# Junta (Spanish American Independence)

Junta (Spanish pronunciation:) during Spanish American independence was the type of self government as patriotic alternative to the central government of Spain during the first phase of Spanish American wars of independence. The formation of juntas was usually an urban movement. Most juntas were created out of the already-existing ayuntamientos (municipal councils) with the addition of other prominent members of society.

## Overview

Juntas emerged in Spanish America as a result of Spain facing a political crisis due to the kidnapping and abdication of Ferdinand VII and Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion. Spanish Americans reacted in much the same way the Peninsular Spanish did, legitimizing their actions through traditional law, which held that there was a retroversion of the sovereignty to the people in the absence of a legitimate king.
Once Popular sovereignty was adopted in the Spanish Empire there was a conflict between those who wanted unity or independence. The juntas were declared illegal by the governments of Spain. The Spanish government denied them legitimacy and fought to preserve the integrity of the Spanish monarchy. The juntas did not accept the Spanish regency, which was under siege in the city of Cadiz. They also rejected the Spanish Constitution of 1812.
The juntas in the Americas did not accept the governments of the Europeans, neither the government set up for Spain by the French nor the various Spanish governments set up in response to the French invasion. The majority of Spanish Americans continued to support the idea of maintaining several independent monarchies under Ferdinand VII, but did not support retaining absolutism. In the end, the triumph of the republican ideas such as Bolivar's were imposed over Constitutional monarchy as San Martin's proposed.

## Chronology

| Year | Date | Name | Place | Current country | Heads of Junta |
| 1808 | August 5 | Junta 1808 México | Viceroyalty of Nueva Spain | Mexico | Francisco Primo de Verdad Melchor de Talamantes José de Iturrigaray |
| 1808 | September 21 | Junta de Montevideo | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Uruguay | Francisco Javier de Elío |
| 1809 | May 25 | Junta of Chuquisaca | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Bolivia | Bernardo de Monteagudo Jaime de Zudáñez |
| 1809 | July 16 | Junta Tuitiva (created by La Paz revolution) | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Bolivia | Pedro Murillo |
| 1809 | August 10 | Junta of Quito | Viceroyalty of New Granada | Ecuador | Juan Pío Montúfar |
| 1810 | April 19 | Junta Suprema de Caracas | Captaincy General of Venezuela | Venezuela | José de las Llamozas Martín Tovar Ponte |
| 1810 | May 22 | Junta de Cartagena | Viceroyalty of New Granada | Colombia | José María García de Toledo |
| 1810 | May 25 | Primera Junta de Buenos Aires | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Argentina | Cornelio Saavedra Mariano Moreno/Juan José Paso Juan José Castelli/Miguel de Azcuénaga/Manuel Belgrano/Manuel Alberti/Domingo Matheu/Juan Larrea |
| 1810 | July 3 | Junta extraordinaria de Santiago de Cali | Viceroyalty of New Granada | Colombia | Joaquín de Caycedo y Cuero |
| 1810 | July 20 | Junta de Santa Fe | Viceroyalty of New Granada | Colombia | Francisco José de Caldas Camilo Torres |
| 1810 | September 16 | (created after the Grito de Dolores) | Viceroyalty of New Spain | Mexico | Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla |
| 1810 | September 18 | Government Junta of Chile (1810) | Captaincy General of Chile | Chile | Juan Martínez de Rozas Mateo de Toro y Zambrano |
| 1811 | February 27 | (created after the Cry of Asencio) | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Uruguay | Pedro José Viera Venancio Benavides |
| 1811 | May 15 | Junta del Paraguay | Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata | Paraguay | Pedro Caballero Fulgencio Yegros Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia |
| 1811 | November 5 | Primera Junta de San Salvador, in 1811 Independence Movement | Captaincy General of Guatemala | El Salvador | José Matías Delgado Manuel José Arce Pedro Pablo Castillo Juan Manuel Rodríguez |
| 1814 | August 3 | Junta de Gobierno del Cuzco | Viceroyalty of Peru | Peru | Mateo Pumacahua Domingo Luis Astete Tomás Moscoso Hermanos Angulo |