Editing History of Ecuador (section)

==Struggle for independence and birth of the republic==

=== Quito Revolution (1809-1812) ===
{{main|Quito Revolution (1809-1812)}}

The struggle for independence in the [[Royal Audience of Quito|Quito Audiencia]] was part of a movement throughout Spanish America led by [[Criollo people|Criollos]]. The Criollos' resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the [[Peninsulares]] was the fuel of revolution against colonial rule. The spark was [[Napoleon]]'s invasion of Spain, after which he deposed [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|King Ferdinand VII]] and, in July 1808, placed his brother [[Joseph Bonaparte]] on the Spanish throne.<ref name="lcweb2">Rudolph, James D. "Historical Setting". ''[https://www.loc.gov/item/91009494/ A Country Study: Ecuador]'' (Dennis M. Hanratty, editor). [[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]] (1989). ''This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain.''</ref>

Shortly afterward, Spanish citizens, unhappy at the usurpation of the throne by the French, began organizing local [[Junta (Peninsular War)|juntas]] loyal to Ferdinand. A group of Quito's leading citizens followed suit, and on August 10, 1809, they seized power in the name of Ferdinand from the local representatives, whom they accused of preparing to recognize Joseph Bonaparte. Thus, this early revolt against colonial rule (one of the first in Spanish America) was, paradoxically, an expression of loyalty to the Spanish king.

It quickly became apparent that Quito's Criollo rebels lacked the anticipated popular support for their cause. As loyalist troops approached Quito, they peacefully turned power back to the crown authorities. Despite assurances against reprisals, the returning Spanish authorities proved to be merciless with the rebels and, in the process of ferreting out participants in the Quito revolt, jailed and abused many innocent citizens. Their actions, in turn, bred popular resentment among Quiteños, who, after several days of street fighting in August 1810, won an agreement to be governed by a junta composed with a majority of Criollos, although with the Peninsular president of the [[Royal Audience of Quito]] acting as its head.

In spite of strong opposition from the Quito Audiencia, the Junta called for a congress in December 1811 and declared the entire area of the audiencia to be independent of any government currently in Spain. Two months later, the Junta approved a constitution for the state of Quito that provided for democratic governing institutions but also granted recognition to the authority of Ferdinand should he return to the Spanish throne. Shortly thereafter, the Junta elected to launch a military offensive against loyalist regions to the south in Peru, but the poorly trained and badly equipped troops were no match for those of the Viceroy of Peru, which finally crushed the Quiteño rebellion in December 1812.

===Ecuadorian War of Independence (1820-1822)===
{{main|Ecuadorian War of Independence}}

[[File:Jose Antonio de Sucre.JPG|thumb|250px|General Antonio José de Sucre, Commander In Chief, ''División del Sur''.]]
The second chapter in Ecuador's struggle for emancipation from Spanish colonial rule began in Guayaquil, where independence was proclaimed in October 1820 by a local patriotic junta under the leadership of the poet [[José Joaquín de Olmedo]]. By this time, the forces of independence had grown continental in scope and were organized into two principal armies, one under the Venezuelan [[Simón Bolívar]] in the north and the other under the Argentine [[José de San Martín]] in the south. Unlike the hapless Quito junta of a decade earlier, the Guayaquil patriots were able to appeal to foreign allies, Argentina and Gran Colombia, each of whom soon responded by sending sizable contingents to Ecuador. [[Antonio José de Sucre]], the brilliant young lieutenant of Bolívar who arrived in Guayaquil in May 1821, was to become the key figure in the ensuing military struggle against the royalist forces.

After a number of initial successes, Sucre's army was defeated at Ambato in the central Sierra and he appealed for assistance from San Martín, whose army was by now in Peru. With the arrival from the south of 1,400 fresh soldiers under the command of [[Andrés de Santa Cruz|Andrés de Santa Cruz Calahumana]], the fortunes of the patriotic army were again reversed. A string of victories culminated in the decisive [[Battle of Pichincha]].

Two months later Bolívar, the liberator of northern South America, entered Quito to a hero's welcome. Later that July, he met San Martín at the [[Guayaquil conference]] and convinced the Argentine general, who wanted the port to return to Peruvian jurisdiction, and the local Criollo elite in both major cities of the advantage of having the former Quito Audiencia join with the liberated lands to the north. As a result, Ecuador became the District of the South within the Republic of Gran Colombia, which also included present-day [[Venezuela]] and [[Colombia]] and had Bogotá as its capital. This status was maintained for eight tumultuous years.

===Gran Colombia (1822-1830) ===
{{main|Gran Colombia}}
[[File:AGHRC (1890) - Carta XI - División política de Colombia, 1824.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Map of the former [[Gran Colombia]] in 1824 (named in its time as Colombia), Gran Colombia included all shaded areas.]]
These were years in which warfare dominated the affairs of Ecuador. First, the country found itself on the front lines of Gran Colombia's efforts to liberate Peru from Spanish rule between 1822 and 1825; afterward, in 1828 and 1829, Ecuador was in the middle of an armed [[Gran Colombia–Peru War|struggle between Peru and Gran Colombia]] over the location of their common border. After a campaign that included the near destruction of Guayaquil, the forces of Gran Colombia, under the leadership of Sucre and Venezuelan General [[Juan José Flores]], proved victorious. The Treaty of 1829 fixed the border on the line that had divided the Quito audiencia and the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] before independence.

The population of Ecuador was divided during these years among three segments: those favoring the status quo, those supporting union with Peru, and those advocating independence for the former audiencia. The latter group was to prevail following Venezuela's withdrawal from Gran Colombia at the very moment that an 1830 constitutional congress had been called in an ultimately futile effort to stem the growing separatist tendencies throughout the country.<br> 
In May of that year, a group of Quito notables met to dissolve the union with Gran Colombia, and in August, a constituent assembly drew up a constitution for the State of Ecuador, so named for its geographic proximity to the equator, and placed General Flores in charge of political and military affairs. He remained the dominant political figure during Ecuador's first 15 years of independence.