Gabriel García Moreno and Conservative State Formation in the Andes

Cover

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Front Matter

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Contents

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List of Illustrations

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pp. vii-viii

Acknowledgments

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pp. ix-x

During the many years it has taken me to conceptualize, research, and write this book, I have incurred numerous debts. First and foremost I want to thank those who made the time and effort to read the entire rough draft: Kris Lane, Ronn Pineo, Marc Becker, George Lauderbaugh, and especially my undergraduate mentor, J. Le�n Helguera of Vanderbilt University, who ...

Introduction

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pp. xi-xvi

Well beyond a century and a quarter following his death, Gabriel García Moreno remains “the most argued about personality in the history of Ecuador.”¹ His importance as Ecuador’s leading political figure from 1859 to 1875, however, extended far beyond the borders of this small (about the size of Colorado) Andean nation, as his actions and ideas resonated...

Chapter One. Preparing for National Leadership, 1821–1859

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pp. 1-30

Although it was the morning of Christmas Eve, one of the holiest days of the religious calendar, Do�a Mercedes Moreno de Garc�a decided not to attend Mass. She felt a stirring in her womb and, having given birth ten times previously (with eight children still living), she knew her time was near. A joyful mood filled the household, even though the family fortunes had ...

Chapter Two. Regionalism and Civil War, 1859–1860

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pp. 31-61

When Gabriel García Moreno was courting his future bride in 1846, one of his good friends from Quito wrote him: “Now we have the good fortune of seeing you completely established in our country [nuestro país, meaning Quito and the northern and central sierra] and united with one of the most distinguished señoritas we have.”¹ Certainly as of the 1860s, most Ecuadorians

Chapter Three. A Presidency Constrained I: Federalism and Domestic Policy, 1861–1865

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pp. 62-91

Having victoriously concluded the bitterly contested civil war, Garc�a Moreno faced the future with both hope and misgivings. On one hand, with General Franco and the liberal militarists exiled, Garc�a Moreno could begin to fashion his nation-building project. Years of traveling and observing the European world had provided him with ideas that he believed...

Chapter Four. A Presidency Constrained II: Foreign Entanglements, 1861–1865

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pp. 92-116

As much as the federalist Constitution of 1861 and the shaky state of Ecuador’s finances complicated García Moreno’s desire to create a modern Catholic state, foreign policy difficulties and wars hampered progress even more. Many critical biographers have attributed Ecuador’s foreign policy woes in the early 1860s to García Moreno’s irascible and impetuous temperament, ...

Chapter Five. Becoming the Indispensable Man, 1865–1869

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pp. 117-144

Regionalism and state-formation projects were not the only difficult issues facing Latin Americans in the nineteenth century. Additionally they had to contend with the phenomenon of caudillismo, the rule of the “indispensable leader” or military boss, who alone (at least in the leader’s mind) could rule a nation. During the years between 1865 and 1869, this chapter will ...

Chapter Six. Forging the National Soul: The Coming of the Catholic Nation

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pp. 145-176

As city after city capitulated peacefully to the coup of January 17, 1869, Gabriel García Moreno relished the opportunity to impose his vision of a modernizing Catholic state on Ecuador.¹ Not unreasonably, García Moreno interpreted the country’s acquiescence as a mandate for his ideas, or at the very least a recognition of his newfound popularity in the wake of ...

Chapter Seven. Caring for Earthly Needs: The Program for Economic Development

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pp. 177-208

Gabriel Garc�a Moreno was in many ways an unusual conservative politician. On one hand, he believed in conservative Catholic values as a means of unifying the country, as explained in the last chapter, while on the other hand, he strongly advocated economic and technical modernization. Th is chapter will focus on that second facet, the one that dwelled on the realm ...

Chapter Eight. Death and the Hereafter

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pp. 209-237

The previous chapters have examined García Moreno’s life and times chronologically while exploring themes of nineteenth-century Andean history, especially state formation. In contrast, this final chapter will focus on the events of a single day—August 6—during the remarkable year of 1875, in which Alexander Graham Bell made the fi rst telephone call, Georges Bizet’s ...

Conclusion

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pp. 238-244

The heated debate between liberals and conservatives about Garc�a Moreno and his role in the formation of the Ecuadorian state continues to the present. Perhaps the best evidence of the bitterness of this quarrel can be encapsulated in the controversies over whether statues of Garc�a Moreno ought to be placed in public spaces in Quito and Guayaquil. Given his ...

Notes

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pp. 245-288

Bibliography

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pp. 289-302

Index

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pp. 303-310