[1] A year after Joaquín Mariano was born his great uncle José Antonio de Oreamuno y Vásquez-Meléndez was appointed acting governor of the province.

[2] The local school provided only a basic education, but Oreamuno gained hands-on experience in managing the family livestock farm and negotiating with dealers and officials.

He taught himself the elements of law and medicine from his father's library, developed a taste for literature and even wrote some poetry and plays.

[4] In January 1782 he was elected Mayordomo de Propios(es), an unpaid position in which he was responsible for managing the assets and income of the city council.

[6] On 27 March 1787 Oreamuno was appointed notary public of the vicariate of Cartago by Juan Félix de Villegas, Bishop of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

[14] During December 1821 and the first two weeks of January 1822 Costa Rica began to comply with the stipulations of the Covenant of Concord, which would form a government while the situation with the Mexican Empire was being clarified.

[18] The agrarian and aristocratic landowners of Cartago and Heredia wanted to maintain the privileges they had held under the former Spanish empire.

[20] A new Governing Council was elected in Cartago on 24 December 1822 and took office on 1 January 1823, with José Santos Lombardo Alvarado as president.

[21] In February the discussions between annexationists and non-annexationists became extremely heated, and the council ordered open meetings in all the towns to draw up three lists by 2 March: those in favour of the empire, the republicans and those who wanted some other option.

[22] By March 1823 the Superior Governing Council of Costa Rica had still not declared allegiance to the emperor, and the conservatives decided to stage a coup.

[19] On 29 March 1823 a group of Cartago residents led by Oreamuno occupied the army barracks and proclaimed that Costa Rica would join the Mexican Empire.

[19] There was an attempt to negotiate, but that quickly broke down and both sides began firing their muskets from the cover of the large volcanic rocks that litter the area.