La Paz revolution

La Paz revolution

Pedro Murillo, leader of the revolution.
Date	July 16, 1809
Location	La Paz, Upper Peru (modern Bolivia)
Participants	Criollos from La Paz
Outcome	Temporary removal of Spanish authorities and declaration of independence. Spanish rule restored by Goyeneche

The city of La Paz (modern Bolivia, then part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata) experienced a revolution in 1809 that deposed Spanish authorities and declared independence. It is considered one of the early steps of the Spanish American wars of independence, and an antecedent of the independence of Bolivia. However, such revolution was defeated shortly afterwards, and the city returned to Spanish rule.

In 1781, for a total of six months, a group of Aymara people laid siege to La Paz. Under the leadership of Túpac Katari, they destroyed churches and government property. Despite the failure of the Indians’ plight, eventually crushed by the military alliance of Spanish and Creoles, thoughts of independence continued flourishing. Thirty years later Indians laid a two-month siege on La Paz – where and when the legend of the Ekeko is set.

It was not until the autumn of 1807 when Napoleon moved French troops through Spain to invade Portugal and with Spanish authority already fatally weakened, that the prospect of independence re-emerged in the native imagination. The United States’ independence in 1776 was certainly an inspirational example of empowered colonists deposing a despotic foreign rule. With Spanish authority deteriorating, as Charles IV renounced the throne in favor of Ferdinand VII (with the furious Carlists vs. Fernandists turmoil that ensued), and he in favor of Joseph Bonaparte, it was ripe for revolution.

On July 16, in the city of La Paz, as celebrations for the Virgin of Carmen were enfolding, a group of revolutionaries led by Colonel Pedro Domingo Murillo and other individuals besieged the city barracks and forced the governor, Tadeo Davila and the Bishop of La Paz, Remigio de la Santa y Ortega, to resign. It was on July 16, 1809 that mestizo Pedro Domingo Murillo famously said that the Bolivian revolution was igniting a lamp that nobody would be able to extinguish. Many historians agree that this marked the beginning of the Liberation of South America from Spain. Political power went to the local cabildo until a "Junta Tuitiva de los Derechos del Pueblo" ("Junta, keeper of the rights of the people"), headed by Murillo, was formed. On July 27, the Junta proclaimed colonial independence.