Qualla: History of Ecuador (1830-1860)

History of Ecuador (1830-1860): Introduction

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David C. S., CC0. "America is ungovernable. Those who have served the revolution have plowed the sea." Simón Bolívar spoke these words in 1830, weeks before tuberculosis killed him. His former lieutenant, Antonio José de Sucre, had just been assassinated. Gran Colombia, the continent-spanning republic they had built together, was dissolving. From that wreckage, at the equator where the Andes reach their highest unbroken spine, a new country called Ecuador stepped into existence. For the next thirty years, it would prove Bolívar right in ways he could not have imagined.

Image: David C. S. | CC0

History of Ecuador (1830-1860): The Venezuelan Who Became Ecuador

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David C. S., CC0. The first president of Ecuador was not Ecuadorian. General Juan José Flores was Venezuelan, born in humble circumstances and raised on the battlefields of independence under Bolívar himself. When Gran Colombia collapsed, Flores was already governing Ecuador. He simply kept doing ...

Image: David C. S. | CC0

History of Ecuador (1830-1860): The Charter of Slavery

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Presidencia de la República del Ecuador, Public domain. When opposition forced a power-sharing arrangement in 1834, Flores pulled a maneuver worthy of Machiavelli. He embraced his rival, José Vicente Rocafuerte, sponsoring the Guayaquileno aristocrat for the presidency while retaining command of the army. For four years the two men al...

Image: Presidencia de la República del Ecuador | Public domain

History of Ecuador (1830-1860): The Men Who Won in March

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David C. S., CC0. By 1845 the country had had enough. An insurrection erupted in Guayaquil on March 6, led by General António Elizalde and Lieutenant Colonel Fernándo Ayarza. The rebels seized the artillery barracks. Flores, cornered at his plantation La Elvira near Babahoyo, surrendered and agree...

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History of Ecuador (1830-1860): Urbina and the End of Tribute

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David C. S., CC0. The most consequential marcista turned out to be General José María Urbina, who seized power in 1851 and dominated politics for the next decade. His liberalism was defined by what it dismantled. One week after his coup, Urbina freed Ecuador's enslaved population. Six years later,...

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History of Ecuador (1830-1860): The Terrible Year

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David C. S., CC0. Ecuadorians still call 1859 the Terrible Year. President Robles tried to settle the old English debt, inherited from Gran Colombia, by handing over national territory. Outrage exploded into four simultaneous governments claiming authority over the country: a provisional junta in ...

Image: David C. S. | CC0

History of Ecuador (1830-1860): What 1860 Made

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David C. S., CC0. Between September 22 and 24, 1860, at the Battle of Guayaquil, forces loyal to the Provisional Government, led ironically by the aging Juan José Flores, defeated Franco. García Moreno rode into power and began the conservative era that would shape Ecuador for the rest of the nine...

Image: David C. S. | CC0