September 1811 Chilean coup d'état

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for the 27th. It was aimed at removing some individuals from Congress, Commander of Artillery Francisco Javier Reina, and I don't remember what other things. Those directing the work were Martínez de Rozas and Larraines, joined by Antonio Álvarez Jonte. It seemed to me that the project contained a great deal of ambition and decisions detrimental to the cause and to my brothers, who were the executors. I begged them to postpone that deadline until my return from Valparaíso, where I was to return so that Fleming could come to see the capital. He offered to do so and complied, in spite of the fact that in the morning many of those invited were present for the purpose.

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because of his gold buckles, powder, fat cane, scarlet cape and velvet shoes, had to be more Gothic than Mayor; that is why I erased Mayor with my pencil and put Eyzaguirre (...) This was my sin and the only intrigue of that day; everything else was the work of the Ottoman House. However, his intention did not prosper, since he was the only congressman whom the Congress refused to expel.

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more could we want?”. I was uncomfortable with his pride, and I unwisely wanted to answer him by asking him who had the presidency of the bayonets. This joke made such a strong impression on him that he demurred, and that night my boldness was criticized in the family, and many of them dictated the precautionary measures to be taken with the Carreras, particularly with me.

341:, thus facilitating an eventual representation of Rozas in the area. After the rejection of the Congress to the proposal, and in view of the impossibility of carrying out measures to give the Kingdom a more patriotic course, on August 9, the 12 exalted deputies withdrew from the Congress arguing how scandalous the increase from 6 to 12 deputies to represent Santiago was. 688:

Larrain, Don Carlos Correa, Don Gregorio Argomedo, and Commissioner Carrera, and with imperious voices they urged the Congress to omit discussions and doubts in what the people were requesting, and to promptly sanction it to the letter, with the understanding that they were not allowed freedom to leave the room without the complete granting of all that was requested.

464: 439:(today's Plaza de la Constitución). There he had arrived riding a horse and dressed in the garb of a sergeant major of the Hussars of Galicia regiment, he set out to carry out an elaborate plan that he had designed with his brothers and his haranguers. However, nothing went according to plan. According to the account of 839:

Another result derived from this movement will be the primacy that the Larraín clan will have in the new configuration of the political panorama after the revolution of September 4. As Carrera himself recognizes, they were the ones who carried out the whole background of the military uprising and who

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Fray Joaquín invited me for a walk in the company of Juan Enrique Rosales, Ramírez, Izquierdo and Pérez. On the way, after a few bottles of punch, Fray Joaquín said: "We have all the presidencies at home: me, President of Congress; my brother-in-law, of the Executive; my nephew, of the Audience; what

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A simple reading of the foregoing writing clearly demonstrates the aims and means of the whole spirit of innovation that animated the factious, removing the hypocritical veil of adherence to Ferdinand the Seventh and other disguises, with which they foolishly and perfidiously cover their projects and

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When I appeared in the hall of Congress after agreeing to the intimation, they begged me (particularly the President Don Juan Zerdán) to stay in their company to avoid insults and so that I could understand the people; I agreed. Soon after, some of the deputies, who were in a hurry to eat, said: "Let

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before the Chilean Junta, sought in the Carrera brothers the managers of the military movement. However, at first, José Miguel Carrera, indicated to his brothers to move away from the intentions of the exalted ones, and tried to delve into the motivations of the patriots to carry out the movement, to

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However, Gonzalez's widow and children would have been favored with her husband's salary, according to Carrera's Diary: The widow of the dead sergeant was granted her husband's entire salary, for herself and her children during her entire life; it took a great deal to obtain this decree from the new

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On the 4th, from 6 o'clock in the morning, seventy Grenadiers entered in parade and in disguise at the house of Carrera, where a plentiful lunch and plenty to drink were served, after which diligence the object of their meeting was discovered, offering them great prizes if they would force and seize

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side was defeated in the crucial election held in Santiago, where the victory was even more resounding due to the increase of representatives that the city of Santiago suffered, going from 6 to 12 members. This motivated the repeated complaints of the faction more inclined to pro-independence ideas,

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On September 16, the news of this meeting was known in Santiago, awakening the fear of a rupture within the country. However, when the reasons for the southern revolution were known, it was immediately known that both movements, that of Santiago and Concepción, were inspired by the same intentions,

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However, in spite of being in minority, the exalted sector of the Congress tried to obstruct within its capacities the proposals of royalists and moderates, but without obtaining many credits. After the failed military attempt that the exalted had prepared for July 27, which was not carried out due

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Carrera, in the list he had, should have included Alcalde among those expelled, however: I did not know anyone except through those at the meetings; but I did not fail to recognize the part that the faction had. It occurred to me when I handed in the sheet containing the petitions that Eyzaguirre,

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The pressure exerted by the grenadier battalion that approached the Congress hall when they began to protest generated immediate fear, which was mitigated by the assurances about their safety that Carrera made to the Congress as long as the proposals were accepted. Moments later, Carrera, tired of

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After reading the popular writing, it was seen that it contained 13 articles or petitions of difficult execution, in such an anguish of time and several views and opinions were raised, which observed by the seditious ones from the antechamber, they entered a second time with the former Mercedarian

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shot him dead on the spot. Faced with the defenselessness of the guard and the quick maneuver of the Carrera family, the artillery barracks was taken and with the passing of the minutes, pickets of grenadiers gathered there and formed under the orders of the Carrera family and the officers who had

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A great triumph was achieved by the patriots when they avoided sending funds to Captain Fleming to send them to Spain with the purpose of sustaining the war that this country was facing against the Napoleonic army. However, they received a clear and convincing defeat when the Congress rejected the

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That night, after the embrace of my family, I retired to sleep in the company of my brother Don Juan José, who somehow imposed on me the situation of my country. He told me that he was arriving at the time of a revolution that would take place at ten o'clock on the 28th. It was actually scheduled

683:, saw that the insurgents were using the people as an excuse to carry out their movement, others argued that only the Congress was representative of the people and tried to assert their rights. But Martínez explains how the congressmen went from defending their rights to fearing for their lives: 229:

I asked why and for what purpose such a resounding revolution was intended; I was told: The Congress and part of the troops are in the power of inept men and enemies of the cause. All the sane part of the people clamor to remedy this evil and it is not possible because there is no freedom; it is

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Rozas, who had left Santiago on August 13 when he saw that the supremacy of the moderate and royalist deputies was insurmountable, arrived in Concepcion on the night of the 25th, being received in a great manner by his friends. He quickly put into action his plan to spread the injustices of the

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Don Manuel Fernández will be confined to Combarbalá, Don Domingo Díaz Muñoz and Don Juan Antonio Ovalle to their estates, for six years; and if any plot or infraction is understood, they will be put to the sword as traitors to the King and the homeland. Don Antonio Mata to his farm and Don Juan

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At that moment, José Miguel Carrera's troops arrived and did not face any kind of resistance. Even the militias in charge of protecting the congressmen laid down their arms when they saw the rebels with their artillery pieces, so they were sent to their homes by the insurrectionists. Before the

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instead of following the traditional interpretation that speaks of a struggle between exalted or radicals against royalists or conservatives. Martínez de Rozas is postulated as the leader of a faction desirous of a strong government, and that in great part, will join the later government of

713:, was announced to those gathered in the square. However, the discussions of the proposals would have extended until 11 o'clock at night, putting an end to a whole day of unforeseen actions and situations that would change the until then undecided course of the pro-independence revolution. 1094:

I saw him (Friar Joaquín) looking over the Mint, Tobacco Administration, customs and other small jobs of this nature; it is true that the poor little man needed to accommodate his brothers Martín first and Martín second, his nephew-in-law Antonio José de Irisarri and a portion of poor and

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and part of the exalted deputies that had retired on August 9, who gave Carrera a paper containing the petitions of the people, where the petitions that the Larraínes had predesigned were found. When Carrera surveyed the petitions with the opinions of those gathered, it happened that

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The presentation of the petitions to Congress immediately generated discord in the collegiate body, since not a few realized the political imbroglio that this entailed, as well as the complexity for a realistic and moderate parliament to accept such radical proposals. Some, like

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took out and put people in Congress thanks to the intervention of the Carrera family, partly due to their greater political management, partly because of their lack of detailed knowledge of the political networks operating in the country. It will be precisely the primacy of the

308:, to continually challenge their political opponents, the first and main dispute being the modification of the original intention of electing 6 deputies for Santiago to 12, favoring the royalist intentions, since except for the first majority, which was obtained by the patriot 1045:

On this point there is no consensus among the sources. While Carrera says that after entering the Congress he went out to look for the people's petitions, others, like Martínez (and Barros Arana) say that Carrera immediately burst into the Congress hall with the list of

567:" were quickly heard in the square and the grenadier officers who were guarding the doors of Congress, in collusion with the Carrera family, fulfilled the mission they had previously received: to close the doors of Congress so that no legislator would leave the room. 803:

will become the new mechanism of power within the republic, turning the rest of the political bodies into mere puppets of Carrera's intentions. This vision of the primacy of military force over politics can be seen in the following words of José Miguel Carrera:

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was for a long time the leader of the exalted faction. However, the continuous erosion of his figure and the inability to turn the hand of the realistic and moderate majority, made him give up continuing the political struggle in Santiago and so he traveled to

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to the absence of Juan José Carrera with his troops who followed his brother's advice, the patriots focused their forces on preventing the election of a new executive board in the Congress, since they knew that they would be defeated again by the majority.

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acting as interpreter between Cerdán and the people, withdrew from the room leaving Larraín and Correa, who continued with the task of making the petitions concrete. By three o'clock in the afternoon, the creation of an Executive Board made up of

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that prevailed in the Congress. Melchor Martínez gives an account of the feeling that took hold among the royalists after learning more concretely the news about Concepción and thus noting the absolute triumph of the patriotic cause:

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who were on guard. The guards gathered in the western sector of the square to witness the skillful tricks that Carrera performed with his horse, thus neglecting the barracks. At that moment, the Carrera brothers, who had engaged in a

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was initially trapped in the disputes between the exalted and the Saracens. The latter, together with the moderates, were opposed to breaking with the metropolis, although they agreed to approve some advances, such as freedom of

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had been consummated with the seizure of the artillery barracks, José Miguel Carrera organized his artillerymen and grenadiers in a line plus four cannons that he took from the barracks and set out for the main square (today's

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In addition, Concepción called on neighboring parties in the province not to recognize Santiago and to join its just cause, along with promoting local boards to review the conduct of their deputies. Thus, in some cases, as in

748:, the representatives of Concepción were stripped of their powers for having allowed the entry of the twelve deputies from Santiago, and new representatives were elected, among them, Fray Orihuela himself, a fervent patriot. 517:, who was part of the conspiracy and acted as a spy inside the barracks, suddenly took his weapon from the sentry at the door of the barracks. Upon noticing what was happening, the sergeant on duty, Juan Gonzalez shouted " 448:

the Artillery park; inflaming them with the false species that this corps, united with the four quartered companies of the Regiment of the King, had prepared to assault the Grenadier barracks and put them all to the sword.

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Congress with the appointment of the twelve deputies for Santiago and emphasized the mere observance of the deputies for Concepción. When Rozas gave the news of the resounding withdrawal of the twelve exalted deputies,

591:(not the one that the Larraínes had assured to Carrera), José Miguel Carrera got off his horse and entered the plenary of the Congress. He demanded that the congressmen listen to the people, but the president of the 844:

that will outrage José Miguel Carrera as time goes by, since he will notice what the true intentions of the Larraínes were, together with their own ambitions for power. But in spite of the continuous rebuffs that

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was the one who actually carried out the whole conspiracy against the Congress, and for this he used José Miguel Carrera. Some time later, both characters became enemies and Carrera sent Fray Joaquín Larraín into

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It can be established that the great peculiarity of the Revolution of September 4 will have in the political scenario of the young republic will be the irruption of a new actor in the independence movement: the

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made to Carrera, finally the formula of the use of military force had already been tested, which will impel Carrera to get rid of the Larraínes and at the first excuse he found he carried out a new

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That the current Vocales del Poder Ejecutivo be removed, and five be named, which were Encalada, Rosales, Rozas (and due to his absence Benavente), Mackenna and Marín, Secretaries Vial and Argomedo.

470:, captain of artillery, was in charge of locking the officer on duty at the barracks in his room to ensure, together with other officers, that the guards did not take possession of their weapons. 578:

where the people gathered to accept the proposals that Carrera delivered to Congress. According to the chronicler Manuel Antonio Talavera, the factious mob consisted of no more than 30 people

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deputies withdrew from the legislative assembly on August 9. With the change in the course of the revolution, Martinez de Rozas traveled to the south to carry out a revolutionary movement in

502:, locked the room to leave the officer locked up and together with other officers stood in front of the checkpoint's armament with his sword drawn to prevent any soldier from taking his 909:, together with those who were still loyal to the Spanish monarchy. Of course, those who most used the term would be the patriots, as clearly demonstrated by the case of Carrera in his 629:

That the number of deputies from Santiago be reduced to seven, and that of the province of Concepción, which had more, to two, leaving the rest of the provinces with one representative.

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to impose his ideas, but on July 27 only a few individuals had gathered and neither Juan José Carrera nor his Grenadiers had shown up. Seeing all the doors closed, the most radical and

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denounced the intentions of the Santiago aristocracy to keep the people in servitude, and his words were deeply heard by the patriots of Concepción who asked the Governor to call an

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That the deputies of Santiago, Infante, Portales, Ovalle, Díaz Muñoz, Chaparro, Tocornal and Goycolea be separated; and to complete the seven that were to remain, Larraín and Correa.

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Revoluciones de Chile: discurso histórico, diario Imparcial, de los sucesos memorables acaecidos en Santiago de Chile, desde el 25 de mayo de 1810 hasta el 20 de noviembre de 1811

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Revoluciones de Chile: discurso histórico, diario Imparcial, de los sucesos memorables acaecidos en Santiago de Chile, desde el 25 de mayo de 1810 hasta el 20 de noviembre de 1811

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to request the corresponding measures, but it was indicated that the people were too timid and would not get together. Then Carrera indicated that the best thing would be for the

422:, which would take place on September 5, without knowing the events that had already taken place in the city of Santiago on the 4th, and which were led by the Carrera brothers. 731:

to promote his exalted ideas. In this city his speech would have great acceptance and on September 5 an open town hall would be held rejecting the twelve deputies for Santiago.

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were the ones who, using the military power they controlled, gave an important impulse to install independence ideas within the process of emancipation from the Spanish Empire.

390:, his close alliance with Álvarez Jonte and his presumed responsibility in the Figueroa mutiny. However, in the elections for the conformation of the national Congress, the 857:

at the head of the government. The quarrels generated between the Carrera and the Larraínes reached such an extreme that some time later Fray Joaquín Larraín was exiled to

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Martinez mentions that there were 13 petitions, Egaña presents only 8, Carrera however presents a text containing the petitions, he does not present them point by point.

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the one in charge of making peace with the new Congress. In this way the patriot movement, instinctively and in parallel, had managed to give two fierce blows to the

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However, Rozas was a man not very well liked by the Santiago aristocracy and they questioned a series of actions he had carried out during the last year, such as the

1588: 560:). During the morning, the Congress had been in session as usual and they were unaware of the movements that had just taken place in La Moneda. However, shouts of " 1489: 1364: 1329: 230:

necessary to resort to the force commanded by the good patriots, which is the only hope that remains. We will all sacrifice our lives to save the motherland.

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When Carrera came out again to the square, he communicated to those gathered the intention of the Congress to listen to their petitions. In the act arrived

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It was at that moment when the clock struck twelve, and, as planned, seventy men of the grenadier battalion came out of their hiding place in the house of

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That the Fiscal Agent Sanchez, and the City Attorney Rodriguez; the Aldermen Cruz and Mata, and the Government Clerk Borquez be separated from their jobs.

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Barros, Arana. "Revolución del 4 de septiembre: renovación del Congreso: período de grandes reformas legislativas (septiembre - noviembre de 1811)".

969:, the instigators of the military movement were: the priest Joaquín Larraín, Juan Enrique Rosales, Carlos Correa, Gaspar Marín, Nicolás Matorras and 380:. Opposing them were those who would later become liberals and radicals, in favor of greater popular participation and limiting governmental powers. 100: 901:

was only used at the time to describe those who supported royalist ideas. However, its pejorative use can be ruled out, since even authors such as

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Memoria Histórica Sobre la Revolución de Chile Desde el Cautiverio de Fernando VII Hasta 1814. Escrita por Orden del Rey por Fray Melchor Martínez

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Memoria Histórica Sobre la Revolución de Chile Desde el Cautiverio de Fernando VII Hasta 1814. Escrita por Orden del Rey por Fray Melchor Martínez

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us hear once and for all what the people want. Don José Miguel Carrera can demand that they make their requests in writing to avoid confusion".

212:. Upon his return to Santiago, on August 11 or 12, Carrera began to learn about the revolutionary plans of the until then patriot minority (or 1533: 1294: 304:

who were either adherents to the royalist ideas, or who were indifferent to the actions that were taking place. This led the patriots, led by

1140: 1598: 188:, who informed him of the events taking place in Santiago, and immediately set sail for the capital city, arriving on the night of the 26. 595:

asked him to accompany him to listen to the petitions, and there were curious anecdotes, such as those expressed by Carrera in his Diary:

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to accede to most of the requests, whose main impact resided in suspending from their positions a group of men considered inclined to the

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sustained by military support. Independently of the great progress made by the nation during Carrera's government, since September 4 the

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was in charge of the action of the seventy grenadiers. The only death of the entire revolution occurred as a result of one of his shots

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That no friar could be a deputy, nor be elected, or admitted to this position, subjects who are not of proven adherence to the system.

268:, who however did not attend to his requests to comply peacefully with the demands. José Miguel Carrera warned Pérez for his refusal: 657:

That Don Francisco Lastra be named Governor of Valparaíso in the vacancy of Don Juan Mackenna, who was removed for Vocal de la junta.

494:. Although the officer apologized saying that he did not have an inkwell, the Carrera family begged the officer so much to write the 1508: 1478: 1445: 1226: 1198: 367:

There are many authors who interpret the Chilean political scene at the end of 1810 and the beginning of 1811 as a struggle between

1593: 173: 107:) or in their absence moderates, and changing them for men recognized for their patriotic ideas. This was the first of the four 613: 292: 282: 1189:

Barros Arana, Diego (2002). "Instalación del Congreso Nacional; Actitudes de los diversos partidos; Temores de una reacción".

118: 114: 436: 205: 744:, which was held on September 5, without knowledge of the events that had occurred the day before in Santiago. In this 583:

expectation of the congressmen and the people that began to accumulate in the square, that according to the chronicler

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that he agreed to go write it in a nearby room. Moments after the officer entered the room, the artillery captain

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Martínez de Rozas fell even more in disgrace after his failed attempt to resort to the realization of a military

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was quickly imposed before the Congress and after that Carrera, presenting a list of petitions on behalf of the

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However, upon his arrival in Santiago, he found the news that a revolutionary movement, led by his brother,

877: 176:), José Miguel Carrera embarked on the English warship "Standard" to his homeland, arriving at the port of 881: 811: 694: 609: 605: 147: 77: 51: 510: 757: 481:

with his impeccable and luxurious clothing, riding his horse, which attracted the attention of all the

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to sign the demands to the Congress and that he, in command of the Grenadiers, would support the plan.

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to give them a piece of paper of recommendation to send some horses to the farm of a brother of theirs

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The version varies according to the source: According to Barros Arana, what was said would have been

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for some unhappy people for whom everything was the same, each one of the petitions was given a viva.

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Upon learning of the intentions, Carrera at first suggested to gather the people together with the

721: 710: 944: 885: 756:, instead of deposing their representative, the people praised and reelected the patriot deputy 435:

On Wednesday, September 4, a little before noon, José Miguel Carrera arrived at the Plazuela de

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Carrera never mentions that among the petitions was the appointment of his father as Brigadier.

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with the officer in charge and the rest of the barracks guard, asked the officer of the guard

396: 355: 165: 108: 65: 1456: 1265: 1221:(in Spanish). Vol. III. Santiago de Chile, Sociedad Comercial y Editora Santiago Ltda. 384: 130: 43: 403:, who had displaced the defeated Martínez de Rozas in the control of the opposition to the 923: 250:

In spite of Carrera's commitment to the exalted, he hesitated a lot before launching the

1567: 256: 125:. In addition, this military movement had the peculiarity of being the first successful 861:

by Carrera, and this one in his diary does not hide his bad vision about Fray Larraín.

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that characterized the political life of Carrera, who also resorted to this formula on

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saw that the movement used the figure of the people only as an excuse to achieve power

513:, which was right behind the artillery barracks. At the same time, artillery sergeant 1577: 706: 680: 671: 312:, the rest of the seats were awarded to royalists and above all to indifferent ones. 264:, and for this he personally went to talk to the president of the National Congress, 221: 185: 181: 177: 741: 621:

The petitions that later, back in Congress, Carrera will impose are the following:

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so the fears disappeared and the deputies of Concepción were received, being Fray

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That the Corps of Patriots that had been discussed in the first meeting be formed.

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However, at about noon, José Miguel Carrera arrived with his brothers outside the

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