Chilean Declaration of Independence

Chilean Declaration of Independence document preserved at the National Congress of Chile, Valparaíso

The Chilean Articles of Confederation is a document declaring the independence of Chile from the Spanish Empire. It was drafted in January 1818 and approved by Supreme Director Bernardo O'Higgins on 12 February 1818 at Talca, despite being dated in Concepción on 1 January 1818.[1][2] The ceremony of independence was performed on 12 February 1818, the first anniversary of the Battle of Chacabuco.

The original document, displaying manuscript comments by O'Higgins, was damaged at the Palace of the Real Audiencia of Santiago.[3] In 1832, under President José Joaquín Prieto, a new copy was sent to Peru to be signed by O'Higgins, and later by his former ministers, Miguel Zañartu, Hipólito Villegas and José Ignacio Zenteno, who were still living in Chile.[1] This copy was kept at the Palacio de La Moneda until the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, when it was destroyed during the fighting.[4]

  1. ^ a b Barros Arana, Diego (1890). "Arribo y desembarco de la expedición española: proclamación y jura de la indepedencia de Chile (Diciembre de 1817 – Febrero de 1818)". Historia General de Chile [General History of Chile] (in Spanish). Vol. XII. Santiago: Imprenta Cervantes.
  2. ^ Encina, Francisco (1984). "La expedición de Osorio. Proclamación de la Independencia de Chile" [The expedition of Osorio. Proclamation of the Independence of Chile]. Historia de Chile desde la Prehistoria hasta 1891 [History of Chile from Prehistory to 1891] (in Spanish). Vol. XIV. Santiago: Editorial Ercilla.
  3. ^ Fernández Ruiz, Roberto (17 September 2006). "¿Dónde se firmó el Acta de la Independencia?" [Where was the Act of Independence signed?]. El Sur (in Spanish). Concepción. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Destacados del año 1973" (in Spanish). Medios Digitales Copesa. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2018.