page_title: Chilean Declaration of Independence
section_title: Pledge of independence
hierarchical_section_title: Chilean Declaration of Independence / Pledge of independence
caption_attribution_description: Español: «Proclamación y jura de la Independencia de Chile» (Jura de la Independencia de Chile, 12 de febrero 1818)
context_page_description: The Chilean Declaration of Independence is a document declaring the independence of Chile from the Spanish Empire. It was drafted in January 1818 and approved by Supreme Director Bernardo O'Higgins on 12 February 1818 at Talca, despite being dated in Concepción on 1 January 1818. The ceremony of independence was performed on 12 February 1818, the first anniversary of the Battle of Chacabuco.
  The original document, displaying manuscript comments by O'Higgins, was damaged at the Palace of the Real Audiencia of Santiago. In 1832, under President José Joaquín Prieto, a new copy was sent to Peru to be signed by O'Higgins, and later by his former ministers, Miguel Zañartu, Hipólito Villegas and José Ignacio Zenteno, who were still living in Chile. This copy was kept at the Palacio de La Moneda until the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, when it was destroyed during the fighting.
context_section_description: The formal ceremony and pledge of independence was set for the first anniversary of the Battle of Chacabuco: 12 February 1818.
  On 9 February, Luis de la Cruz published the program of the ceremonies and celebration to be held in Santiago. These activities commenced on 11 February in the afternoon with the firing of cannons from Cerro Santa Lucía. At nine o'clock on 12 February, all the authorities and people of the Palacio Directorial de Santiago mounted a stage in front of the Plaza de Armas in Santiago.
  The ceremony was opened by José Gregorio Argomedo, prosecutor of the Chilean Court of Appeals, who gave a speech representing the government, after which the minister Miguel Zañartu read the Act of Independence
  de la Cruz then requested the oath from José Ignacio Cienfuegos, administrator of the Santiago Diocese, who had earlier added the phrasing "Y así juro porque creo en mi conciencia que ésta es la voluntad del Eterno" ("And so I swear on my conscience that this is the will of the Eternal"). Following this, Cruz heard the oath from José de San Martín, the General in Chief of the Chilean Army. Minister Zañartu also took the oath along with several other authorities and public officials. Finally, the Mayor of Santiago, Francisco de Borja Fontecilla, swore the oath to the people.
  On 13 February, a Te Deum was sung at the Santiago Cathedral, and, the next day, the cathedral celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving. After this, Tomás Guido gave a speech congratulating the Chilean people on behalf of the Buenos Aires government. The public celebration of independence in Santiago lasted until 16 February. The declaration itself was widely distributed to the populace. Another document, which covered the motives behind the revolution and declaration of independence, written by Bernardo Vera, was also distributed to the public to a lesser extent.
  In Talca, on 12 February,  O'Higgins presided over the swearing-in of the Independent Southern Army, and the subsequent ceremony with ceremonial gunfire, a Mass, Te Deum and public festivities. During these few days, the declaration of independence was made in many other cities and towns of Chile, with as many festivities as could be had. In La Serena, independence was declared on 27 February and the festivities lasted until 1 March and in Copiapó the ceremony took place between March 27 and 28.
  On 15 June 1820, Valdivia was sworn into the new nation, after Thomas Cochrane led a successful attempt to capture Valdivia from the royalists. Later, on 22 January 1826, the pledge of independence would be made in San Carlos, Chiloé, after the Spanish signed the Treaty of Tantauco, which gave the Chiloé Archipelago to Chile.
caption: Proclamación y jura de la Independencia de Chile, by Pedro Subercaseaux Errázuriz (1945)[note 1]
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