Women In Peruvian History

In Peruvian history, the people loved José de San Martín, an army general, and liberator extraordinaire. The people loved him so much that when he arrived in Lima, Peru in July, 1821, a lady walked up to him, swooned, fell into his arms, and repeatedly said “Mi General! Mi General!” San Martín was humbled, and he helped her up, and gave her an affectionate salute. Another woman approached him with her three sons, and offered them to him, so that they could become “useful members of society.” He graciously answered her, although it’s unknown whether he said yes. This woman offered all three of her sons to a man from Chile, whom the Limans had only met a few days before. These women loved San Martín, but many other Peruvians didn’t agree with
him, or his ideals.
The country of Peru gained independence from Spain in 1824, but before that, José de San Martín, the Argentine leader of the patriot army, proclaimed independence on July 28th, 1821. San Martín fought against the Royalist army led by Jose de la Serna in a series of battles, the townspeople of Lima signed the declaration of independence on July 15th, 1821, and Peru eventually became the last Latin American country to gain independence. The question is did the Peruvian people actually want the independence given to them, or were the forced to sign the declaration? According to William Spence Robertson, the first professor of Latin American history at the University of Illinois, everyone in Lima was overjoyed by the idea of independence. After the declaration San Martín held a ball, and people celebrated all over the city. Timothy E. Anna, professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba, provides a stark contrast to Robertson’s view. He claims that the declaration was faked, and the only reason Peruvians signed it was because they were afraid of San Martín’s foreign army. Carleton Beals, a prominent journalist on Latin American issues in the mid 1900s, introduces yet another argument about independence. He claims that independence ideals were a grassroots idea spread throughout the military. The signing of the declaration of independence was a key moment in the independence process, and can show evidence of the real mindset of the Peruvian people. Because José de San Martín’s army shut down trade, intimidated the people of Lima, and destroyed various cities off of the coast, the people of Peru didn’t actually want the independence he forced them into.
On March 1st, 1819, Bernard O’Higgins, a fellow revolutionary of San Martín, ordered that the coast of Peru be blockaded; this act stopped all trade, which caused the city of Lima to become a place rife with jealousy, and mistrust.
To quote Basil Hall, a British naval explorer and author of Extracts from a journal who was in Lima during the blockade, “In former times, said the Limenians, our city was that in which pleasure held her court; wealth and ease were our attendants; enjoyment was our only business; and we dreamt of no evil but an earthquake.” The people no longer had luxuries to show off, and weren’t able to have grandiose social events. People stopped getting together, causing them to become suspicious of each other. The war hadn’t affected Lima until the blockade, and the Limans were finally feeling the adverse effects of the war for independence. To reference Hall again, the “[lack of trade rendered] this once great, and luxurious, and happy city as one of the most wretched places on
Earth.”
On September 8th, 1820, José de San Martín’s army arrived in Pisco, Peru, and later San Martín’s coastal army led by Lord Cochrane, destroyed and pillaged towns along the coast, and both of these events caused the Peruvians to be afraid of San Martín.
The Limans were surprised by San Martín because he attacked from Chili, and they didn’t think Chili was capable of doing that. They didn’t want him to attack, and were afraid of him. (90) Basil Hall, a Scottish-British naval explorer recorded that there was a very tense atmosphere. (93) San Martín wanted to give the people the means to declare independence, and to make sure everything he did was for the people, but his army destroyed towns the people lived in. For example, the patriot forces pillaged Arica, a town on the coast of Peru. All the residents of Miraflores, a town 6 miles south of Lima, traveled to Lima because it was the only place where they felt safe. (113) San Martín’s army didn’t carry out what he said he would do, and instead they harassed the
people.
On the July 6th, 1821, Jose de la Serna, the viceroy of Lima left the city, causing mass panic. De la Serna only left behind a measly 200 rifles for the entire city, so they couldn’t fight and defend themselves. The people were surrounded by San Martín’s enemy force, they didn’t have a clear leader, and they were scared. The people rioted, and pandemonium filled the streets. Many people left Lima to go to Callao because they were scared of the enemy army surrounding them. As the day wound down, the people left shut themselves in their homes to stay safe. They were scared and confused and had no defenses so they sent a letter to San Martín to get him to come into the city to protect them. He was their only choice.
The Liman people signed the Peruvian Declaration of Independence on July 15th, 1821, but it didn’t represent the will of the people. Only 4,000 people of the 70,000 population of Lima were allowed to sign and actually did, so did it didn’t genuinely represent what the general public wanted. That’s only 5.7% of the population! Furthermore, Lima is only one city in Peru, what about all of rural peru? Did they want independence? Timothy E. Anna says no, they liked Peru the way it was. The people were afraid of San Martín’s army, and opposers were forced to sign in order to keep their jobs and homes because no one could safely disagree with a foreign, hostile army. The people of Lima had been taught to hate and fear the patriot army over the years. Carleton Beals, author of Eagles of the Andes; South American Struggles for Independence, “[San Martín] wanted the Peruvians themselves to be the ones to free their land.” (149) But quite obviously this wasn’t the case. Some of the royalists, and Europeans went into hiding because they didn’t support independence.
Even though Peru gained independence, it wasn’t the best option for the country, it didn’t represent the needs of the people. The revolutionary leaders were swept up in gaining independence for all of Latin America, rather than listening to what the people wanted.