Progressive Chile

by Robert E. Mansfield

BRIEF HISTORY

For more than five hundred years previous to the discovery of America, the territory which now constitutes the Republic of Chile was inhabited by bands of nomadic, barbarous Indians. The indigenous races of Chile possessed none of the arts of civilization. They had no knowledge of cultivating the soil, and the rich mineral resources of the country remained undisturbed and undeveloped during all the centuries in which they were left in undisputed possession. They had no system of government, no recognized social or moral laws, no commerce, no medium of exchange, no occupations. The nearest approach they had to houses were rude huts “rucas,” made from the branches of trees, which afforded little protection against rain or cold; neither had they clothing with which to cover their bodies or protect them from the elements. They were nomadic, cannibalistic savages, living like the beasts of the forests, subsisting upon wild fruits, berries, nuts, and such animals as they could capture or kill with crude weapons, made from wood and bamboo. There being few animals and birds indigenous to the country, the Indians were often driven to the extremity of eating insects, mollusks, lizards and reptiles, as a means of sustaining life. The absolute lack of civilization, the low level of the intellectual standard, depraved moral condition, vicious habits and disgusting customs that prevailed among the indigenous races of Chile previous to the peaceful conquest of portions of the territory by the Incas, finds few parallels in the history of the world. Might was right; there was no law, no restraint, no incentive or encouragement to progress or improvement; no punishment provided for those who committed murder and outrage. When one person killed another, he feasted upon the flesh of his vanquished adversary, eating it raw, the formality of cooking being dispensed with.

When the character of the aborigines of Chile is taken into consideration; the conditions out of which the Republic was evolved, a century ago—1810; the elements amalgamated into the present homogeneous population, inherited peculiarities, traditional customs and superstitions taken into account, the wonder is that progress has been so rapid along the road of national advancement, commercial and intellectual development.

More than one hundred years before Columbus discovered America; before the flood-tide, which carried in its current a curious collection of ambitious adventurers and the poor and oppressed of all the European nations, set in towards the western world, making the Atlantic Ocean the “Path of Empire;” before the advance guard of Spanish adventurers and despoilers drifted from the Antilles to tropical America, and crossing the Isthmus of Panama started in quest of gold—a mission of robbery and butchery of the defenseless inhabitants of the west coast countries; before Francisco Pizarro despoiled Peru and destroyed the Inca Empire, where existed the only material evidences of an advanced civilization in South America, created and maintained by a native race; long before Diego Almagro, friend and ally of Pizarro, who was refused a share of the spoils secured in the conquest of Peru, went to Chile, the Incas had invaded the territory and made peaceful conquest of portions of the country which now constitutes the northern part of the Republic.

In the early part of the fifteenth century the Inca of Peru sent a small army to explore the country to the south, with a view to increasing the territorial limits of his Empire. The expedition went as far south as the valley of the Aconcagua, a rich, fertile country, where later was established the city of Quillota, the first capital of Chile. An attempt was made to explore the country further south, but the advance was resented by the Araucanians, and the Incas returned to Peru to report the success of the undertaking. A few years later another army was sent by the Inca into Chile, which explored the country as far south as the River Bio Bio, which is now the northern boundary of the Araucanian territory.

The Incas being much more advanced in civilization than the Indian tribes of Chile, introduced ideas and customs that furnished the foundation upon which was later erected the superstructure of the Republic. They taught the Indians how to irrigate and to cultivate the soil, the value of precious metals, how to weave fabrics from the fur of the vicuña and guanaco, and the art of manufacturing pottery. They also introduced maize, beans and vegetables of various kinds, in the cultivation and uses of which they instructed the natives. In fact, the first advance made by the Chilean Indians from a state of absolute barbarism towards a condition of semi-civilization was due to the teachings and example of the Incas, the most intelligent, progressive and highly civilized of the numerous indigenous races in America, North or South. With a view to making Chile a part of the Peruvian Empire, the Incas built a magnificent military road across the desert of Atacama, which was later partially destroyed by the Spaniards, but portions of which still remain as evidence of the genius and creative skill of that wonderful people.

In 1535, one hundred years after the peaceful conquest of Northern Chile by the Incas, Diego de Almagro, one of the Spanish freebooters and Pacific pirates, started from Peru with five hundred adventurous soldiers on an expedition of conquest of Chile, hoping to repeat there Pizarro’s experience in the spoliation of the Inca Empire. The expedition of Almagro, to whom history generally accords the honor of the discovery of Chile, was attended with many hardships and much suffering. After leaving the road constructed by the Incas across the desert, they had to cross the Cordillera of the Andes, the higher ranges of which were covered with snow and over which there was no road and where the cold was intense. After a voyage lasting six months, in which innumerable difficulties were encountered, Almagro arrived at a point where Copiapo is now situated, with less than one half of his followers, the others having died from cold and starvation in crossing the mountains. It was on this expedition that Almagro manifested characteristics which later gave him the reputation of being one of the most cruel and inhuman of the many adventurers who invaded Chile. When animals used in transporting provisions and equipment for the expedition died, Indians encountered on the way were impressed into service as beasts of burden. They were compelled to live with the pack animals, with which they served in common, and when unable to longer support the burdens under which they struggled across deserts and over mountains, they were brutally murdered, or maimed and left to suffer the tortures of a slow death by the wayside.

When Almagro reached the valley of the Aconcagua, where he had been preceded more than a century by the Incas, who established friendly relations with the Araucanians, he was kindly received by the Indians. But the natives who had been enslaved and cruelly treated by the Spaniards enroute, related their experiences to the friendly Indians, who became suspicious and fled into the forests for protection. This angered Almagro who ordered his soldiers to go in search of them and to kill all who refused to return to their places of habitation. The Spaniards who were provided with horses and arms pursued the defenseless natives and slaughtered hundreds of them.

Having gone to Chile in search of gold, with no other motive than to sack and rob, and finding only poor, ignorant, miserable Indians in possession of the country, Almagro soon returned to Peru, disappointed and disgusted with what he described as the poverty of the territory he had explored. Because of this disappointment, previous to his departure, he committed outrages and atrocities upon the helpless natives, by whom he had been received as a friend, which have few parallels in the record of cruel deeds, with which the early history of South America is so replete. The acts of treachery and outrage committed by Almagro and his followers created a feeling in the minds of the Araucanians that ultimately led to hostilities which lasted for over three hundred years; hostile feelings that have never been removed, and prejudices that will remain so long as a representative of that brave, obstinate race survives.

Almagro’s unfavorable report and the miserable appearance of his soldiers on their return to Peru, together with the stories of suffering, created in the minds of the Spaniards the impression that Chile was the poorest of all the South American countries. But in 1540, Pedro de Valdivia, a young Spanish captain, apparently more ambitious for fame than riches, organized an expedition for the purpose of exploring Chile and taking possession of the territory in the name of the King. Writing to his sovereign concerning the undertaking he said: “I have no desire but to discover and add territory to your Majesty’s Kingdom, and fame to my memory.” With one hundred and fifty men the intrepid young officer, who had gained distinction for valor in European wars, started on a journey from Peru over deserts and mountains to Chile, where he was to lay the foundations for a future Republic. On reaching the beautiful valley of the Mapocho, surrounded by a wall of mountains, and from the center of which rises the Santa Lucia, one of the most remarkable natural formations in the world, Valdivia laid out and established the first city in Chile, which is now the splendid capital of the Republic, Santiago, on February 12, 1541.

On the arrival of Valdivia and his soldiers, the Indians remembering the deception and cruelty practiced by Almagro, abandoned the country near where the Spaniards located. But on being informed by Valdivia that he desired to live on terms of peace with them, they returned to their “rucas” and resumed the cultivation of their “sitios.”

The beautiful city of Santiago of to-day, with its palatial residences, magnificent Alameda, grand cathedral, splendid public buildings and miles of fine business blocks, bears little resemblance to the pioneer village of 1541. The first houses were built of the trunks of trees, plastered with mud and thatched with maize stocks. One of the first buildings erected was a little temple at the corner of the Plaza de Armas, on the site of which now stands the cathedral of Santiago, the corner-stone of the Catholic church in Chile, which is to-day a potent political factor, and exercises a far-reaching influence in the Republic, through its representation in Congress and in the press of the country.

The friendly relation first established with the Indians by Valdivia, and by which means he hoped to take peaceful possession of the country, did not long continue. The necessity of means and greater resources for carrying out his schemes of conquest encouraged Valdivia to prospect for gold, and some mines were opened near the port of Valparaiso. In these mines Indians were placed by force and worked as slaves. In return for the gold secured the Spaniards incurred the enmity of the Indians, who determined to kill all their persecutors as a means of ending the tyranny to which they were subjected. With that cunning and strategy which has always characterized the Araucanians in war, they waited to make the attack until Valdivia was absent on an exploring expedition in the south with some of his followers, leaving only thirty mounted and twenty foot soldiers to guard the little garrison at Santiago. For fifteen hours the fifty men held the fort which was besieged and assaulted by a force of Indians numbering six thousand. Finally Captain Alonso de Monroy, who was in charge of the Spanish forces changed his tactics from defensive to the offensive, and leading his little band of soldiers attacked the Indians with such courage and ferocity that, notwithstanding their great numbers they were driven off. A great number of Indians and several of the soldiers were killed, but the greatest loss suffered by the Spaniards was the destruction by fire of the entire village, except the fort. When Valdivia returned he found himself and his men without houses in which to live, and without provisions or supplies, everything except the clothing they wore having been burned or destroyed during the battle.

After several years of indecisive warfare, in which the Spaniards made no progress in the way of conquering the Indians, or the undisputed occupation of the territory, Valdivia decided to return to Peru for the purpose of enlisting a more formidable force of men and arms with which to prosecute the war against the Araucanians. He started on this mission in 1547, leaving the depleted forces in Chile in charge of Francisco Villagran, returning two years later with two hundred infantry and a troop of one hundred cavalry, all well armed and equipped. Feeling secure with this army, Valdivia began an aggressive warfare against the Araucanians immediately after his arrival. Soon after the beginning of this war several important battles took place, chief among which was that of Concepcion, in which over two thousand Indians were killed and two hundred taken prisoners. The Spaniards also lost a number of men in the engagement. Following his cruel instincts, and with a view to terrorizing the Indians, Valdivia cut off the right hand and the nose of each of the prisoners captured in the battle, and then released them to return to their people, maimed and disfigured. This act of cruelty, instead of having the desired effect, incensed the Araucanians to greater hostilities. So persistent became their pursuit and attack that the Spaniards were given no time to sleep or rest from the strife. Day and night they were harassed by the Indians who finally collected their forces for a decisive battle at Tucapel. In this encounter Valdivia employed the same tactics used in other engagements, charging the enemy with his cavalry. But on this occasion the Indians seemed to be innumerable and invincible, and after being almost annihilated, the heroic little band of soldiers were forced to submit to superior numbers, and those who were not killed in battle were taken prisoner, Pedro de Valdivia being among the latter. When brought into the presence of the Araucanian chief, Valdivia said: “If you will give me my liberty I will promise to retire with my soldiers from the country.” Painful experience had taught the Indians to place no value upon the promises of the Spaniards, and desiring to avenge the cruelties inflicted upon their people, they refused to release the prisoners. Valdivia was tortured with all the horrible cruelties he had practiced upon the Indians, and all the soldiers taken at Tucapel were put to a tortuous death.

Soon after the death of Valdivia, the colonial government in Chile was organized by the worst class of Spanish Bohemians,—men who had not even a cheap or spectacular glory to their credit, and who lacked the capacity or disposition to engage in work of any character, or to develop the resources of the country. It was a sad and calamitous existence the people led under the despotic and ruinous misrule of Spain. Nothing flourished or savored of goodness. The only landmarks of civilization left from that period are various towns, some of which from geographical positions have grown into important cities.

All traces of progress lay buried beneath bigotry and tyranny. The sovereign and his representatives retarded development and advancement, evincing only selfish and unpatriotic ambition for personal gain, treacherous deception and cruel oppression. Chilean officials under Castilian rule had to be Spanish born, and with impunity they plundered the colony of all that was worth possessing. For nearly three centuries Chile lived with modest labor in honest poverty. Those conditions served as antecedents to the special characteristics of economy, industry, independence and love of liberty so manifest in the Chileans of to-day.

Then there was little communication with the outside world. Colonists suffered and endured without encouragement, hope of relief, or promise of better things. But during those turbulent times, those years of oppression and Spanish misrule, when the Republican idea was growing, there was one powerful force in operation, resenting and resisting the authority of those who were plundering and robbing the country in the name of law and civilization. That force was the courageous, valiant, unconquered Araucanians who maintained their independence for over three hundred years, preferring annihilation to subjugation.

A great majority of the colonists in Chile lived in poverty and ignorance, apparently resigned to their unfortunate condition. For two hundred and fifty years there had been transmitted from parents to children the idea of obedience to the king, believing that person to be of divine origin, and that his power was omnipotent. They also believed that the Spanish-American colonies would always remain subject to the authority of Spain. Fortunately, however, there was a small minority that entertained a hope of relief from the rule of oppression. This hope was encouraged, and the idea of independence implanted in the minds of the people, by the revolution of the English colonists, the declaration of independence of the United States, and the establishment of the first American Republic. The success of the North American patriots encouraged the revolutionary idea in Chile to such an extent that in 1810, when Spain was involved in the turmoil of a general European war, the opportunity was seized by the colonists to secure their independence, which was declared September 18, 1810.

The new Republic, born of patriotism and christened in war, was destined to struggle through its first years of existence in poverty, and afflicted with that most fatal of national maladies, internal strife. The people, long subject to despotic rule, filled with doubt and distrust of those who promised better things, had little experience, training or knowledge to fit them for the political liberty they had been so anxious to secure, and in possession of which they found themselves. Inexperienced in self-government, depressed with poverty, disturbed with internal dissensions and burdened with exploded theories, Chile began to set her national house in order without example or precedent to guide her in the experiment.

The government of Chile, organized in Santiago, September 18, 1810, was provisional and experimental, consisting of a “junta” (committee) of sixty persons, with Mateo de Toro y Zambrano as president of the junta, and in fact the first president of independent Chile. On July 4 of the following year an election was held at which congressional deputies were selected. A month later the national congress appointed a government junta, composed of three persons. The first laws of the new government were promulgated in August, 1811, among which was one prohibiting the importation of slaves, and declaring freedom to the children of all slaves then in the country. Thus did the young Republic place her seal of disapproval upon slavery, thereby setting an example for other nations, including the United States, after which the Chilean Republic was modeled.

For more than twenty years after the organization of the government the country was rent by jealousy, dissension, revolution and general disorder. The patriots who were struggling for national life and independence, and who were confident that out of chaos would come order, peace and prosperity, had to contend not only with an aggressive foreign foe, but to encounter intrigue and disloyalty at home. During the first decade of national life, numerous able and courageous men endeavored to direct the Ship of State through the turbulent sea of strife and discord to a safe and secure harbor. None succeeded, but many contributed materially to the final solution of the problem of government by the people. Among those who were conspicuous in the service of the country during its formative period may be mentioned Juan Martinez de Rozas, Camilo Henriquez, Manuel Salas, Admiral Blanco Encalada and Lord Cochrane. But the two characters that stand out most conspicuously, the names that are inscribed first upon the roll of honor of Chilean patriots, the men who contributed most to the establishment of order and law in the government, are Bernardo O’Higgins, the first capable, courageous Governor of Chile, and the brave, patriotic San Martin, who united the forces of the Argentine with those of Chile, Bolivia and Peru, for the purpose of putting an end to Spanish rule, and establishing independent government in the several colonies.

O’Higgins was Governor from 1817 to 1823, during which time he used his splendid executive ability in an honest effort to establish law and order, and to introduce some kind of system into the government. After six years of vain endeavor, and believing that the people were unprepared for self-government, he resigned, asked permission to leave the country, and went to Peru. General O’Higgins was succeeded as Governor by Ramon Freire, who held the position for three years, 1826. Then followed a period of several years during which the country was in a state of political anarchy. Changes of government were so frequent that it was impossible to maintain anything like law and order. Revolutions, conspiracies and intrigue were organized and practiced by political combinations and individuals. Independent government was a theory only, and many sincere patriots doubted the wisdom of further effort to establish and maintain a Republic, believing that existing conditions were even worse than Spanish rule.

The theory that if the seed of independence is once planted in the soil of public opinion, it will ultimately bring forth a harvest of good national results, holds true in the case of Chile. For notwithstanding the political disorder, frequent changes of government and the sanguinary revolutions that prevailed from the first, the declaration of independence produced beneficent results. The greatest of these benefits was the liberty of trade and freedom of commerce. People were permitted to buy and sell merchandise when, where and to whom they pleased, while under the colonial system all commercial privileges were controlled by the crown; and while Chile was under the authority of Spain, foreigners were not permitted to engage in trade in the colony.

Under the influence of approaching peace, the gradual amalgamation of political factions into united parties, the expansion of trade and the development of the country’s natural resources, the young Republic developed national life to such an extent that a political constitution was promulgated on May 25, 1833. The independence of the Republic was not recognized by Spain, however, until 1846. The constitution gave to the president authority as ample as that possessed by the king, over the colonies, authorizing him to use in certain cases and emergencies extraordinary powers even to the suspension of the constitutional authority. These provisions were embodied in the constitution for the purpose of suppressing political anarchy and revolution, which had so often interrupted the progress and threatened the life of the Republic from the time of its organization, without waiting for congressional approval. The constitution as adopted in 1833 remained unchanged until 1868. Since that date various amendments have been adopted, limiting the powers of the executive, and adjusting constitutional authority and law to meet the changed conditions of the times and the country.