Seeds of liberty
 Quito
has a unique position in the New World, thanks to its relationship
with the struggle for liberation in South America. At the height of
the period of Spanish domination, Quito was the scene of the vigorous, radical popular uprisings provoked by
the introduction of the Sales Tax and Customs duties. That great
educator, Eugenio Espejo, who paved the way for future change, and who
was one of the great intellectual figures of America, worked here;
here was heard the first cry of Independence, on August 10th, 1809,
and here too nearly all those involved in the movement for liberation
were murdered a year later, on August 2nd, 1810. Last of all, on
one of the flanks of Mount Pichincha, in full view of the city, the
Battle of Pichincha took place, and set the seal of independence on
what is now Ecuador. Espejo's house, and that his disciple Mejia, the great
orator of the Council of Cadiz, the house of Manuela Cañizares, where
the conspirators held their final meeting before the revolt of August
10th, the cell where the royalist troops murdered the patriots, the
battlefield of Pichincha all these are historical sites that can be visited
today. At the time of writing, the Temple of the Fatherland is being
built on the site of the battlefield, to serve as monument and tomb of
those who died for the liberty of their country.
SALES TAX REVOLT
In July, 1592, arrived in Quito the royal letters patent, ordering the
payment of a sales tax, of two percent on everything sold by way of
commerce: The members of the Quito city council decided not to accept
this tax, and to protest the measure before the king. There was no
reply. On August 15th, the day on which the new tax was to come into
force, the council members, accompanied by a large crowd of people,
marched on the seat of government.
The popular leader, Moreno Bellido, was later
taken prisoner. The mob released him and paraded in triumph
through the streets of Quito. After weeks of apparent calm, the final
revolt came about on December 4th, when news reached Quito that
armed troops were marching on the city. Quito took up arms and
prepared to resist the invasion.
Moreno Bellino was killed, which. served to
bring matters to a head, and the seat of the Audiencia was
attacked, the President, San Millan, barely escaping with his
life. A representative from the king was then sent to the city,
and was well received. But a few days later the troops arrived
from Lima, under the command of Arana, and inflicted cruel
reprisals on the city. |
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The principal leaders involved in the Sales Tax
Revolt were summarily hung and later beheaded, their heads being
displayed in the main square. The city as a whole protested during
the Sales Tax Revolt, insisted on its rights, and prepared itself
far armed resistance. The protest went so deep that some were
already beginning to talk of breaking away from Spain. The famous
poet Pedro de Oña sang of the revolts of Quito at the end of the
sixteenth century in Cantos XIV to XVI of his epic "Arawa domado".
"THE WAR OF QUITO "
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a strong rivalry
was growing between the "chapetones", as the Spaniards were
called, and the "criollos" the American born children and
grandchildren of Spaniards and at the sometime the spirit of
revolt was growing among those of mixed race. |
