Wood. The Burden of Citizenship

The Burden of Citizenship: Artisans, Elections, and the Fuero Militar in Santiago de Chile,
1822-1851
Author(s): James A. Wood
Source: The Americas, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Jan., 2002), pp. 443-469
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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The Americas
58:3 January 2002, 443-469
Copyright by the Academy of American
Franciscan History
THE BURDEN OF CITIZENSHIP:

ARTISANS, ELECTIONS, AND THE
FUERO MILITAR IN SANTIAGO DE CHILE,
1822-1851*
On December 13, 1845 the recently founded Santiago newspape

Artesano Opositor (The Opposition Artisan) published a letter sub
Dmitted by "twenty artisan friends of Cerda." ' The letter related
tragic case of Jos6 Agustin Cerda, a young tailor, soldier in the civic mili
and member of an electoral association called the Sociedad de Artesanos de
Caupolicdin (Caupolicain Artisans Society), who had been arrested on

November 12 by the city's military prosecutor on the charge that he was
involved in an anti-government "conspiracy." Claiming innocence, Cerda,
according to his companions, denied his involvement in the alleged con-
spiracy "with noble arrogance." As a result he was locked in iron shackles
in a military prison, causing his legs to swell up and his illness-weakened
lungs to struggle for air. A follow-up article in the newspaper announced that
Cerda was still being held in that "unjust and inhumane" condition two
months later, along with several other city residents who were linked to the
electoral associations of the liberal opposition in Santiago.2 While the out-
raged authors of the letter to ElArtesano Opositor singled out the Cerda case
for its malicious effects on their friend, they clearly saw the incident as part
* I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the following institutions: The Ford Founda-
tion, La Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales-Chile, The Duke-University of North Carolina
Program in Latin American Studies, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
also want to thank Dr. Ronn Pineo and two anonymous reviewers at The Americas for their useful com-
ments on an earlier version of this article.
I "S.S.R.R. del Artesano Opositor por veinte artesanos amigos de Cerda," El Artesano Opositor, 13
December, 1845. Jose Agustin Cerda's name appeared on the list of signatories of the Act of Installation
of the Sociedad de Artesanos de Caupolicin published in the article, "Viva la democracia!," El Diario de
Santiago, 23 October 1845.
2 "A todos los ciudadanos artesanos," El Artesano Opositor, 14 February 1846. Also on the "con-
spiracy" of 1845, see Sergio Grez Toso, De la "regeneracirn del pueblo" a la huelga general: genesis
y evoluci6n hist6rica del movimiento popular en Chile, 1810-1890 (Santiago: Direcci6n de Bibliotecas,
Archivos, y Museos, 1997), pp. 292-309.
443
444 THE BURDEN OF CITIZENSHIP
of a larger problem: the routine and systematic m

militiamen by the conservative governing regim
demand the release of their colleague, the "friend
complete reform of a political system that denigra
patriotism of all the city's artisans. "Understand,"
provocative flourish, "that by attacking the innoce
the lives of all the artisans of the Republic." "We
concluded solemnly, "from the men we elevate wi
our blood, and maintain with our sweat and labor.
The imprisonment of Jos6 Agustin Cerda and the

editor it produced raise several questions about C
tory. What, for example, was the nature of the "c
was allegedly involved? Why did the governme
What did his being a tailor-and thus a member o
as "artisans"-have to do with his arrest? Why did
letter-to-the-editor format to issue their grievance
This article seeks to answer these and other impo

early development of the Republic of Chile, a
acknowledged as the "exception" to the nineteenth
can rule of political chaos, economic decline, and
ular, the article will offer a new perspective on th
sans, elections, and militia service in Santiago de
country. Central to the argument presented belo
judicial arrangement known in Spanish American
guerra militar-or simply fuero militar.
Defined as a set of special legal prerogatives p

institutions of the Spanish monarchy, the fuero m
Spanish America with colonial rule.4 Originally ap
and soldiers of the royal army, the fuero militar w
all members of the colonial militia during the era
The fuero militar has traditionally been viewed by
which urban, plebeian males, often men of ca
3 "S.S.R.R. del Artesano Opositor por veinte artesanos amigos de

December 1845.
4 The classic studies of the fuero militar in colonial Spanish America include Lyle McAlister, The
'Fuero Militar' in New Spain, 1764-1810 (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1957); Christon
Archer, The Army in Bourbon Mexico, 1760-1810 (Tuscon: University of New Mexico Press, 1977);
Allan Kuethe, Reform and Society in New Granada, 1773-1808 (Gainesville: University of Florida,
1978); and Leon Campbell, The Military and Society in Colonial Peru, 1750-1810 (Philadelphia: Amer-
ican Philosophical Society, 1978).
JAMES A. WOOD 445
grounds, acquired a form of legal pr

ish civil authorities. In the eyes of
served the interests of both powerf
by shielding them from the rigors
demonstrated that under the protect
men often flaunted the rules and re
knowing they stood outside the bou
of the autonomous military tribuna
historians of the late colonial period
militia received light sentences fr
simply ignored the possibility that
military court system than in the co
But what if we shift our focus aw

instead, at the fuero militar in the
America? What happens when we ex
of republican constitutionalism, the
political field? This article will perf
process, challenge the traditional vie
tection for urban artisans and other pl
militar not only persisted into the i
5 On the application of the fuero militar to the

see Allen Kuethe, "The Status of the Free Pardo in
Negro History 56:2 (April 1971), pp. 105-17; Ge
Aires, 1800-1900 (University of Wisconsin Press
37; Joseph Sanchez, "African Freedmen and th
Moreno Militiamen in the late Spanish Empire,"
1994), pp. 165-84; and Ben Vinson III, "Race and
can Militia," The Americas 56:4 (April 2000), pp
6 McAlister and Kuethe made the strongest argu
ment" under the fuero militar. In Kuethe's words
application of "impartial justice." See McAlister, T
Society, pp. 26-7. There is almost nothing publishe
tiamen. Christon Archer discussed the military au
amen for desertion in the 1790s. See Archer, The
there was "some debate regarding the actual worth
ther with the idea, focusing instead on the role of
colonial Mexico. See Vinson, "Race and Badge," p.
militar miltiamen "could be jailed in a military gu
"African Freedmen," p. 166.
7 One historian who did address the fuero mil
Hale, who discussed Jos6 Maria Luis Mora's attemp
(but not militia) as part of the general liberal assau
in Chile, Mora attempted to expand Mexico's civic
fessional armed forces. See Charles Hale, Mexican
Yale University Press, 1968), pp. 141-4.
to the thousands of artisans who filled the ranks of th

wake of political independence caused them mo
fuero was, in fact, a crucial part of the problem descr
"twenty artisan friends of Cerda," not to mention the
respondents in the city press. Because Chile's repu
lished on a base of constitutional law, the article b
of the way citizenship was defined in Chilean cons
THE CONSTITUTIONAL BASES OF ARTISAN CITIZ
Constitutions, as codifications of national governing

rules and procedures for many kinds of behavior. One
constitutions must address is the area related to active
zens, put simply, are those members of a republic who
and to be elected. Such rights are typically granted
tion. Decisions about which individuals are permit
republic are fundamental to the creation of any c
Chilean constitutions of the early nineteenth century
The Chilean elite made four major attempts to e

framework in the two decades following independe
major attempt was made in the early 1820s when
Supreme Director of Chile since 1818, attempted to
sonal dictatorship over the country in the Consti
O'Higgins constitutional congress of 1822 produce
Collier called "the first full-scale constitution in
included a set of legal requirements for citizenship
based on three principles: being of Chilean nation
set of legal requirements), being twenty-five y
knowing how to read and write (although this requi
effect until 1833).1o
Such a set of requirements, theoretically, could h

over the age of twenty-five in the political proces
1822 also included a set of implicit and explicit ex
For example, individuals who worked for another
8 On Chilean constitutional politics in the early national period, se

of Chilean Independence, 1808-33 (Cambridge University Press, 1967
cas en Chile, ed. 2d. (Stgo: Editorial Universitaria, 1967), pp. 277-31
La democracia en Chile/Teatro politico, 1810-1910 (Santigo: Universi
9 Collier, Ideas and Politics, p. 154.
10 Constituci6n politica de Estado de Chile promulgada el 23 de Octu
tulo II, titulo 3, articulo 14.
JAMES A. WOOD 447
demned of a serious crime, or lived

their citizenship rights." Citizenship
of the five following infractions: ph
status, occupation as a domestic serv
ceedings, or "not having a known me
at first glance the Constitution of 18
ization of universal male suffrage in
suspension clauses ruled out the citiz
of course, all women.13
The second major attempt to establish

came in 1823, one year after the fai
intervening year Chile's provincial eli
erator and his dictatorship collapsed,
newly elected congress of 1823 selecte
intellectual of the day, to head a new co
Constitution of 1822, Egafia's Constit
requirements for citizenship. In addition
ality (Chilean-born or naturalized), a
years for single men), and literacy (t
back to 1840), the Constitution of 18
citizen" meet one of the five following
pesos, capital ownership worth 500 p
"permanent factory," instructorship
"merito civico" (civic merit) provision
" Constitucidn de 1822, articulo 15.

12 Constituci6n de 1822, articulo 16.
13 On women and citizenship in late eighteenth
Linda Kerber, Women of the Republic: Intellect a
North Carolina Press, 1980); Joan Wallach Scott, Ge
sity Press, 1988); Silvia M. Arrom, The Women of
1985); and Sarah Chambers, From Subjects to Citi
1780-1854 (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1
14 Constitucidn Politica del Estado de Chile pro
articulo 11: De los ciudadanos activos. The Moral
behavior within the structure of the national gove
1823 was based on the same principle as the mor
civic virtue in society, one of the central concerns o
twenty ways in which individuals could perform su
in the national guard for a period of five or more
males over the age of 18 according to article 230
neyman in a useful art or industry in which the pr
these types of service to the republic fell under the
public good. As such they fit within the classical r
sort of "meritorious" service was described. Acco
The third major attempt to establish a constitution

came in 1828. By this time the Constitution of 182
congress, had been dead for almost four years. In A
Vice President Francisco Antonio Pinto signed a new
"Active citizens are," the Constitution of 1828 decl
"those twenty-one year olds, or younger if married,
tia, profess some science, art, or industry, exercise
possess capital investments or real estate from whi
Active citizenship, as in past constitutions, could b
ernment for physical or moral "ineptitude," occupa
vant, or debtor status and denied to those condemned
uralized in another country, or employed by anothe
previous constitutional projects, however, the citiz
the Constitution of 1828 received further elaborati
Reglamento Electoral (Electoral Regulation). The
1828 extended the list of those whose voting rig
include the regular clergy, soldiers, corporals, and
apprentices in the mechanical arts, and "peones gai
The document was silent, however, on the question
bases of previous constitutional laws.
A key consequence of the constitutional changes

icant expansion of the Chilean electorate. The extens
by the Constitution of 1828 to all members of the n
to all men who "professed some science, art, or indu
torate to grow dramatically. According to one Chil
sand men from Santiago's plebeian ranks were now
the first time, mainly because of their service in the
The fourth, and longest lasting, attempt to establish a

work for Chile came after a violent change in polit
The elections of 1829, which were carried out unde
being "the father of more than six legitimate children" was another way
citizenship. Presumably, fathering six or more legitimate children was
(not to mention virility) and thus his capacity for citizenship.
15 "Constituci6n politica de la Repliblica de Chile," Parte II, capitulo 2
activos, El Vice-Presidente de la Reptiblica a la Naci6n (Santiago: 8 Au

16 "Constituci6n politica de la Reptiblica de Chile," articulos 8 and
Reptiblica.
17 Reglamento de Elecciones Constitucionales iniciado en la Cdmara de Diputados, sancionado por
el Congreso Nacional, y mandado cumplir por el Poder Ejecutivo (Santigo: 16 December 1828).
18 Diego Barros Arana, Historia General de Chile, vol. 15 (Santiago: Imprenta Cervantes, 1897),
p. 212n.
JAMES A. WOOD 449
Constitution of 1828, produced a dest

victorious coalition in the 1829 civil w
in the highly authoritarian Constitut
new constitution was the extreme con
president and his ministers. The presi
extended to five years and allowed fo
ducing the phenomenon of the Chilean
ten-year presidencies of Joaquin Pri
Manuel Montt (1851-61), and Jose Jo
president was granted the right to
(emergency powers) from a congress
"estado de sitio" (state of siege) wh
powers enabled the president to susp
freedoms of expression and assembly
constitutions) in any area of the countr
While the changes introduced in th

dramatic, the citizenship requiremen
pletely followed the traditions laid o
based, as in previous legislation, on t
income. Active citizens had to be 21
The new constitution (and its corr
demanded the ability to read and wri
constitution postponed the enforcem
which time it was hoped that the st
mary education).22 The income req
ways: through ownership of a prope
capital worth 2,000 pesos, or "the exe
which the yearly income was at leas
19 Constituci6n Politica de la Reptiblica Chilen

20 According to Simon Collier and William Sater,
tion of 1833 were in effect about a third of the ti
Sater, A History of Chile, 1808-1994 (Cambridge
21 Reglamento de Elecciones por cuanto el Congre
ha decretado y sancionado el reglamento de elecc
22 The postponement of the literacy requirement
issue of contention in the Congress and the Sant
suggested that such cautious treatment of the liter
the result of a significant plebeian electorate. See
la expansi6n del sufragio en Chile (Buenos Aires:
23 "Capftulo 1, articulo 14," Reglamento de Ele
the Department and Province of Santiago. Other pr
income requirements were intended to be temporar
tical survey was completed.
and government workers who earned more than 200

of reach for some urban craftsmen), as well as all m
guard, continued to register to vote under these rul
toral Regulation of 1833 included the usual exclu
rights could be suspended for mental "incapacity,"
ment in criminal proceedings, occupation in the reg
soldier, corporal, or sergeant in the army, or worki
laborer) or "pe6n gafihn." In terms of the constitut
zenship, the Constitution of 1833 did not attempt
developed in the 1820s.
The Constitution of 1833 reaffirmed the citizenshi

artisans. This was especially clear in the city of San
of craftsmen were enfranchised through their servi
For these men, the debased reality of republican ci
the conduct of elections, did not match the lofty pr
ARTISAN CITIZENSHIP AND THE NATIONAL GU
Under the Constitution of 1833 active citizenship

sibilities, especially for the plebeian men enfranch
Chief among these responsibilities were voting in e
the national guard forces of the republic. In both of
izenship plebeian citizens shouldered a heavy burde
ciated with citizenship promised the fair and equal t
regardless of social standing, the reality of republic
was unfair treatment and blatant inequality. Their v
tinely and systematically violated by the governmen
period. This corruption of constitutional law wa
through the militia or national guard. In fact, arti
forms of abusive treatment inside the barracks of th
Government officials were not blind to the problem
national guard recognized the abusive nature of the
developed in the 1830s and 1840s.
The militia or national guard had existed in Chile

era, but after 1830 it took on a much greater role
ment of the country. In the 1830s the government o
took numerous steps to reshape the national gua
known at that time, the guardia civica. As early as J
government reorganized the existing militia units
Batallones de Infanteria Civica (Civic Infantry Batta
its own commander and officer corps. In April
JAMES A. WOOD 451
Artilleria Civica (Civic Artillery Batt

lowed by a fourth Infantry Battalion
institution was extended into provinc
and Coquimbo all establishing new
chief minister of the Prieto governm
extremely active in reshaping the in
Navy from April 1830 until July 18
to be made. A sampling of Portales'
tion of the accounting procedures tha
of an annual budget of 50,000 pesos f
the guardsmen's weekly training exe
noon. Portales was also personally ac
commander of Battalion Four in San
mander of the new infantry battalion
Owing to the reorganizational meas

in government, the national guard gr
the institution counted more than 30
middle of the 1840s that number ha
national guard peaked at 62,000 men
decline that continued through the 1
tern of institutional growth and dec
Whereas Santiago's urban militia for
1835, by 1850 they included more th
three to five thousand national guard
men drawn from the city artisanate
fifth Batall6n de Infanteria Civica w
of the increased "enlistment of artisans
The governments of the era used th

dominate the electoral process throug
24 On the Chilean militia in the colonial and po

del Ejercito de Chile, Historia del Ejfrcito de Chil
vol. 1, El Ejercito del Reyno de Chile, 1603-181
Batalla de Maipo, 1810-1818, pp. 194-6, 205-8; and
1817-40, pp. 106-7; Roberto Hernandez Ponce, "La
y organizaci6n, 1808-1848," Historia 19 (1984),
Chilean History: Essays on Civil-Military Relat
1976), pp. 20-37.
25 See Memoria que el Ministro del Estado en l
Congreso Nacional de 1835 (Santiago: 14 Septemb
26 See Memoria que el Ministro del Estado en l
Congreso Nacional de 1846 (Santiago: 28 August 1
27 Memoria de 1846, p. 10.
ital city. Recall for a moment that the Constitution

cial provision of the Constitution of 1828 that enfr
the national guard. According to a firsthand observ
in Santiago (a U. S. naval lieutenant named MacR
based on a simple manipulation of election law.
according to the Chilean government, "service in t
regarded as equivalent to the income [requirements
Every member enrolled within the prescribed time
the enfranchisement of 60,000 civicos nationwide-a
the national capital-Chilean governments were able
"deliver" the vote for official candidates. Essentiall
Interior in Santiago, by controlling the appointmen
manders, possessed an army of subaltern voters thr
election days national guard units throughout Chil
stations and were "voted" by their commanders.29
This system of electoral manipulation (often ca

bribery, in Chile) was greatly strengthened by the
militar to all civic soldiers. While several historian
America have investigated the ways in which the a
militar to plebeian militiamen provided them legal a
few have explored the other side of the coin-the w
cation of the fuero militar allowed militia comman
control the men under their command. Plebeian citi
national guard essentially gave up their rights und
tion. Under the fuero militar they could be tried,
without recourse to the civil justice system. Moreo
diers under the fuero militar often included beatin
pena de palos) for men who stepped out of line.30 R
28 Lieutenant MacRae's account is located in Lieutenant J. M. Gillis

Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere during the Years 1849-52, v
O. P. Nicholson, 1855), pp. 304-9.
29 For general observations about the connection between elections a
teenth-century Chile, see Federico Gil, The Political System of Chile (B
pp. 38-40; Valenzuela, Democratizaci6n via reforma, pp. 51-81; Va
Democracy Before Democracy: Electoral Practices in Nineteenth-Cen
Carb6, ed., Elections Before Democracy: The History of Elections
(London: MacMillan, 1996), pp. 202-23; and Simon Collier, "Evoluci6n
cultural de Chile entre 1829 y 1865," in La Casa de Bello, Bello y Chi
de Bello, 1981), pp. 32-4. All three authors agreed that the national gua
dates with an unbeatable electoral machine.
30 See Proyecto de lei presentado por la Comisi6n Militar de la Cdm

de la articulos de la Ordenanza que imponen la pena de palos (Santiago: Im
1850). The reform bill makes it clear that the national guard units were
JAMES A. WOOD 453
of domination (although it did occur

this article) was strongly discourage
ments. The bonds of militia service,
fuero militar to all civic soldiers, crea
mobilized by government ministers i
Government officials in charge of

increasing urgency the problems caus
tion. In theory service in the nation
citizens' obligation to the republic th
zens were thus legally required to enl
elite citizens routinely escaped the s
ment report of 1842, Santiago's elite
"prestigious persons" put up "tenaciou
tution.31 The report added that, as a
service fell most heavily on the shou
the city. The same observation was m
case the government official writi
imposed on the industrious classe
national guard.32
Another area of concern for gov

burden imposed on plebeian citizens
paid for their service in the instituti
call the institution a militia), the wag
offset the costs associated with servi
1840s pointed to the unreasonable cost
ice infractions (such as tardiness), an
being extremely detrimental to inst
example, mentioned the vociferous co
were forced "to abandon their works
service, in which they barely earn
nutrition."33 A report of 1843 went
guardia civica has become a system of
wallet of civic soldiers suffer equally
31 Memoria que el Ministro del Estado en los de

greso Nacional de 1842 (Santiago: 31 August 1842
greso Nacional de 1845 (Santiago: 26 September 1
33 Memoria de 1845, p. 12.
greso Nacional de 1843 (Santiago: 28 August 1843
For the government officials entrusted with th

the national guard, the inequality of enlistmen
often brutal, treatment received by guardsmen
threatened to undermine the fundamental valu
national guard became more and more of a plebe
of the republic came to depend more and more o
virtues (in the eyes of the governing elite) wer
Numerous passages in government reports of th
ries to the surface. An 1841 report by the minis
guard, for example, declared its support for "r
militia service ... so that the nation's arms wou
honorable and independent citizens."36 The repor
1842 explained the need "to put the nation's arm
citizens interested in the conservation of order a
The option of reducing the number of plebeia

guard was not seriously considered, however, un
decade. The governments of the 1830s and 18
against the objections of high-ranking critics, t
remain the largely plebeian institution it had bec
good reason for maintaining the institution as it
government with a virtual army of subaltern vo
the Interior Minister issued a decree on May 20,
cation of the fuero militar to all four civic infan
ment of Santiago, just in case there was any doubt a
problem was that the urban artisans enfranchised b
and 1833 were not satisfied with the burden of
the ideals of republicanism to heart and expected
their rights of citizenship. When given the opportu
sition to the direction the republic had taken sin
a striking clarity of purpose. The first such oppo
35 Pedro Santoni found similar elite fears in Mexico City in the

"A Fear of the People: The Civic Militia of Mexico in 1845," HA
4. Also on the national guard in nineteenth-century Mexico, see
The Civic Militia of Mexico in 1846," Mexican Studies 12:2 (Sum
Thompson, "Bulwarks of Patriotic Liberalism: The National Gua
Juntas in Mexico, 1847-88," Journal of Latin American Studies
36 Memoria que el Ministro del Estado en los departamentos d
greso Nacional de 1841 (Santiago: 25 August 1841), p. 9.
37 Memoria de 1842, p. 9.
38 "Fuero militar de los cuerpos cfvicos," in Ricardo Castro,
supremos, i circulares vijentes concernientes a la Guardia Nacion
14 de diciembre de 1872 (Santiago: Imprenta Nacional, 1873), pp.
JAMES A. WOOD 455
ARTISANS AND THE LIBERAL OPPO
The elite architects of the Republic

society for whom citizenship mattere
Constitutions of 1828 and 1833 also h
to the systematic abuse of their citi
participated in the creation of a move
its reform. During the two major el
political opposition movement made t
the central focus of its campaign ag
define the rules and procedures of th
of contention.39
The existence of a revitalized politic

teenth-century Chile was the result o
opment. Following the adoption of t
Constitution), Chilean political cultu
contradictory elements. On one hand
thoroughly managed by government
foregone conclusions. Elections were
itive events. On the other hand, the f
vent a vibrant electoral culture from em
the capital city.40 Elections, especial
every five years, produced energetic
tic participation of upper and lower c
the 1850s. Such campaigns frequentl
partisan newspapers in their effort to a
opposition associations and newspape
were not content simply to accept the
39 The history of elections in nineteenth-century

decade. See Posada-Carb6, ed., Elections Before De
ciones en Iberoamirica, siglo XIX (Mexico City: F
and Popular Political Participation in Mexico, 1808-
Liberals, Politics, and Power: State Formation in
Georgia Press, 1996), pp. 30-58; Vincent Peloso, "L
in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Peru," in Peloso and Te
"The Spanish-American Tradition of Representation
can Studies 26:1 (1994), pp. 1-36. On popular politics
generally, see Silvia Arrom and Servando Ortoll eds
Poor in Latin America, 1765-1910 (Wilmington D
40 For a comparison with early nineteenth-centu
als and Ceremonies: The Social Meaning of Electi
(1992).
Given the Portalian regime's domination of Chil

1830, the question of why the regime allowed any
tion or contestation to occur is certain to arise. Th
limited democratic opening during the 1840s have
guage and structures of Chile's postindependen
With the adoption in the 1820s of the new official
licanism, the language of popular sovereignty, polit
izenship was introduced into Chilean political cult
Holt has written, the creole patriarchs who found
could not control the ways their universalizing la
by non-elite actors and groups, especially those, l
ago, who wore the uniform of their country (at le
To some extent, the governing regime was caught
The other reason for the relative openness of San
had to do with the basic structures of Chile's polit
not in any sense represent a totally unified nation
its violent overthrowing of the pipiolo liberal adm
Antonio Pinto in 1829-30, the Portalian regime bar
ous crises, both internal and external, its dictatoria
ralism produced. Diego Portales, unlike the regime
survive. He was executed during a military rebelli
choice of General Manuel Bulnes as presidenti
Joaquin Prieto (his uncle) was seen as a conciliator
liberal opposition camp. Bulnes, the victorious com
war with the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation,
phere of toleration and limited pluralism into the
doxy of the 1830s.42 As Brian Loveman has argue
Chile: The Legacy of Hispanic Capitalism, such a p
followed by reconciliation and amnesty becam
Chilean political development long before the 199
1840s were one of the earliest opposition group
effects of "national reconciliation." This gave th
among other things, cultivate their relationship wi
41 Alfredo Jocelyn-Holt Letelier, "Liberalismo y modernidad: id

decimon6nico: un marco te6rico," in Ricardo Krebs and Cristiain Gazm
y Chile (Santiago: Editorial Universitaria 1990), pp. 303-34. For his c
independence, see Jocelyn-Holt, La independencia de Chile: tradicid
Mapfre, 1992).
42 The best source on elite politics in the early 1840s is still Dieg
Historia de Chile, 1841-51, 2 vols. (Santiago: Editorial Universitaria
43 Brian Loveman, Chile: The Legacy of Hispanic Capitalism, 3rd ed
2001), pp. 141-3.
JAMES A. WOOD 457
of the city through common meetin

undoubtedly many other informal fo
The first electoral campaign featur

occurred in Santiago in early 1840
occur until the middle of 1841). Tak
ation of political controls, the elite li
founded the Sociedad Patri6tica (Patr
1840.44 The primary objective of the
reformist groups in the country into
The distinguished members of the s
with the liberal administration that
part analysis of the government's
process. First, the Society observed t
nors who, in turn, controlled the app
the voter registration tables (mesas
tables (mesas receptoras), thereby
processes in the hands of the govern
explained that the government mani
rights through the imposition of the
ating a vast pool of votes that could
tion.45 For this reason, the Patriotic
militia, which among free peoples is
liberties" was in Chile "calculated t
government."46 To combat these gov
a specific commission to "counteract
which believes it is allowed to interv
this commission's job to reach out to
into the opposition camp.
4 On the Sociedad Patri6tica and elite political

Arana, Un Decenio, vol. 1, pp. 144-48; Isidoro Err
cedida de una introducci6n que contiene la reseiia
hasta 1871), (Valparaiso: Imprenta de la Patria, 1
45 On the Sociedad Patr6tica's analysis of Chile'
ciudadanos habida en esta capital los dias 12 y 14 de
didatos para las pr6ximas elecciones por un testig
Nacional, Biblioteca Americana de Josd Toribio M
46 "Noticia de una reuni6n," 20 January 1840.
47 "Circular del partido liberal sobre el dere
Nacional, Fondo Benjamin Vicuna MacKenna, 34/
Patri6tica, see "Carta de Don Nicolas Pradel a su
Reptiblica del General Pinto," Valparaiso, 24 Apri
de los miembros de la comisi6n liberal," Santiago
The Patriotic Society's strategy of attacking the g

and abusive treatment of the artisan citizens was an
41 elections as a struggle between equality and tyra
despotism. The publications associated with the Pat
the small, daily, highly partisan newspapers that emerg
of the electoral campaign, suggest that the oppositio
toral contest in these terms resonated with the artisans
the 1841 elections drew near and the partisan attacks
of artisan citizenship came to the forefront of Santi
Two opposition newspapers claimed to represent th

the 1841 elections, El Miliciano (The Militiaman)
Pueblo (The Man of the People). Both newspapers, w
the Imprenta Liberal (Liberal Press), consistently dem
ment of artisans and guardsmen's political rights. E
dedicated numerous articles to explaining how milic
the electoral process by their officers, as well as th
trolled them. In its first issue, the newspaper aske
really call a militia officer who takes away the voter
his soldiers to make them vote at his discretion a T
according to the paper, was emphatically yes. In an
reported enthusiastically on the efforts of the reformi
cisco Gana, to pass an "Addition to the Electoral Re
month before the election. Four of the eight subst
bill referred directly to abuses suffered by guards
Pueblo also lent its support to Gana's bill and, in doi
detailed reasons for supporting the opposition in th
tion represented reform, and reform for El Hombre m
won't be so hard on us, nor throw us in jail so muc
a third of every month on guard duties that diminis
our families ... nor would they judge us by the bar
conduct where the word death stands out on every
cluded the article, "we would be civic soldiers and n
48 For a review of the recent historiography on nineteenth-century L

"Elias Jos6 Palti, "Recent Studies on the Emergence of a Public Sphere i
ican Research Review 36:2 (2001), pp. 255-66.
49 "Catecismo politico: segunda pregunta: podremos llamar LADRO
cias que quita a sus soldados los calificaciones para hacerlos votar a su
1841.
50 "Consejo titil a los artesanos: Adici6n al reglamento de elecciones," El Miliciano, 13 June 1841.
51 El Hombre del Pueblo, 24 June 1841.
52 El Hombre del Pueblo, 24 June 1841.
JAMES A. WOOD 459
Powerful criticisms of Chile's anti-

those encountered in El Miliciano an
pear after the elections of 1841. They
more fervently, in the 1845-46 electo
41, the elite opponents of the Portalia
toral association and the partisan pr
government candidates. To an even g
artisan class participated directly in
adding ever more intensity to the de
The emboldened opponents of the g

toral association in Santiago in Oct
(Democratic Society). The membersh
posed mainly of elite residents of th
tion of university students who wer
public affairs of their country.53 Like
the Democratic Society's main purpos
of elections in the country. In fact, i
Pedro Felix Vicufia (a member of th
that the "sole objective" of the new
that the nation has free elections."54
the Patriotic Society's lead by affilia
militantly anti-government El Diario
Within weeks of establishing the De

an even bolder step by founding a se
this one organized exclusively for
Artesanos de Caupolicdn (Caupo
Caupolicain referred to a famous Ara
Spanish conquest in Chile) and, accor
its primary objective was "to obtain
influence."''55 In contrast to the stu
Caupolicain Society was only open to
53 On the Sociedad Democritica, see Barros Aran

ria de la Administracidn Errdzuriz, pp. 242-48; a
54 Reprinted in "El Diario," El Diario de Santia
55 "Viva la democracia! Sociedad de Artesanos d
1845. On the Sociedad de Artesanos de Caupolicain
Ang6lica Illanes, La revolucidn solidaria: Historia
1920 (Santiago: Prisma, 1990), pp. 18-23; and Lu
artesanos de Santiago de Chile y sus primeras exp
Di Tella, 1978), p. 44.
masters, or those having an honorable occupatio

Caupolicain Artisans Society stated that it would w
additional societies in Santiago, each of which woul
the candidacies determined by the Democratic Societ
tional three artisan societies was ever formed in
Sociedad de Artesanos de Colo Colo (Colo Colo
name Colo Colo referred to another famous Araucan
The official printing press of the opposition campa

Oposici6n, offered the artisan association the opport
newspaper. This offer resulted in the creation o
which began publication in December 1845. Accordi
tiago, the plan to develop an artisan press had been
when a group of sixteen Santiago artisans had publ
fellow artisans calling on them to support the proj
scriptions.58 In their letter, the sixteen artisans dr
between the possession of their own press and the
reform agenda. "The press," they wrote, was "the fo
of sacred equality ... people that have a press have l
While similar in tone and content to the 1840-41 n

Opositor offered the city's artisans an even greater
over citizenship. It did this by directly soliciting in
solicitation produced an outpouring of support for
by El Artesano Opositor in the form of corresponde
the editor written by men who identified themselv
as national guardsmen). The practice of publishing c
papers was not a new feature brought into the Santi
Opositor. Previous papers had carried such letters-i
by artisans-as early as the mid 1820s. The differen
and coherence of the artisans' correspondence with
Every issue of the newspaper featured at least a pa
normally four-page newspaper), many of which ex
artisans' experience with the electoral system. The
Agustin Cerda, the young tailor whose imprisonme
56 "Viva la democracia!" El Diario de Santiago.

57 "Sociedad de Artesanos de Colo Colo," El Diario de Santiago, 27
de Artesanos de Colo Colo, see also Grez, De la "regeneracidn, p. 314
daria, p. 44.
58 "Los artesanos, " El Diario de Santiago, 26 July 1845.
59 "Los artesanos, " El Diario de Santiago, 26 July 1845.
JAMES A. WOOD 461
sioned letter from his "twenty artisa

correspondence section of the paper.6
The first issue of El Artesano Opos

spondence that followed, asked its rea
abused the artisans' rights "so that th
columns their infamy, their corrupt
also asked for "the names of patriot
order to present them as examples wo
publication run of the newspaper, le
describing both heroes and villains in
by "various national guardsmen," for
One of Santiago's Civic Infantry, Ra
the voter registration cards of the civ
clear villain in the story, was describ
champion of the Interior Ministry"
next elections."63 The hero of the let
ion named Segundo Alegrfa, who def
capable of holding his own registra
secure in his hands than anywhere
according to the letter, landed him, l
Another example of artisan heroism

President of the Caupolicain Artisan
infantry.65 Like Cerda and Alegria,
before a military tribunal to tell what h
to talk landed him in prison, from w
Artesano Opositor. In his letter from
60 The liberal opposition was not the only contend

In response to the disturbances caused by the libera
own electoral association in 1845-6, the Sociedad d
per, El Artesano del Orden. The pro-government ar
generally praised the Bulnes Administration for im
nately, beyond the scope of this article to give the
tity an equal hearing. For a thorough analysis of th
relationship to the Santiago public sphere, see Jam
ular Republican Movement in Santiago de Chile, 181
Chapel Hill, 2000), pp. 183-250.
61 "El Artesano Opositor, "El Artesano Opositor
62 "El Artesano Opositor, "El Artesano Opositor
63 "S.S.R.R. del Artesano Opositor por varios na
64 "Varios nacionales," El Artesano Opositor, 16
65 Ram6n Mondaca was listed as President of the
plete Act of Installation. See "Viva la democracia
cized his own martyrdom, stressing the virtue of s

"Death, compafieros," he wrote, "will be nothing f
promise you all made about the coming elections,"
vote freely, without prostituting yourselves to the ev
the maneuvering of the ministry, nor to anything th
good name of the artisan, who enjoys a reputation
The stories of Segundo Alegrfa, Ram6n Mond

Cerda were emblematic of the larger struggle of S
the electoral system that developed under the Con
sands of plebeian men had been enlisted in the rank
of the city, and their service resulted in their stat
republic. But, as the stories pointed out, these sam
from exercising their rights of citizenship freely due
the national guard. When they did attempt to defy th
independence as voters, they were met with overt h
violence and imprisonment. Nevertheless, many a
take that risk and move their opposition to the elector
ical arena, where they found ready allies in the eli
talian regime.
The revitalization of the liberal opposition move

vided many Santiago artisans the opportunity to
frustration with the electoral system that had de
1820s. Associations were formed, newspapers were
electoral culture developed in the city. But, still, no
basic procedures associated with active citizenship
in fact, ended with the declaration of a state of siege,
of the regime to the first sign of social disturbanc
tration's use of the state of siege revealed very cl
regime's toleration for political pluralism. The
March 1846 sitio declaration, Interior Minister Ma
the mortal enemy of the liberal opposition and its
associations when he stepped into the contest for t
66 "Sefiores Editores del Artesano Opositor por Ram6n Mondaca

Opositor, 7 January 1846.
67 "Ram6n Mondaca, cuartel de gufas," El Artesano Opositor, 7 Ja
68 "Declaraci6n sobre el estado de sitio en la Provincia de Santiag
Manuel Montt, March 7, 1846," (AN,FBVM, 34/39).
JAMES A. WOOD 463
CRISIS, REPRESSION, AND CONSO

PORTALIAN ELECTORAL SYSTE
The confrontation that occurred in

Montt and the Santiago liberal op
episodes of Chile's nineteenth-cent
Sociedad de la Igualdad (Equality So
ticipation of some of Latin America'
political luminaries, including Franc
the Argentine exiles Bartolom6 Mitre
two future presidents of the Chile
second major civil war of the indepen
is often misunderstood with regard t
the Chilean crisis of 1850-51 is the d
upon the foundations of previous ex
ciation in Santiago. Such a form
Caupolicain Artisans Society, had beco
paigns of the 1840s. To a great exten
provided a model for the Equality So
long-standing demand for reform.69
At the same time, the program of the

ditional reform agenda of the libera
Owing to a new set of social and cul
Equality Society initiated a more radi
concerns about social justice (for this
cursor" to the political parties and work
tury Latin American Left).70 Rather
69 The vast secondary literature on the Sociedad

teenth-century accounts and twentieth-century stu
teenth-century account is Benjamin Vicufia Mac
1851: una batalla en las calles de Santiago (Santiag
the association for an extended period of time. Also
La Sociedad de la Igualdad i sus enemigos (Santiag
also Barros Arana, Un Decenio, vol. 2, pp. 361-75,
pp. 345-548. Twentieth-century studies of the Soci
Arcos Arlegui y la Sociedad de la Igualdad (Santiag
Romero, La Sociedad de la Igualdad: los artesanos
politicas, 1820-51 (Buenos Aires: Instituto Torcua
igualitarios, reformistas, radicales, masones y bom
115; Illanes, La revolucidn solidaria, pp. 27-50; an
70 On the Sociedad de la Igualdad as a precurso
Ramirez Necochea, Historia del movimiento o
Imprenta Real, 1951), pp. 78-100; Julio Cesar Job
Chile (Santiago: Editorial Universitaria, 1955), pp
into Chilean political culture by the Equality Society

article will emphasize its (often neglected) continui
Guided by its numerous artisan activists (incl

former president of the Caupolicain Artisans Soci
continued to press the case for the radical reform o
national guard service. Increasingly, the reform
became synonymous with the "regeneration of the
essary for the true expression of artisan citizensh
newspaper of the Equality Society, El Amigo del P
People), ran a series of articles documenting the w
fered by artisans in their guard units.72 In the nat
tario congressman (one of the many who eventua
presented a bill for the comprehensive reform of
floor of the meeting hall, the junta directiva call
forward with their stories of mistreatment by militia
El Amigo del Pueblo's series of articles on the

guard illustrated how artisans could directly influe
agenda.75 Article three of the series began with t
Chile (Santiago: Editorial Universitaria, 1955-56), pp. 9-48; and

hist6rico del movimiento obrero en Chile (Santiago: El Esfuerzo, 19
Igualdad as a precursor to the Latin American workers' movem
movimiento obrero latinoamericano, vol. 1, Anarquistas y socialista
Imagen, 1980), pp. 34-39; and Ricardo Melgar Bao, El movimiento o
una clase subalterna (Madrid: Alianza, 1988), pp. 62-71. This idea ev
Eduardo Galeano. See Galeano, "The Precursors," in Memory of Fire
theon, 1987), pp. 173-74.
71 On the importance of looking at the Sociedad de la Igualdad's rel
the future, Marcelo Segall wrote "Hasta ahora, la Sociedad de la Igua
a los ojos de los historiadores como un rayo en un cielo azul y despe
fue asi. La unidad militante ... que fue la Sociedad de la Igualdad ...
socialistas con afiios de anterioridad. Su culminaci6n en 1851, es el fin
Segall, Las luchas de clases en las primeras ddcadas de la Repub
Nascimiento, 1962), pp. 36-7.
72 "Guardia nacional," four-part series, El Amigo del Pueblo, 11, 15
73 Proyecto de Lei sobre Reforma de la Guardia Nacional, presen
por el Seiior D. Fernando Urizar Gdrfias (Santiago: Imprenta del P
Urizar's role in the Equality Society, see Vicufia MacKenna, Histor
Urizar was a diputado from San Felipe (Santiago Province). He was p
the Equality Society to San Felipe later in 1850, which provoked the N
74 "Convocaci6n general en 1 de agosto," (AN/Fondo Varios, 830/
75 El Amigo del Pueblo repeated the plea for the city's artisans to w
of abuse in each article dedicated to the topic of guard reform. Artic
example, concluded: "Invitamos a nuestros hermanos del pueblo a
ciones que hayan hecho sobre los medios de remediar esos males que
cuerpos civicos."
JAMES A. WOOD 465
day" the newspaper was receiving "im

tion from its "plebeian readers" [lec
lations were a number of specific c
plained that the payment they rece
prison, for example) did not comp
working. Whereas a skilled worker
day in his workshop, a day spent on
reales. Moreover, this unjust system
for his family. "There is a monstrou
stealing time from the worker and s
plebeian families [familias del puebl
problem of soldiers paying for their
question of fairness, since any soldi
shirt, and jacket could be punished
words, for his poverty).
The government's failure to respon

of guard service allowed the liberal o
In June 1850 the igualitario cong
sented a bill in the House of Repres
problems experienced by national
application of the fuero militar to t
the system's evils. In applying the fu
"that precious institution, which ha
guarding of our public liberties, ha
call for a wide range of institutiona
obligation of ten years, the election
dreaded pena de palos.80 At the Aug
ity Society, the junta directiva pass
who received punishment because o
ety to report the offense to the leader
complaints to the government. 81
Despite its aggressive challenge to P

ety proved no match for the regime. T
76 "Guardia Nacional," El Amigo del Pueblo, 26

77 "Guardia Nacional," El Amigo del Pueblo, 26
78 Proyecto de Let sobre Reforma de la Guard
por el Seiior D. Fernando Urizar Gdrfias (Santiag
79 Proyecto de Lei sobre Reforma de la Guard
80 Proyecto de Lei sobre Reforma de la Guard
81 "Convocaci6n general en 1 de agusto," (AN,FV
sentado por [Manuel] Guerrero," (AN/FV 830/66
pretext for yet another state of siege declaration i

ers of the Equality Society went into exile in Peru
ular associations were de-mobilized by force.82 W
tinued to have concerns about the loyalty of the n
city, small cells of igualitarios began to re-form th
Gradually, the leadership of the re-formed or ne
itself with a dissident army colonel in an attempte
Santiago. The insurrection of April 20, 1851 was
little of the popular support that was expected by the
Equality Society who were hopeful that a full-scal
the government would be ignited by their act. In the
rection, Manuel Montt, the government's official
presidential elections, declared a second state of si
years. The presidential elections of 1851, held at t
carried out under the conditions of martial law.83
One keen observer of the 1851 elections in Sant

can naval lieutenant named MacRae, then working
U.S. Astronomical Expedition in Chile. Lieutenant
1851 elections in Santiago showed that nothing ha
citizens who shouldered the burden of national gu
ment's electoral machine continued to function e
one's knowledge that it was blatantly anti-democ
particular detail the role of the apretadores (pres
management of the elections in Santiago.85 Th
inside and outside the polling stations, purchasing
would sell them and intimidating those who woul
officer on the expedition, Lieutenant J. M. Gilliss,
his Chilean experience:
There can be no doubt that all candidates, even the

were under the control of the haciendados [sic] and
82 Vicufia MacKenna, Historia de la jornada. Vicufia MacKenna's

eral opposition in the 1840s and 1850s (housed in Chile's Archivo
Vicufia MacKenna) includes a wealth of material related to the Socied
the Secretary. His diary from the period of the Sociedad de la Ig
"Diario de don Benjamin Vicufia MacKenna desde el 28 de Octubre
1851," three-part series, Revista Chilena de Historia y Geografta 1:2,
74, and 583-93.
83 Benjamin Vicufia MacKenna, Historia de los diez ahios de l
Montt, 5 vols. (Santiago, Editorial Chilena: 1862-63). All five volum
84 Lieutenant MacRae's account is located in Gilliss, The U. S. Na
304-9.
85 Gilliss, pp. 306-7.
JAMES A. WOOD 467
but the law which gave the vote to e

continued the appointment of the off
a while, weaken their power over him
Gilliss' insight was essentially corr

its heavy reliance on the national g
"deliver" the urban vote in the hand
of the Interior and the appointed n
But winning the presidential electi

worries. After defeating the oppos
Cruz, in the June elections, the libe
the results of the election. In an off
the Opposition," Montt's opponents
the presidential election based on th
they presented.87 In their petition f
the flagrant abuses of election law w
occurred throughout the entire cou
as the government's abusive procee
mortally wounded the Republic," d
to do our duty and fulfill the patrio
the Montt presidency.88 The petitio
particular violations of election law
of the violations listed were attribu
ago parishes (especially the plebeian
Shortly after the petition for null

war broke out between the rebel fo
northern provincial centers) and the
ment forces under the command
Bulnes ultimately won the war, con
another civil war in 1859 threatened
toral system organized under the
fiercest challenge, remained in plac
86 Gilliss, p. 129.
87 Manifiesto del Partido de Oposici6n a los p
cen las elecciones hechas en los dias 25 y 26 de
1851).
88 Manifiesto del Partido de Oposicidn.
89 See, for example, document no. 6 of the Manifiesto, which described a case of voter registration
fraud in Santiago's San Isidro parish involving national guardsmen from Battalion One of the civic
infantry.
90 For an unusual view of the civil wars of 1851 and 1859, see Maurice Zeitlin, The Civil Wars in
Chile (or the bourgeois revolutions that never were) (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984).
only minor modifications. Sadly, when the Chile

presidency in the 1870s they did not carry out the el
demanded thirty years earlier.
CONCLUSION
In theory, elections are the foundation on which

government is built. As expressions of the general
tions are intended to objectify the subjective des
the rules and procedures related to the conduct of
aspect of the construction of any republic. This w
fledgling Spanish American republics, where d
interests in the conduct of elections was the cause
In postindependence Chile, the governing authori
became a key element of electoral campaigns--
war. This was especially true in Santiago, where t
lors, carpenters, shoe and saddle makers, and so o
the electorate beginning in the 1820s. For these m
of Santiago, electoral theory did not square with e
Artisan militiamen, not content to accept their

made the government's routine and systematic violati
the centerpiece of the liberal opposition movem
matter at meetings (sometimes in the presence of
often among themselves), they read fiery editorials a
Hombre del Pueblo and El Artesano Opositor, and t
ters about it in the "artisan correspondence" secti
application of the fuero militar to civic militiame
joined the liberal opposition movement in the dec
ularly burdensome aspect of Chile's unjust electora
the basic republican principle of equal treatment
laws. The governing regime's strict adherence to
practice of the fuero militar, proclaimed the regim
to artisan citizenship, and fundamentally anti-repu
But how does this argument relate to the larger

ical independence from Spain, its adoption of the
ernment, and its "exceptionalism?" The break wit
the adoption of republicanism in the early decades
was a revolution in Chilean political culture. The
on monarchy, clergy, and corporate interest gave
on citizenship. But while the principles of republ
politics in a radically new direction, the practical
JAMES A. WOOD 469
ciples (particularly in elections and

rooted in the authoritarian, corporat
regime's conduct of elections-like it
else-represented a continuation of th
century: order, hierarchy, and "enlig
fact that a small (but significant) cla
oppose the Portalian electoral system
their rights of citizenship showed ju
trated into plebeian society. What is s
is that they never once called for th
This profound silence revealed the d
service and artisan republicanism. Cle
the imagination of the artisans of S
located further down the social hier
America, and drove them into an ent
Viewed from the vantage point of

tional" qualities of Chile's postinde
less vague. While proponents of the
factors like the country's unique g
making their case, they have not trad
a factor in their arguments. The histor
decades following independence show
fundamental to the success of the Po
ity. The dramatic expansion of the n
provided the regime with a secure, u
capital city, where all the levers of in
of the capital city was crucial to the
to the liberal opposition's political str
ity about Chile's nineteenth-century
his successors were able to transform
militia-into an even more valuable
national guard. This could not have b
JAMES A.
North Carolina Agricultural WOOD
and
Technical State University
Greensboro, North Carolina
91 For recent studies of popular liberalism in nineteenth-century Spanish America that focus on rural
society, see Florencia Mallon, Peasant and Nation: The Making of Postcolonial Mexico and Peru
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995); and Peter Guardino, Peasants, Politics, and the For-
mation of Mexico's National State, 1800-1857 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996).

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The Burden of Citizenship: Artisans, Elections, and the Fuero Militar in Santiago de Chile,

THE BURDEN OF CITIZENSHIP:

On December 13, 1845 the recently founded Santiago newspape

Caupolicdin (Caupolicain Artisans Society), who had been arrested on

of a larger problem: the routine and systematic m

The imprisonment of Jos6 Agustin Cerda and the

This article seeks to answer these and other impo

Defined as a set of special legal prerogatives p

3 "S.S.R.R. del Artesano Opositor por veinte artesanos amigos de

grounds, acquired a form of legal pr

But what if we shift our focus aw

5 On the application of the fuero militar to the

to the thousands of artisans who filled the ranks of th

THE CONSTITUTIONAL BASES OF ARTISAN CITIZ

Constitutions, as codifications of national governing

The Chilean elite made four major attempts to e

Such a set of requirements, theoretically, could h

8 On Chilean constitutional politics in the early national period, se

demned of a serious crime, or lived

The second major attempt to establish

" Constitucidn de 1822, articulo 15.

The third major attempt to establish a constitution

A key consequence of the constitutional changes

The fourth, and longest lasting, attempt to establish a

activos, El Vice-Presidente de la Reptiblica a la Naci6n (Santiago: 8 Au

Constitution of 1828, produced a dest

While the changes introduced in th

19 Constituci6n Politica de la Reptiblica Chilen

and government workers who earned more than 200

The Constitution of 1833 reaffirmed the citizenshi

ARTISAN CITIZENSHIP AND THE NATIONAL GU

Under the Constitution of 1833 active citizenship

The militia or national guard had existed in Chile

Artilleria Civica (Civic Artillery Batt

Owing to the reorganizational meas

The governments of the era used th

24 On the Chilean militia in the colonial and po

ital city. Recall for a moment that the Constitution

This system of electoral manipulation (often ca

28 Lieutenant MacRae's account is located in Lieutenant J. M. Gillis

30 See Proyecto de lei presentado por la Comisi6n Militar de la Cdm

of domination (although it did occur

Government officials in charge of

Another area of concern for gov

31 Memoria que el Ministro del Estado en los de

For the government officials entrusted with th

The option of reducing the number of plebeia

35 Pedro Santoni found similar elite fears in Mexico City in the

ARTISANS AND THE LIBERAL OPPO

The elite architects of the Republic

The existence of a revitalized politic

39 The history of elections in nineteenth-century

Given the Portalian regime's domination of Chil

41 Alfredo Jocelyn-Holt Letelier, "Liberalismo y modernidad: id

of the city through common meetin

The first electoral campaign featur

4 On the Sociedad Patri6tica and elite political

The Patriotic Society's strategy of attacking the g