General Manuel José Arce y Fagoaga (January 1, 1787,
San SalvadorSan Salvador is the capital and largest city of the nation of El Salvador. The second most populous city in Central America, after Guatemala City, the metro covers an area of 568 km² and is home to nearly 1.6 million people...
—December 14, 1847, San Salvador) was a decorated
GeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
and president of the
Federal Republic of Central AmericaThe Federal Republic of Central America, after known as the United Provinces of Central America in its first year of creation, was a short-lived sovereign state in Central America, which consisted of the territories of the former Captaincy General of Guatemala. A republican democracy, it existed...
from 1825 to 1829.
Manuel José Arce was the son of Spaniard Bernardo José de Arce and Antonia Fagoaga. He was born in what is now
El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
. In 1801 he was sent to
GuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its size is just under 110,000 km² with an estimated population...
to continue his education. There he graduated in
philosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
from the Colegio de San Francisco Borja.
General Manuel José Arce y Fagoaga (January 1, 1787,
San SalvadorSan Salvador is the capital and largest city of the nation of El Salvador. The second most populous city in Central America, after Guatemala City, the metro covers an area of 568 km² and is home to nearly 1.6 million people...
—December 14, 1847, San Salvador) was a decorated
GeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
and president of the
Federal Republic of Central AmericaThe Federal Republic of Central America, after known as the United Provinces of Central America in its first year of creation, was a short-lived sovereign state in Central America, which consisted of the territories of the former Captaincy General of Guatemala. A republican democracy, it existed...
from 1825 to 1829.
Background
Manuel José Arce was the son of Spaniard Bernardo José de Arce and Antonia Fagoaga. He was born in what is now
El SalvadorEl Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. It borders the Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and Honduras. It lies on the Gulf of Fonseca, as does Nicaragua further south. It has a population of approximately 5.7 million people as of 2009 on...
. In 1801 he was sent to
GuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its size is just under 110,000 km² with an estimated population...
to continue his education. There he graduated in
philosophyPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
from the Colegio de San Francisco Borja. He began the study of medicine at the Universidad de San Carlos de Borromeo, but it was interrupted because of his father's sickness. In December 1808, he married Felipa de Aranzamendi y Aguiar in San Salvador.
Independence movement
Arce joined the movement for independence from Spain, joining in the first
Cry for Independence on November 5, 1811 in San Salvador. It was led by his uncle,
Jose Matias DelgadoJosé Matías Delgado y León was a Salvadoran priest and doctor known as El Padre de la Patria Salvadoreña...
, the vicar of San Salvador. The rebels held the government for nearly a month before royal authority was restored from Guatemala. Arce was also involved in the second uprising that began January 22, 1814. This cost him four years in prison.
He strongly opposed the
Mexican EmpireThe First Mexican Empire was the official name of independent Mexico under a monarchical regime from 1821 to 1823. The territory of the Mexican Empire included the continental intendencies and provinces of New Spain proper and those of the former Captaincy General of Guatemala...
of
Agustín de IturbideAgustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Aramburu was a Mexican Army General who built a successful political and military coalition that was able to march into Mexico City on 27 September 1821; decisively ending the Mexican War of Independence...
. In April 1822 Manuel Arzú, in command of Guatemalan troops supporting
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, occupied the cities of
Santa Ana-People:*Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary*Santa Anna , Native American tribal leader*Antonio López de Santa Anna , Mexican general and President-North America:*Santa Ana, California, United States...
, El Salvador, and Sonsonate. On June 3, 1822, Arzú entered San Salvador, reaching the Plaza Mayor. Nine hours of fighting resulted in many casualties and burned houses. Colonel Arce was one of the commanders of the Salvadoran defenders.
Arce was also a member of the resistance towards the movement that was requesting annexation to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The government of El Salvador had requested annexation to the United States on December 2, 1822.
In October 1823 he left the United States to return to El Salvador. He stopped in Mexico. There he tried to raise a force to liberate
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
from Spanish rule but it failed.
As president
Also in October 1823 he was elected a member of the executive
triumvirateA triumvirate is a political regime dominated by three powerful individuals, each a triumvir . The arrangement can be formal or informal, and though the three are usually equal on paper, in reality this is rarely the case...
of
Central AmericaThe Federal Republic of Central America, after known as the United Provinces of Central America in its first year of creation, was a short-lived sovereign state in Central America, which consisted of the territories of the former Captaincy General of Guatemala. A republican democracy, it existed...
. He accepted this post on March 15, 1824 on his return to the country, serving until October 20, 1824. During this time the government succeeded in pacifying
NicaraguaNicaragua officially the Republic of Nicaragua , is a representative democratic republic. It is the largest country in Central America with an area of 130,373 km
2. The country is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west of...
, with a minimum of violence.
Presidential elections were held in 1825, and
José Cecilio del ValleJosé Cecilio del Valle was a leader of Central American independence and the first president of United Provinces of Central America....
won the most votes. The Liberals, however, controlled the federal Congress, and they decided that Valle had not won an absolute majority. They chose Arce as president. He served from April 29, 1825 to April 13, 1829.
He soon lost the support of the Liberals in Congress. After 1826 neither house of the federal Congress met. Arce obtained some support from the clergy and the Conservative Party, but there were difficulties with the State of Guatemala. He deposed the Guatemalan state governor, Juan Barrundia, a Liberal, and replaced him. The Salvadoran state government was angry and rebelled, and a civil war started that lasted from 1826 to 1829.
Later life
In 1832 he was in
SoconuscoSoconusco is a region of the Mexican state of Chiapas, located in the extreme south of the state and separated from Guatemala by the Suchiate River. It is a region of rich lowlands and foothills. The economic center is Tapachula. Soconusco consists of 16 municipalities.The name comes from the...
in Mexico, where he organized a military expedition against the federal government of
Francisco MorazánGeneral José Francisco Morazán Quezada was a Central American statesman, lawyer, orator, and general born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in 1792; he was executed as a traitor in San Jose, Costa Rica, 15 September, 1842...
. Arce was defeated on February 24, 1832.
He finally returned to El Salvador in 1842, but soon he fled to
HondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
and Guatemala. In April and May 1844 he directed some armed attempts to overthrow General
Francisco MalespínGeneral Francisco Malespín Herrera was the president of El Salvador from 7 February 1844 to 15 February 1845.-References:...
in El Salvador. He returned again to the country in the middle of 1845. He left politics for a more private life in 1846, working on his book
Brief Indications for the Reorganization of Central America.
Arce died in poverty in San Salvador on December 14 1847. His remains were interred at La Merced Church in San Salvador. On November 28, 1947 the Legislature elevated the town of El Chilamatal to a city, renaming it in the process city of
Ciudad ArceCiudad Arce is a municipality in the La Libertad department of El Salvador. It is located to the north west of the capital San Salvador. It is named after Manuel José Arce....
.
External links
Short biography Brief biography