spanish dominance.
From the strongholds in liberated territory deep in the mountains, deep in the
jungles, they fought the foreign occupation of their ancestral lands, Lempira in Honduras, Nicarao in Nicaragua,
Tupac Amaru in Peru. There was one nation the Spaniards could never conquer:
the Mapuche of the Chilean and Argentine Patagonia. And it was the native
peoples who again declared their independence from Spain and their Criollo
agents.
Simon
Bolivar was instrumental in the continent’s revolution against Spanish empire.
After
France invaded Spain in 1808, he became involved in the resistance movement in
played a key role in the Spanish American fight for independence.
Simon Bolivar, Eugenio Espejo, there was a start to
think of homeland Ecuador, Quito and no longer toward Spain. A consciousness
was born what would soon become Ecuadorian nation.
On
the 10 of August 1809 a group of men in Quito, participate in Latin American
First Cry for the Independence of Ecuador. This act was a
Cry for Independence from the rule of the Spanish king and was the first of
many all across the region by those wanting the same independence.
On August 16, 1809 a General Assembly was convened
and the first document for the Independence of Quito was signed. The important
people of Quito organized a group of rebels and decided to not recognize the
Spanish government of that time. These rebels were defeated for months later
with the imprisonment of 70 patriots at the hands of the Spanish military, and
later August 2, 1810 with the massacre of these patriots and more than 300
Quito citizens.
The
city of Quito was given name of Luz de America (Light of America), and served
as inspiration to other nations striving for independence.
Ecuador did not achieve full independence until
1822. Between the time of achieving independence until 1830, the territories of
Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia that were independent joined with the
Gran Colombia. The proposal by Simon Bolivar to create the Gran Colombia failed
and allowed the contraction of a Republican State called Ecuador.
Following the Quito example Caracas launched it Cry
for Independence on April 18, 1810, Buenos Aires on May 25, 1810, Bogota on
July 20, 1810, Mexico on September 16, 1810 and Santiago de Chile on May 18,
1810.
The Latin American continent was on fire and had
been sparked by the people of Quito.
VIVA QUITO…
"Juro por el
Dios de mis padres, juro por mi patria, juro por mi honor, que no daré
tranquilidad a mi alma, ni descanso a mi brazo, hasta no ver rotas las cadenas
que oprimen a mi pueblo por voluntad de los poderosos". – Simón BolÃvar
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