Juan Manuel Rodríguez
Encyclopedia
Federal Republic of Central America
The Federal Republic of Central America, known as the United Provinces of Central America in its first year of creation, was a sovereign state in Central America, which consisted of the territories of the former Captaincy General of Guatemala of New Spain...
(briefly in 1824).
He was born in San Salvador to Pedro Delgado and Josefa Rodríguez. His father was Panamanian and his mother Salvadoran. They were not married.
Early career
He was one of the leaders of the independence movements in 1811 and 1814. Together with Father José Matías DelgadoJosé Matías Delgado
José Matías Delgado y León was a Salvadoran priest and doctor known as El Padre de la Patria Salvadoreña...
and Manuel José Arce
Manuel José Arce
General Manuel José Arce y Fagoaga was a decorated General and president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1825 to 1829.- Background :...
he participated in the first Cry for Independence on November 5, 1811.
He was secretary of the junta that in November 1811 functioned as the first independent government of the province. He was mayor of San Salvador in 1814, elected by popular vote. In this position, he supported the insurrectionary movement of January 24, 1814. He was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison, but was pardoned in 1819.
In November 1821 he was named a member of the governing body of the Province of El Salvador. The following January he signed the act separating El Salvador from the old Kingdom of Guatemala, in order to avoid incorporation into the Mexican Empire, which Guatemala had approved. He was commissioned along with Arce and other deputies of the provincial congress to negotiate in Washington, D.C. for the admission of El Salvador to the United States. The fall of the Mexican Empire in 1823 and the independence of Central America ended this diplomatic initiative.
As chief of state of El Salvador
On April 22, 1824 the constituent assembly elected Rodríguez chief of state, and the following day he put into effect the abolition of slavery in the state (declared on December 31, 1823). The government also decreed the foundation of the Diocese of San Salvador, and made Father José Matías Delgado, hero of the independence movement, the first bishop.In May 1824 the National Assembly of the State ordered the new constitution published and sworn to. Rodríguez established the Supreme Court of Justice. He called elections for chief of state, which were won by Juan Vicente Villacorta Díaz
Juan Vicente Villacorta Díaz
Juan Vicente Villacorta Díaz was a Central American politician. From July 10, 1823 to March 15, 1824 he was a member of the triumvirates that governed the Federal Republic of Central America...
, with Mariano Prado
Mariano Prado
Mariano Prado Baca was a Central American lawyer and a four-time, liberal chief of state of El Salvador, while it was a state in the Federal Republic of Central America ....
as vice-chief of state. On October 1, 1824 it transferred the executive power from Rodríguez to Prado pending the inauguration of Villacorta. The latter took office on December 13, 1824.
During Rodríguez's term of office, the first official printing press in El Salvador entered service (June 1824). It printed the first newspaper in the state, El Semanario Político Mercantil. The first issue appeared on July 31, 1824.
Later life
After supporting the party of the fiebres for years and serving as treasury secretary, Rodríguez retired to private life. He passed his later years at his haciendaHacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
"San Jerónimo", near Cojutepeque. He took minor orders with the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s and performed charitable works. He died of colera
Cólera
Cólera is a Brazilian punk rock band formed in October 1979 in São Paulo, by Redson , Val and Pierre . They are currently one of the oldest punk bands in activity in Brazil, with a career that spans almost 30 years...
on his hacienda in 1847.