Quito Revolution (1809–1812)

This revolution was led by local intellectuals; doctors, marquises and Criollos residing in the city of Quito, without the involvement of any peninsular Spaniard.

[2] This event is known in Ecuador and other countries in the region as the First Cry of Hispanic American Independence, because it constituted the beginning of the emancipation process of Latin America.

They requested help from the territories of Cuenca, Guayaquil and Popayán, but these refused when they learned that the viceroy of Peru, José Fernando de Abascal, had embarked on a campaign against Quito.

[1] The massacre, ordered by the Royalist governor, Manuel Ruiz Urriés de Castilla had wide repercussions throughout Hispanic America, as was seen an act of barbarism and justification of the "War to the Death", later decreed by the liberator Simón Bolívar.

Representatives were immediately elected taking into account the three classes, as in France: the clergy, the nobility and the common people, the latter chosen by the method of electors.

[6] On 22 September, the elected representatives appointed Juan Pío Montúfar, II Marquis of Selva Alegre and father of the Royal Commissioner, as vice president of the Junta.

This was the first independent and sovereign State proclaimed on the territory of current Ecuador and exercised jurisdiction over the central and northern Sierra, as well as the Esmeraldas coastline.

[7] To defend the sovereignty of the new Republic, the people of Quito organized militias on different fronts, fighting a serie of battles against the Spanish troops even with the few resources they had on hand.

[8] The colonial Government was reestablished in the capital city and violently pacified by the Spanish under the rule of Toribio Montes and Melchior Aymerich for the next 10 years.