1860

January: Presidential election (Gerardo Barrios / Liberal)

Larde y Larin 1958: "Considerado como el ‘Héroe Nacional de El Salvador,’ Gerardo Barrios introdujo el cultivo del cafeto y la industria del ‘grano de oro’ en gran escala" (page 35).

Munro 1967: "The Liberals, under the leadership of Gerardo Barrios, regained power in 1860, but were forced to relinquish it two years later as the result of another war with Carrera" (page 102).

Vidal 1970: Candidate elected, "saliendo favorecido por el voto casi unanime de sus conciudadanos...para un periódo de seis años" (page 297).

Law promulgated to encourage coffee production

Dalton 1963: "(B)ajo la presidencia de Gerardo Barrios se le dio principalísima importancia a su producción--por medio de una legislación proteccionista especial" (page 40).

1863

February: Guatemala declares war on El Salvador

August: Government overthrown by Guatemalan president Rafael Carrera

Munro 1967: "In 1863, the Conservative leader, Francisco Dueñas, became president, and conducted the government efficiently and successfully until 1871" (page 102).

Taplin 1972: Barrios "beseiged in San Salvador by Rafael Carrera of Guatemala, escaped, fled the country,...extradited from Nicaragua, executed by the Dueñas government, August 29, 1865" (page 101).

Vidal 1972: Carrera organizes a provisional government and installs Francisco Dueñas as "jefe del Ejecutivo" (page 299). Barrios forced into exile (page 300).

November: Congressional election

Vidal 1972: "(S)e convocó a los pueblos para el elección de diputados a una Asamblea Constituyente" (page 300).

1864

Vidal 1972: The constituent assembly is convened on February 15, 1864 and its first act is to "desconocer al gobierno del General Barrios y confirmar el nombramiento del señor Dueñas" (page 300).

1865

Vidal 1972: On February 27, 1865 congress declares Dueñas elected as constitutional president (page 301).

August

Dalton 1963: Dueñas has Gerardo Barrios executed on August 29 (page 43).

Vidal 1972: Trial and execution of Barrios (page 303).

1866

Caldera T. 1983:"Para 1866 se promulgó una Constitución de gran trascendencia dentro del país, al notificar el sistema de distribución territorial, lo que no dejó de repercutir en el ámbito político. Las consecuencias más importantes que trajeron fueron las siguientes: acentuación de la rivalidad entre pueblos y ciudades debido a la autonomía que adquieron los municipios del gobierno central al tener éstos sus propias elecciones para autoridades; las élites locales dominaron la política de las grandes ciudades en lo comercial y en lo administrativo...; se profundizó la diferencia entre los campesinos indígenas y los cultivadores de los productos de exportación al abolirse las tierras ejidales y de las comunidades indígenas;...las parcelas de los pequeños propietarios fueron formando parte de la propiedad de los grandes terratenientes y la inviolabilidad de la tierra tendió a favorecer a los grandes propietarios" (page 2).

1869

Presidential election (Dueñas)

Vidal 1972: Dueñas is reelected on January 19, 1869 (page 304).

1871

April 15: Government overthrown by Santiago Gonzàlez

Munro 1967: In 1871 "the Liberal party, which was at the same time carrying on successful revolutions in Guatemala and Honduras, defeated [Dueñas] and placed at the head of the state Santiago González, who remained in office until 1876" (page 102).

Vidal 1972: Provisional government on May 13 calls for the election of a constituent assembly and gives qualifications for delegates, "se dio amplia libertad en las votaciones" (page 306). The assembly is convened on July 13th, when it sanctions the overthrow of Dueñas and ratifies the election of González. In October it publishes the new constitution which reduces the presidential term to two years.

October

Taplin 1972: "New constitution adopted October 16, 1871. Presidential term reduced to 2 years" (page 101).

1872

Dalton 1963: "González fue confirmado en la Presidencia por una Asamblea Constituyente" (page 43).

Vidal 1972: In January 1872 congress declares the presidential election of González (page 306).

November

Taplin 1972: Constitution "amended November 9, 1872, to make the [presidential] term four years, prohibited immediate re-election" (page 101).

1875

December: Presidential election (Valle)

Taplin 1972: "Elected December 1, 1875, for the four-year term beginning February 1, 1876" (page 101).

Vidal 1972: "A fines de 1875 se verificaron las elecciones para Presidente, saliendo favorecido para tan alto puesto don Andrés Valle" (page 310).

1876

Government overthrown

Haggerty 1990: "(Valle) was replaced less than a year after his election by Rafael Zaldívar, who was more to the liking of the Guatemalan dictator Justo Rufino Barrios. Zaldívar proved exceptionally durable; he was twice elected president after his initial violent installation, serving as the country’s leader from 1876 until his overthrow in 1885" (page 12).

Munro 1967: "Andrés Valle became involved in another war with Gautemala, arising from an intervention by both states in the internal affairs of Honduras, and was replaced by Rafael Zaldívar, one of the leading followers of the former president Dueñas" (page 102).

Vidal 1972: As provisional president, Zaldívar called for popular elections for a congress to decide who should complete Valle’s term. It was constituted and elected him (page 314).

1880

Taplin 1972: "February 19, 1880, the constitution was amended permitting Zaldívar to be re-elected for the 1880-1884 term" (page 102).

Vidal 1972: A constituent assembly convened in 1880 elected Zaldívar as president for a four year term.

1881

Dissolution of communal land holdings

Bland 1992: "(T)he introduction of coffee as an export crop in the second half of the nineteenth century had an immediate and dramatic impact on Salvadoran life...Large private coffee plantations quickly came to dominate the countryside, displacing or virtually enslaving the Indians and farmers who had worked the land communally for centuries" (page 165).

Dalton 1963: "(E)n el año de 1882, se dictó la extinción de los ejidos y la disolución de las comunidades indígenas" (page 40).

Haggerty 1990: The landed elite increased the size of their estates "by absorbing into their private holdings public lands (forests) and the communal lands of "municipios"...and Indian communities, lands formerly cultivated in small subsistence plots by mestizo and Indian peasants. The government officially decreed these common lands out of existence in favor of private property ownership in 1881" (page 60).

1884

Vidal 1972: "Al acercarse la conclusión de su período, el doctor Zaldívar se encontró en serias dificultades, por el gran número de candidatos que aspiraban a la silla presidencial" (page 315). The problem is resolved by calling a constituent assembly which changes the constitution to allow for reelection and reelects Zaldívar for another four year term.

1885

May: Government overthrown by forces led by Francisco Menéndez

Larde y Larin 1958: Zaldívar "cometió el craso error político de hacerse reelegir contra la voluntad popular y contra el tenor expreso de la Constitución. Su gobierno cayó abatido por el vigoroso impacto de la revolución liberal acaudillada por el general Francisco Menéndez" (page 40).

1886

Vidal 1972: In June 1886 a constituent assembly was convened which installed General Francisco Menéndez for a four year term (page 323).

August

Parker 1981: "The constitution of August 1886, which lasted until 1939, provided for governmental democracy in all of its aspects--rights and guarantees for the citizens, a unicameral legislature to be renewed every year by the people, a president and vice-president popularly elected to serve four years, and a supreme court to be chosen by the legislature. In reality, however, through all this time the president (not the people) ran the country and the president was chosen by himself or by his predecessor in office. [Menéndez, Ezeta, Gutiérrez, and Regalado] all came into power by force...In each of these four cases a vote was taken confirming the man in office once he had made clear his determination to hold it" (pages 150-151).

1890

June 22: Government overthrown by forces led by General Carlos Ezeta

Larde y Larin 1958: "Con su hermano el general Antonio Ezeta, instauró en El Salvador uno de los gobiernos oligárquicos más funestos y contradictorios de cuantos ha padecido la República" (pages 41-42).

Vidal 1972: Carlos Ezeta elected constitutional president (page 329).

1894

July: Government overthrown by Rafael Gutiérrez

Vidal 1972: Gutiérrez elected president (page 341).

1898

November: Government overthrown by General Tomás Regalado

Vidal 1972: Regalado "electo popularmente" to a four year term (page 350).