Chilean Declaration of Independence

In English:Do you swear to defend the fatherland to the last drop of your blood, to keep it unharmed in the hands of Ferdinand VII, our lord, or his rightful heir; to uphold and protect our religion and our laws; to maintain justice and recognize the supreme Counselor of the Regency as the representative of His Royal Majesty?By 1817, the Chilean War of Independence had entered its final phase, and there was little doubt that its final goal, national independence, would be realized.

One of the first official documents to address the issue of independence was the Provisional Constitutional Regulations of 1812, introduced by José Miguel Carrera on 27 October 1812.

On 13 November 1817, the Superior Governmental Junta, in the absence of O'Higgins, who was overseeing military operations in the southern part of Chile, issued a decree declaring that a referendum was to be set up to run for fifteen days.

The referendum would be held in each of the four administrative quarters of Santiago, and would run for fifteen days, during which residents would sign their views in favor or against the Declaration of Independence.

The decree was sent alongside the referendum form to the authorities of the regional governments and bore the signatures of several Junta members: Luis de la Cruz, Francisco Antonio Pérez, José Manuel Astorga, and the Minister of the Interior Miguel Zañartu.

[1] However, in Concepción, the plebiscite was not complete, and was only held in a few locations, as reported by O'Higgins on 23 December 1817 from his camp opposite Talcahuano: "[...] habían empezado a remitir algunos partidos las suscripciones [...] pero las ocurrencias ulteriores en la provincia y la medida últimamente adoptada de hacer emigrar de ella a todos sus habitantes, no permiten esta operación".

This coincided with news about the upcoming arrival of a new Royalist expedition under the command of Spanish Brigadier Mariano Osorio, aimed at reconquering Chile.

On 1 January 1818, a message of independence asserting that Chile was a "free and sovereign country, not a rebel province" was drafted, written on a drum according to folklore.

The ceremony was opened by José Gregorio Argomedo, prosecutor of the Chilean Court of Appeals, who gave a speech representing the government, after which the minister Miguel Zañartu read the Act of Independence de la Cruz then requested the oath from José Ignacio Cienfuegos, administrator of the Santiago Diocese, who had earlier added the phrasing "Y así juro porque creo en mi conciencia que ésta es la voluntad del Eterno" ("And so I swear on my conscience that this is the will of the Eternal").

Another document, which covered the motives behind the revolution and declaration of independence, written by Bernardo Vera, was also distributed to the public to a lesser extent.