Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:01:40.334Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

“A Chosen People”: Religious Discourse and the Making of the Republic of Guatemala, 1821-18711

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Douglass Sullivan-González*
Affiliation:
University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi

Extract

No clearer testimony evidenced the social upheaval and shifting political landscape in Guatemala in February 1838 than the graphic narrative by the traveling United States' diplomat, John Lloyd Stephens. Recently arrived in the capital for the first time, Stephens witnessed the insurrectionary triumph of the military caudillo, Rafael Carrera, and his “tumultuous mass of half-naked savages, men, women, and children, estimated at ten or twelve thousand.” Stephens described how Carrera's indigenous followers, upon entering the abandoned plaza and within earshot of the terrified white elite shouted “Long live religion and death to foreigners!” Carrera's political uprising incited by religious concerns had laid siege to the power structure inherited from colonial times.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

Archives researched for this article include the Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin, the Latin American Library at Tulane University, the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas, and in the following Guatemalan archives: Archivo Histórico Arquidiocesano “Francisco de Paula García Peláez” (AHAG); Biblioteca de la Universidad de San Carlos “César Brañas” (CB); and Archivo General de Centro América (AGCA). In addition, funding by the Tinker Foundation and the Fulbright-Hays Dissertation Grant provided essential support for research. Some of this material will also appear in my book, Piety, Power, and Politics: Religion and Nation-Formation in Guatemala, 1821-1871, to be published by the University of Pittsburgh Press.

References

2 Stephens, John L. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (New York: Dover Publications, 1969, ‹1848›) 1, p. 230.Google Scholar

3 Ibid, p. 232.

4 A brief historiographical analysis of Rafael Carrera would include the following works: Montúfar, Lorenzo Reseña histórica de Centro América, vol. 2 (Guatemala: Tipografía “El Progreso,” 1878);Google Scholar see also Marure, Alejandro Efemérides de los hechos notables acaecidos en la República de Centroamérica desde el año de 1821 hasta el de 1842, Biblioteca Guatemalteca de Cultura Popular vol. 9. (Guatemala: Ministerio de Educación Pública, 1956 Google Scholar <1895); Ingersoll, H.M.B., “The War of the Mountains: A Study of Reactionary Peasant Insurgency in Guatemala, 1837–1873” (Ph.D. diss., George Washington University, 1972);Google Scholar Miceli, KeithRafael Carrera: Defender and Promoter of Peasant Interests in Guatemala, 1837–1848,” Americas 31 (July 1974-April 1975), 72–95;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Solórzano, Juan CarlosRafael Carrera: Reacción conservadora o revolución campesina? Guatemala 1837–1873,” Anuario de Estudios Centroamericanos 13 (1987): 1335;Google Scholar Woodward, Ralph Lee Jr., Rafael Carrera and the Emergence of the Republic of Guatemala, 1821–1871 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1993);Google Scholar Woodward, Ralph LeeLiberalismo, conservadurismo, y la actitud de los campesinos de la montaña hacia el Gobierno de Guatemala, 1821–1850,” Anales de la Académia de Geografia e Historia de Guatemala 56 (Enero-Diciembre 1982), 195210.Google Scholar Works that have focused on religion during the Carrera period include: Holleran, Mary Church and State in Guatemala (New York: Colombia University Press, 1949), pp. 128146;Google Scholar Miller, Hubert J. La iglesia católica y el estado en Guatemala, 1871–1885, trans. Jorge Luján Muñoz (Guatemala: Universidad de Guatemala, 1976);Google Scholar Murga, Gustavo PalmaAlgunas relaciones entre la Iglesia y los grupos particulares,” (Thesis, Universidad de San Carlos, n.d.);Google Scholar Chandler, David Juan José de Aycinena, idealista, conservador de la Guatemala del siglo XIX (Antigua, Guatemala: 1988);Google Scholar and Estrada, Agustín Datos para la historia de la iglesia en Guatemala (Guatemala, 1974).Google Scholar

5 To examine how and to what extent that messsage was popularly appropriated, shared, or rejected goes beyond the scope of this article. See Sullivan-González, Piety, Power, and Politics, chapter 5.

6 The earliest mention of celebration comes from Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, “Decreto de 26 Agosto que dispone la festividad el dia 15,” Guatemala, [1823], AGCA B 78.25 Exp 16934 Leg 727. Numerous references to the September 15th celebration can be found in the Guatemalan AGCA, AHAG, and CB archives. Annual governmental requests to the Catholic leadership for religious services commemorating Independence preceded the celebrations from 2 to 4 weeks. For example, see Pedro N. Arriaga to Francisco García Peláez, Guatemala, August 12, 1850, AHAG 1850.121, Box T2 100. Thanks to the hard work and professional interest of Carmen Valenzuela de Garay, archivist of the César Brañas library, an updated list of September 15th sermons and speeches is available for the researcher. See Arturo Taracena Flores, “Oradores Oficiales en las Celebraciones de la Independencia desde el año de 1831,” photocopy, CB 41052, for a listing dating from 1831 to 1934.

7 J.A. Alcáyaga to Secretario General, Guatemala, September 13, 1829, AGCA B 94.1 Exp 32417 leg 1396.

8 Arturo Taracena Flores, “Oradores Oficiales.”

9 Gobierno de Guatemala, “Circular,” Guatemala, [1829], AGCA B 87.1 Exp 28851 Leg 1189. Records indicate that celebrations took place sporadically in most departments during the 1830s. However, it is not possible to determine which departments celebrated and which ones did not. In 1835, Chiquimula and San Marcos responded affirmatively, and in 1836, Escuintla officials called for similar demonstrations. See Circular a los Gefes Departamentales, Guatemala, August 28, 1835, AGCA B 87.1 Exp 28997 Leg 1191, and Carranza a las Municipalidades, Guatemala, September 10 1836, AGCA B 119.3 Exp 58617 Leg 2541.

10 “Quince de Setiembre” Gaceta Oficial 2 (25 Setiembre 1845), 67; and “15 de Setiembre de 1842” Gaceta Oficial (17 Setiembre 1842), 267. On Carrera see Pedro de Aycinena to Francisco García Peláez, Guatemala, September 13 1854, AHAG 1854.214, Box T2 112; Manuel Echeverria to Francisco García Peláez, September 13, 1855, Guatemala, AHAG 1855.267, Box T2 116. See also Arrazola, MiguelDiscurso,” ín Relación de las fiestas con que se celebró en la Antigua Guatemala el XXX Aniversario de la Independencia y la inauguración del Palacio Municipal en la parte reedificada en el presente año (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1851).Google Scholar

11 Chiquimula’s corregidor, Esteban Lanquín, advised governmental authorities that he had received twelve copies of the 1841 Anniversary speech and had circulated it. See Esteban Lanquin to Ministro General del Supremo Gobierno del Estado, Chiquimula, October 10, 1841, AGCA B 119.2 Exp 57696 Leg 2529. Copies of Aycinena’s 1862 sermon were also circulated to all Church clerics in 1862. See Francisco García Peláez to Church clerics, Guatemala, October 27, 1862, AHAG 1862.365, Box T3 77.

12 Arturo Taracena Flores, “Oradores Oficiales.” The Taracena Flores Collection, located at the UT-BLAC, contains the greatest number of these speeches. Guatemala’s University of San Carlos’ César Brañas collection has the second largest collection.

13 Quiñones, José Matías Al soldado ilustre de la patria … en el Aniversario de Nuestra Gloriosa Independencia (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Union, 1835);Google Scholar Vasconcelos, Simón Boletín Oficial (Setiembre 15, 1835): 876;Google Scholar Barrundia, José Francisco Discurso pronunciado el día 15 de septiembre de 1836 (Guatemala: 1836), 1;Google Scholar and Molina, Pedro Discurso acerca de la utilidad de la Independencia de Centro-América (Guatemala: Imprenta del Gobierno, 1837), 1,Google Scholar (hereafter Discurso 1837); and Militar, Un Observaciones sobre el discurso pronunciado por el Bachiller José D. Milla, en el Aniversario de la Independencia de Centro-América (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Aurora, 1846), 3,Google Scholar (hereafter cited as Observaciones). For other Independence speeches delivered during the 1830s, see Barrundia, JoséAl nacimiento de la Patria en el 15 de septiembre,” in El Centro-Americano. Extraordinario (15 setiembre 1833), 199206;Google Scholar and Gálvez, MarianoDiscurso,” Boletín extraordinario. Segunda parte (30 septiembre 1832).Google Scholar

14 Quiñones preached in Los Altos, the general area surrounding Quezaltenango, Totonicapan, and Sololá, which temporarily split from Guatemala to join the Central American federation in the late 1830s and late 1840s. Quiñones claimed to represent the Quiché Indians who were “humiliated” in the sixteenth century by Spanish conquest but now had become a sovereign state of the Central American Union. See Quiñones, José Matias Sermón predicado en la parroquia de Totonicapan el dia 25 de diciembre de 1838, con motivo de la instalación de la Asemblea Constituyente del Nuevo Estado de los Altos, de la Union Centroamericano (Los Altos: Imprenta del Estado de los Altos, 1838), 1,Google Scholar CB 3091. See also Bustamante, Pedro C. Boletín Extraordinario Segunda Parte (30 Setiembre 1832),Google Scholar CB 1505.

15 Valenzuela, Pedro JoséDiscurso sobre la igualdad de clases y diferencias de aptitudesBoletín Oficial (1 Setiembre 1831), 127–140.Google Scholar See also Molina, Pedro Discurso 1837, 35;Google Scholar and Gudmundson, Lowell and Lindo-Fuentes, Héctor Central America, 1821–1871: Liberalism Before Liberal Reform (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1995), p. 108.Google Scholar

16 de Aycinena, Juan José Discurso pronunciado en la casa del Supremo Gobierno del Estado de Guatemala. El Quince de Setiembre Aniversario XIX. De su Independencia del Gobierno Español (Guatemala: 1840),Google Scholar (hereafter cited as Discurso de 1840).

17 de Aycinena, Juan José Discurso que en la fiesta de acción de grácias celebrada en la catedral de Guatemala el 15 de setiembre de 1837 (Guatemala: Imprenta del Gobierno, 1837), [510]Google Scholar (hereafter cited as Discurso 1837). This disgust with the popular religiosity of the nonwhite Guatemalans ran deep and for a long time within elite discourse. Vicente Molina retorted in 1842 that “fanaticism had made the people more addicted to religious ceremonies than to moral principles.” See Molina, Victor Discurso pronunciado el 15 de septiembre de 1845 vigésimo cuarto Aniversario de la Independencia de Guatemala…. (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1845), 6.Google Scholar See also Andreu, Andres [Discurso pronunciado el 15 de septiembre de 1839] (Guatemala: 1839), 5.Google Scholar

18 Aycinena, , Discurso de 1840, [10].Google Scholar See also Echeverria, Manuel Discurso que el 15 de setiembre de 1844, Aniversario XXIII de la Independencia de Centro-América.… (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1844), [4].Google Scholar Aycinena’s reversal earned him the scorn of his liberal colleagues. Much liberal historiography views this switch as a conservative scheme to coopt the ignorant and pliable Carrera. Evidence indicates that any alliance the Church made with Carrera was under taken with trepidation and not with patronizing arrogance. See Sullivan-González, Piety, Power, and Politics, chapter 5.

19 de Aycinena, Juan José Discurso pronunciado el 15 de setiembre de 1850, XXIX Aniversario de la Independencia de Guatemala (Guatemala: 1850), 12 (hereafter cited as Discurso 1850);Google Scholar Arellano, José Nicolás Sermón predicado el 15 de setiembre de 1845, vigésimo cuarto Aniversario de nuestra Independencia del Gobierno Español en la Santa Iglesia Catedral de Guatemala (Guatemala: 1845), 67 Google Scholar (hereafter cited as Sermón 1845); and Zeceña, Basilio Sermón que en la función de gracias celebrada el día 1 de enero de 1844 en la Sta. Iglesia Catedral antes las Supremas Autoridades del Estado Guatemalteco (Guatemala: 1844), 4 Google Scholar & 11 (hereafter cited as Sermón 1844).

20 Aycinena, Discurso 1840, 4. See also Aycinena, Juan José Discurso pronunciado el 15 de setiembre de 1848, XXVII Aniversario de la Independencia de Guatemala (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1848), 11;Google Scholar Pinol, Bernardo Discurso que en la solemne acción de grácias que mandó celebrar el supremo gobierno de la República de Guatemala por el restablecimiento de la paz el día 11 de febrero de 1849 (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1849), 5;Google Scholar and Urrutia, José Antonio Exhortación dirigida al pueblo de Guatemala en el llano del incienso en la fusilación de Feliciano Masariego el dia 3 de mayo de 1849 (Guatemala: Imprenta de Basilio Samayoa, 1849), [5].Google Scholar Even the Civil War in the United States was interpreted as divine punishment for straying from Divine Law. See Aycinena, Juan José Sermón predicado en la festividad del primer aniversario de la dedicación solemne del Templo Catedral de la Arquidiócesis de Santiago de Guatemala (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1861).Google Scholar

21 This 1843 Anniversary sermon by Francisco García Peláez was quoted by Montufar, in his Reseña histórica, vol. 4, p. 177.Google Scholar No copy of this sermon has been located in any of the researched archives.

22 Aycinena, , Discurso 1850, 9.Google Scholar

23 Aycinena, , Discurso 1840, 3.Google Scholar See also: Arellano, , Sermón 1845, 8;Google Scholar Aycinena, , Discurso 1850, 4,Google Scholar9,12; de Aycinena, Juan José Discurso pronunciado el 15 de setiembre de 1853, XXXII Aniversario de la Independencia de Guatemala (Guatemala: 1853), 4 Google Scholar (hereafter cited as Discurso 1853); and Aycinena, Juan José Aniversario XXXVIII de la Independencia de Guatemala. Discurso religioso pronunciado en la Santa Iglesia Catedral el 16 de septiembre de 1859 (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1859), 14;Google Scholar and Velez, Manuel Francisco Discurso político-religioso pronunciado en la S.I. Catedral el 15 de setiembre de 1869. XLVIII Aniversario de nuestra Independencia de la Monarquía Española (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1869), 1516,Google Scholar (hereafter cited as Discurso 1869). France’s “fall from grace” and ensuing social chaos was illustrative of a society’s straying from the straight and narrow. In the first Independence sermon, Castilla remarked that France, once made up of pious people, now found itself divided into parties and bathed in blood. See Castilla, José María Al heroico pueblo de Guatemala (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Libertad, 1821), 8;Google Scholar and Domínguez, José Mariano Sermón pronunciado en esta Santa Iglesia Catedral el 24 de junio, con motivo de la augusta ceremonia de la instalación del Soberano Congreso de estas provincias (Guatemala: 1823), 5.Google Scholar

24 Castilla, , Al heroico pueblo, 6.Google Scholar

25 Monroy, Agustín Estrada Datos para la historia de la iglesia en Guatemala, vol. 2, 277278.Google Scholar Within the numerous sermons printed during the first half of the nineteenth century, none could be found attributed to Castilla save the 1821 sermon. Recently arrived in the country in 1838, John Stephens encountered the reverend Castilla and confirmed the cleric’s prominence and his elite education. Castilla was on his way to Havana to negotiate for the Archbishop’s return from exile in Cuba. See Stephens, , Incidents of Travel, p. 49.Google Scholar

26 Escoto, Friar Luis Sermón que en la acción de grácias que el comercio de la ciudad de Guatemala tributó a María Santísima por haber libertado ambas Españas Europea y Americana de las asechanzas y tirania de Napoleon (Guatemala: 1808), [7].Google Scholar

27 Sicilia, y Montoya, , “Oración eucarística que pronunció … el martes 13 de diciembre de 1808 en la solemne acción de gracias que celebrar la M.N.Y.M.L. ciudad de Guatemala por la exaltación del Sr. Rey D. Fernando VII al trono de las Españas” in Guatemala por Fernando Séptimo el dia 12 de diciembre de 1808 (Guatemala: 1808), 13.Google Scholar

28 Francisco Ramón Casaus y Torres to Antonio Larrazábal, Havana, Cuba, November 8,1839, AHAG no. 41, Box T3 56.

29 Velásquez, Manuel Zacarías Discurso político-religioso pronunciado en la Santa Iglesia Catedral de Guatemala el día 15 de septiembre de 1844.… (Guatemala: Imprenta del Exercito, 1844), 1 (hereafter cited as Discurso 1844).Google Scholar

30 Aycinena, Juan José El toro amarillo, Biblioteca de Cultura Popular “20 de Octubre” vol. 54 (Guatemala: Editorial Jose Pineda de Ibarra, 1980),Google Scholar and Aycinena, Juan José Respuesta (Guatemala: Imprenta de la A. de Estudios, 1839), 14.Google Scholar

31 Lorenzo Montúfar asserts that Juan José Aycinena authored the October 1842 statement of Guatemala’s president, Mariano Rivera Paz’s that God’s continued blessing of Guatemala was evident in the September 15, 1842 execution of Morazán. Though there is cause for suspicion in much of Montúfar’s criticism of Aycinena (due to Montúfar’s unyielding obsession with this elite leader), I am inclined to agree, since the theological assumptions of Rivera Paz’s statement closely mirror Aycinena’s views. See Montufar, , Reseña histórica, vol. 4, p. 16.Google Scholar

32 For a descriptive biography of Juan José Aycinena, see David Lee Chandler, Juan José de Aycinena.

33 Aycinena, Juan José Aniversario XXXVII de la Independencia de Guatemala. Discurso religioso pronunciado en la Santa Iglesia Catedral el 16 de septiembre de 1858 (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1858), 12,Google Scholar (hereafter cited as Discurso 1858). Additionally, consult Aycinena, , Discurso 1837, [6];Google Scholar Aycinena, , Discurso 1850, 7;Google Scholar and de Aycinena, Juan José Sermón que en la fiesta anual que celebra el I. Colegio de Abogados el dia 18 de octubre de 1857 (Guatemala: 1857), 6.Google Scholar

34 Aycinena, , Discurso 1858, 7;Google Scholar and, Aycinena, Juan José Aniversario XLII de la Independencia de Guatemala. Discurso religioso pronunciado en la Santa Iglesia Catedral el 16 de setiembre de 1864 (Guatemala: 1864), 910 Google Scholar (hereafter, Discurso 1864). Additionally, consult de Aycinena, Juan José Sermón Predicado el 24 de Agosto de 1862. Trecentésimo Aniversario de la Reforma de Carmelitas Descalzas en la Iglesia de Santa Teresa de esta ciudad conventual de la misma orden (Guatemala: 1862), 5.Google Scholar See also Piñol, Bernardo Sermón que el día 29 de mayo de 1839 en la acción de grácias por la solemne instalación de la asamblea constituyente del Estado de Guatemala (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Academia de Estudios, 1839), 34 Google Scholar & 7 (hereafter Sermón 1839); and Suaso, Tomás Sermón predicado el quince de setiembre de mil ochocientos cuarenta y uno, Aniversario XX. de nuestra independencia del Gobierno Español, en la Santa Iglesia Catedral de Guatemala (Guatemala: Imprenta del Exército, 1841), 1.Google Scholar

35 de Peláez, Francisco García Discurso pronunciado el 15 de setiembre de 1856 XXXV Aniversario de la Independencia de Guatemala (Guatemala: 1856), 2 Google Scholar (hereafter cited as Discurso 1856), 4.

36 Zeceña, , Sermón 1844, 11;Google Scholar Peláez, Garcí Discurso 1856, 2;Google Scholar Piñol, , Sermón 1839, 9.Google Scholar Guatemalan clerics held to this one theological assumption more than most. Friar Juan de Jesús Zepeda surpassed most of his colleagues by treating this theological affirmation with great agility: “God allows ephemeral triumphs of evil in order to punish those who offend him and to test His Chosen ones in the crucible of adversity,” Descriptión del Templo de San Francisco de Guatemala, concluido el 22 de febrero de 1851, conteniendo una oración … (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1851), 11.

37 Weber, Max The Sociology of Religion, 4th ed. (Boston: Beacon Press, 1964), 16.Google Scholar

38 Ahlstrom, Sydney E. editor, Theology in America. The Major Protestant Voices from Puritanism to Neo-Orthodoxy (Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1967), pp. 2433.Google Scholar

39 Simpson, AlanThe Covenanted Community,” in Religion in American History: Interpretive Essays, ed. Mulder, John M. and Wilson, John F. (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1978), pp. 1920.Google Scholar

40 Thompson, Leonard The Political Mythology of Apartheid (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985), p. 170.Google Scholar

41 Brading, David A The First America: the Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State, 1492–1867 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 583584.Google Scholar See also Brading, D.A. The Origins of Mexican Nationalism (Cambridge: Centre of Latin American Studies).Google Scholar

42 Aycinena, , Discurso 1858, 14.Google Scholar

43 Peláez, García Discurso 1856, 2.Google Scholar Additionally, consult Aycinena, , Discurso 1853, 56;Google Scholar and Aycinena, , Discurso 1858, 4 Google Scholar & 7.

44 Facsimile del Acta de Independencia de Centro América. Firmada en la ciudad de Guatemala el 15 de septiembre de 1821 (Guatemala: Tipografía Nacional, 1934).

45 Aycinena, Juan José Discurso religioso pronunciado en la S.M.I. de Santiago de Guatemala, el 15 de septiembre de 1855. Aniversario XXXIV de Independencia (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz), 34 Google Scholar (hereafter Discurso 1855).

46 “En el día de la patria,” Siglo Veintiuno (September 15,1991): 10. Siglo Veintiuno’s editorial page challenged head-on the lingering notion that Independence cost nothing by accentuating the resistance and sacrifice of many Indians and creóles who either died in armed resistance (Manuel Tot in Verapaz) or were jailed. This troubling assertion must have originated in the stark contrast with neighboring Mexico’s bloody insurrection that stimulated a caste war led by Miguel Hidalgo.

47 Castilla, , Al heróico pueblo, 6.Google Scholar

48 Aycinena, , Discurso 1837, 5;Google Scholar Zeceña, Discurso el dia 15 de setiembre de 1839, Aniversario 18 de la Independencia (Guatemala: Imprenta del Gobierno, 1839), 15;Google Scholar Molina, , Discurso 1837, 2;Google Scholar and Herrarte, José Mariano Sermón predicado el quince de setiembre de mil ochocientos cuarenta Aniversario XIX de nuestra Independencia del Gobierno Español (Guatemala: Imprenta del Gobierno, 1840), 3.Google Scholar See also Aycinena, , Discurso 1850, 3.Google Scholar

49 Velásquez, Zacarías Discurso 1844, 8.Google Scholar His printed text referred to the clerics Ruiz, Miguelena, and Soto.

50 The friars were held in jail until 1819, when Fernando VII pardoned issued a general pardon. For further information on the conspiracy of Belén, see Arellano, J.E.Nicaragua,” in América Central, vol. 6 of the Historia general de la iglesia en América Latina (Spain: Ediciones Sígueme, 1985), 225.Google Scholar

51 Miguel Muñoz to Francisco Garía Peláez, Guatemala, December 15,1858, AHAG 1858.360, Box T2 124.

52 According to Estrada Monroy, Guatemala’s archbishop Casaus y Torres was handpicked to respond to Hidalgo’s Grito de Dolores. Casaus y Torres wrote the Cartilla de párrocos which was printed and circulated in Mexico and Central America. See Monroy, Estrada Datos, vol. 2, 223237.Google Scholar Also, Alejandro Marure published a perceptive tract in 1838 reminding his compatriots of what happened to European colonists in Santo Domingo (Haiti), who were killed indiscriminately by the ex-slaves in their revolt. Marure’s words reflected a constant fear among white Guatemalans as he warned of a possible caste war which could end “in our complete destruction.” See Marure, Alejandro Memoria sobre la insurrectión de Sta. Rosa y Mataquescuintla en Centro-América, 2122.Google Scholar

53 Aycinena, Juan José Aniversario XL de la Independencia de Guatemala. Discurso religioso pronunciado en la Santa Iglesia Catedral el 15 de Setiembre de 1861 (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1861), 910.Google Scholar Additionally consult de Aycinena, Juan José Discurso 1864, 511;Google Scholar de Aycinena, Juan José Aniversario XL (sic) de la Independencia de Guatemala. Discurso religioso pronunciado en la Santa Iglesia Catedral el 16 de Septiembre de 1862 (Guatemala: 1862), 4 (hereafter Discurso 1862);Google Scholar Aycinena, , Discurso 1850, 3;Google Scholar and Aycinena, , Discurso 1858, 7 Google Scholar & 11.

54 Larrazábal, AntonioFunerales celebradas en la Santa Iglesia Catedral,” Gaceta de Guatemala (March 21, 1851): 3;Google Scholar Rafael Carrera to the People of Guatemala, Chiquimula, February 5, 1851, AHAG Box 61 T6; and Peláez, Francisco García Nos el Doctor D. Francisco de Paula García Peláez … (Guatemala: January 4, 1851).Google Scholar In the Archbishop’s call for prayer, he reiterated that the spirit of rebellion and discord were God’s way of making the people atone for their sins. See also Peláez, García Discurso 1856, 8.Google Scholar In Aycinena, , Discurso 1853, 8,Google Scholar Aycinena affirmed God’s watchful care over Guatemala at the very moment invaders tried to conquer Guatemala.

55 de Aycinena, Juan José Oración fúnebre que pronunció en la S.I.M. de Guatemala el día 14 de enero de 1857, en las exequias solemnes por el descanso de los SS. Generales D. Mariano Paredes y D. Joaquín Solares, y demás gefes, oficiales y soldados muertos en la campaña de Nicaragua (Guatemala: 1857), 3.Google Scholar

56 Sor Maria Clara to Rafael Carrera, Capuchin Convent in Guatemala, December 3, 1863, AGCA B 118.6 Exp 53312 Leg 2443 Fol 4; Juan José Aycinena to Rafael Carrera, Guatemala, November 17, 1863, AGCA B 11–8.6 Exp 53278 Leg 2443 Fol 15; and Francisco García Peláez to Rafael Carrera, 16 noviembre 1863, AGCA B 118.6 Exp 53278 Leg 2443 Fol 14.

57 Aycinena, , Discurso 1850, 1314.Google Scholar

58 Aycinena, , Discurso 1862, 418;Google Scholar and Velez, , Discurso 1869, 9.Google Scholar See also: Aycinena, , Discurso 1853, 5;Google Scholar Aycinena, , Discurso 1850, 4 & 1314;Google Scholar Aycinena, , Discurso 1855, 58;Google Scholar and de Aycinena, Juan José Aniversario XXXVIII de la Independencia de Guatemala. Discurso religioso pronunciado en la Santa Iglesia Catedral el 16 de septiembre de 1859 (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1859), 5.Google Scholar

59 Antonio Larrazábal to General Secretary of Supreme Government, Guatemala, November 25, 1843, AHAG no. 142, Box T3 61. See Crowe’s, Frederick own bibographical account of his venture in Guatemala in the 1840s, The Gospel in Central America … A History of the Baptist Mission in British Honduras and of the Introduction of the Bible into the Spanish American Republic of Guatemala (London: Gilpin, 1850).Google Scholar

60 Aycinena, , Discurso 1850, 56;Google Scholar Puertas, Prudencio Discurso político-religioso pronunciado en la Sta. Iglesia Catedral el 15 de setiembre de 1854, XXXlll Aniversario de la Independencia de Guatemala (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1854) 8,Google Scholar (hereafter cited as Discurso 1854); and Arroyo, Ángel María Discurso político-religioso pronunciado … el día 15 de septiembre de 1871 en celebración del Aniversario L de la Independencia Nacional (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Luna, 1871), 9.Google Scholar Additionally, consult de Aycinena, Juan José Sermón predicado en la S. I. Metropolitana de Guatemala el día 1 de enero de 1864 (Guatemala: 1864), 34;Google Scholar Aycinena, , Discurso 1862, 56;Google Scholar Aycinena, , Toro Amarillo, 39.Google Scholar

61 Aycinena, , Discurso 1850, 12;Google Scholar Velez, , Discurso 1869, 14;Google Scholar Zeceña, , Sermón 1844, 4;Google Scholar Puertas, Prudencio Discurso 1854, 89 Google Scholar and Piñol, Bernardo Discurso pronunciado en la Santa Iglesia Catedral el 15 de setiembre de 1849 en el vigésimo octavo Aniversario de la Independencia (Guatemala: 1849), [45].Google Scholar See also Arellano, , Sermón 1845, 78;Google Scholar and Aycinena, Juan José Sermón predicado en la S.I.M. de Guatemala el día 1. de enero de 1862 en la función que se celebra con asistencia de todas las autoridades (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1962), 67.Google Scholar

62 Aycinena, , Discurso 1862, 16 & 18.Google Scholar

63 de Aycinena, Juan José Demostración del derecho de propiedad que en la plazuela llamada “Del Sagrado” tiene la Santa Iglesia Metropolitana de Guatemala (Guatemala: 1850), 18.Google Scholar This legal treatise, written in 1850 by Aycinena, concludes with an 1865 challenge by Archbishop García Peláez to Guatemalan officials who once again contested ecclesiastical ownership. When Church officials sought to sell the plaza in order to finance the building of the bell towers of the Cathedral, Municipal officials blocked the sale, arguing that they were the rightful owners of the small plaza despite the unusual circumstances of its seizure during the liberal anti-clerical measures of the 1820s.

64 Militar, Un Observaciones, 1.Google Scholar Like Milla, clerical and non-clerical discourse often focused on the Spanish conquest. In 1841, Basilio Porras minimized the historical blame falling on Spanish descendents of the conquistadors in nineteenth-century Guatemala. On the contrary, these descendents, exclaimed Porras, deserved credit for Independence from Spain. By the late 1860s, Christopher Columbus was described as a messenger of God. See Porras, Basilio Discurso de ley pronunciado en el Salón de sesiones de la Asamblea Constituyente el 15 de setiembre de 1841 (Guatemala: Imprenta del Gobierno, 1841), 2;Google Scholar and Antonio, José Urrutia Aniversario XLVII de la Independencia de Guatemala. Discurso religioso pronunciado en la Santa Iglesia Catedral el 15 de setiembre de 1868 (Guatemala: Imprenta de la Paz, 1868), 67.Google Scholar

65 Puertas, Prudencio Discurso 1854, 910.Google Scholar

66 Salvadoreños, Unos Observaciones al discurso pronunciado por el presbítero don Prudencio Puertas en la catedral de Guatemala, el 15 de setiembre de 1854 (San Vicente: Imprenta de Día, 1855), 4.Google Scholar Challenges to the Guatemalan and Salvadoran Catholic church intermittently emanated from critics in El Salvador. See Suárez, Manuel Aniversario XL de la Independencia de Centro-América. Discurso pronunciado en el salón del Supremo Poder Ejecutivo de la República del Salvador el 15 de setiembre de 1861 (San Salvador: Imprenta del Gobierno, 1861).Google Scholar

67 Carlos María Obispo de Chiapas to Francisco de Paula García Peláez, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico, June 13, 1857, AHAG 1857.191, Box T2 122.