the guarantee of the peace of the republic, and is the most brilliant result of the victory of Ayacucho. The united army feels the liveliest satisfaction in presenting to your excellency all the territory of Peru, which has submitted to your authority, before five months campaign. All the royal army, all the provinces it occupied in this republic, all its places, artillery, magazines, and fifteen Spanish generals, are the trophies which the united army offers your excellency, as a token worthy the illustrious saviour of Peru; who, from Junin, pointed out to the army the field of Ayacucho as the spot to cover themselves with glory.

God preserve your excellency.

(Signed) ANTONIO JOSÉ DE SUCRE

P. S. I had forgotten to inform your excellency of a remarkable circumstance. According to the rolls taken from the enemy, it appears they had 9,310 men on the field of battle, while the liberating army had only 5,780.

(Signed) SUCRE

B. PROCLAMATION TO THE SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY WHO CONQUERED AT AYACUCHO 1

Soldiers! You have given liberty to South America, and a quarter of the world is the monument of your glory Where have you not conquered?

South America is covered with trophies of your valour; but Ayacucho, like Chimborazo, rears her exalted head above them all.

Soldiers! - Colombia owes to you the glory with which you again cover her - Peru, life, liberty and peace. La Plata and Chili also are your debtors for immense benefits. The good cause the cause of the rights of man has conquered by your arms in her terrible struggle with the oppressor. Contemplate, then, the blessings you have conferred upon humanity by your heroic sacrifices.

Soldiers! Receive the limitless gratitude which I bestow upon you in the name of Peru. I pledge myself that you shall be recompensed as you deserve, before you return to your beautiful country. But no you never can be worthily rewarded

transcend all price.

Your services

1 This proclamation was issued from Headquarters in Lima on December 25, 1824. Niles's Weekly Register, XXVIII, 130–131.

Soldiers of Peru! - Forever will your country rank you among the

C. PROCLAMATION TO THE PERUVIANS ON THE VICTORY AT AYACUCHO 1

Peruvians! The liberating army, commanded by the intrepid and skillful general Sucre, has at once put an end to the war of Peru, and of the American continent, by one of the most glorious victories ever obtained by the arms of the new world. Yes! The army has fulfilled the promise I made you on its name to accomplish the liberty of Peru in the course of this year.

Peruvians! The time has arrived when I must also fulfil the promise I made to you to divest myself of the dictatorship on the day victory would seal your destiny. The congress of Peru will be assembled on the tenth of February, (proximo), being the anniversary of the decree by which was confided to me this supreme authority, and which I will then return to the legislative body which honored me with that confidence. These are not empty words.

Peruvians! Peru has suffered great military disasters. The troops who guarded it occupied the free provinces of the north and carried war against the congress; - The navy obeyed no longer the commands of the government; the ex-president, Riva Aguero, by turns a usurper, rebel and traitor, fought against his country and her allies: The auxiliaries of Chili, by their lamentable defection, deprived us of the assistance of their troops; and those of Buenos Ayres, having revolted in Callao against their chiefs, delivered that place to the enemy; The president, Torre Tagle, making an appeal to the Spaniards to occupy this capital, achieved the destruction of Peru.

Discord, misery, discontent and personal interest had spread their bane through every part of the country. Peru seemed to exist no more all was dissolved! Under these awful circumstances, the congress appointed me a dictator to save the relics of their last hopes.

The loyalty, the constancy, and the valor of the army of Colombia,

1 This proclamation was printed in the Extraordinary Gazette of the Government of Lima, Wednesday, December 22, 1824. Niles's Weekly Register, XXVIII, 6–7.

have performed this wonderful undertaking. The Peruvians, when a civil war was raging, acknowledged the legitimate government, and have rendered immense services to the country, while the troops who protected them, have covered themselves with glory on the fields of Junin and Ayacucho. Factions have disappeared from the soil of Peru. This capital has recovered forever its sweet liberty. Callao is invested, and must be given up by capitulation.

Peruvians! Peace has succeeded to war; union to discord; order to anarchy; and happiness to misfortune! But never forget, I beseech you, that, for these blessings, you are indebted to the illustrious victors of Ayacucho.

Peruvians! The day on which your congress will meet will be a day of glory! the day that will consummate the most fervent wishes of my ambition Do not ask more!

(Signed) BOLÍVAR

PART III. THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATION STATES IN HISPANIC AMERICA

THE REPUBLIC OF ARGENTINA

74. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE PROVINCES OF RIO DE LA PLATA

[Tucumán, July 9, 1816. British and Foreign State Papers, V, 804. Published by the British Foreign Office.]

Among the measures passed by the congress of Rio de la Plata at its meeting in Tucumán was the brief declaration of independence given below. On October 25, 1816, the Manifesto Addressed to all the Nations was proclaimed by the General Constituent Congress of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata. It is given in full in the British and Foreign State Papers, VI, 638649. This manifesto presented in great detail the causes which led to the act of declaring the provinces independent.

We, the Representatives of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, in General Congress assembled, invoking the Supreme Being, who presides over the Universe, and calling on Heaven, Earth, and Mankind to witness the justice of our Cause; in the Name and in virtue of the authority of the People whom we represent

Solemnly declare, that it is the unanimous will of the People of these Provinces to break asunder all the Bonds which unite them with the Kings of Spain; to reinstate themselves in the enjoyment of the rights of which they have been deprived, and to raise themselves to the highest rank of a free and independent Nation, capable of giving themselves such Government as justice and imperious circumstances may require. Authorized by the United Provinces in general, and by each

one of them in particular, to declare and lay them under the obligation to support this Independence, we hereby pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honour.

Mindful of the respect due to those Nations which take an interest in our fate, and conscious of the necessity of declaring the weighty reasons which impelled this act, we resolve that a Manifesto, setting them forth, be immediately made public.

Given and signed in the Hall of our Sittings, sealed with the Seal of the Congress, and countersigned by our Secretaries, in the City of Tucuman, this 9th day of July, 1816.

F. N. DE LAPRIDA, President

J. M. SERRANO, Secretary
J. F. PASSO, Secretary

75. PAPERS RELATIVE TO A SECRET PROJECT FOR ERECTING THE PROVINCES OF SOUTH AMERICA INTO A KINGDOM, AND

PLACING THE PRINCE OF LUCCA ON THE THRONE

[1819. British and Foreign State Papers, VI, 1085–1100.]

The effort to establish a monarchy in the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata brought forth several different plans. As early as 1813 Manuel Belgrano and Bernardino Rivadavia had been sent to Spain to induce the Spanish government to agree to the independence of the Provinces with a member of the royal family of Spain as ruler. There were several other plans also evolved. One was the proposal by Belgrano to create an empire of South America with a descendant of the Incas as emperor; 1 another would place the new state under the protectorate of Great Britain; still another proposed the establishment of an independent kingdom with a member of the Braganza royal family as ruler. The secret proposal of the French government and the manner in which it was received are explained in the following excerpts.

1

1 A similar plan had been proposed earlier by Francisco de Miranda. Consult William Spence Robertson, "Francisco de Miranda and the Revolutionizing of South America," in Report of the American Historical Association, 1907, I, 272–276, 417-421.