Ecuadorian constitutional referendum, 1869

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A constitutional referendum was held in Ecuador on 1 July 1869 to ratify or reject the constitution drafted by the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly elected earlier in 1869. The country's eighth constitution, known as the Black Charter, was approved by 13,640 of the 14,154 voters. [1]

Ecuador Republic in South America

Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) west of the mainland. The capital city is Quito and the largest city as well.

Contents

After the referendum the new National Constituent Assembly met in Quito and enacted the Constitution on 11 August 1869.

Quito Capital city in Pichincha, Ecuador

Quito is the capital and the largest city of Ecuador, and at an elevation of 2,850 metres (9,350 ft) above sea level, it is the second-highest official capital city in the world, after La Paz, and the one which is closest to the equator. It is located in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains. With a population of 2,671,191 according to statistical projections (2019), Quito is the most populous city in Ecuador. It is also the capital of the Pichincha province and the seat of the Metropolitan District of Quito. The canton recorded a population of 2,239,191 residents in the 2010 national census. In 2008, the city was designated as the headquarters of the Union of South American Nations.

Background

In 1869 Gabriel García Moreno, a conservative, intensely devout Catholic, promulgated a more authoritarian constitution, referred to as the Garciana constitution or Carta Negra (the Black Charter), which extended the presidential term to six years and gave the president almost unlimited powers. It provided for a bicameral parliament, and introduced a religious factor into politics by making membership of the Roman Catholic Church a requisite for citizenship, with other requirements being at least twenty-one years of age, married and literate. [2]

Gabriel García Moreno President of Ecuador

Gabriel Gregorio Fernando José María García y Moreno y Morán de Buitrón was an Ecuadorian politician who twice served as President of Ecuador and was assassinated during his second term, after being elected to a third. He is noted for his conservatism, Catholic religious perspective and rivalry with liberal strongman Eloy Alfaro. Under his administration, Ecuador became a leader in science and higher education within Latin America. In addition to the advances in education and science, he was noted for economically and agriculturally advancing the country, as well as for his staunch opposition to corruption, even giving his own salary to charity. However, a contemporary account from a consortium of London publishers, The Annual Register for 1875, reports, "the deceased President was a ruler more feared than loved in the Republic whose destinies he had guided for nearly fifteen years, having governed it rather as a military dictator than as the head authority of a Liberal Constitution.”

Results

ChoiceVotes%
For13,64096.36
Against5143.64
Total14,154100

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