Juan Manuel Rodríguez

Juan Manuel Rodríguez
Juan Manuel Rodríguez
1st Head of State of El Salvador
	In office; 22 April 1824 – 1 October 1824
Vice President	Mariano Prado
Preceded by	Mariano Prado (provisional)
Succeeded by	Mariano Prado
Personal details
Born	31 December 1771; San Salvador, Intendancy of San Salvador
Died	1847 (aged 75–76); Cojutepeque, El Salvador
Party	Independent
Profession	Military, politician

Juan Manuel Rodríguez (31 December 1771 – 1847) was a Salvadoran revolutionary and politician who served as the 1st Head of State of El Salvador within the Federal Republic of Central America in 1824. He is considered a founding father of the nation for his role in the independence movements against the Spanish Empire and the First Mexican Empire.

He was born in San Salvador to Pedro Delgado and Josefa Rodríguez.

Early career

Leaders of the "Cry for Independence" on 5 November 1811 in San Salvador, including José Matías Delgado, Manuel José Arce, and Juan Manuel Rodríguez. (Painting by Luis Vergara Ahumada).

Rodríguez was a primary leader of the independence movements in 1811 and 1814, alongside Father José Matías Delgado and Manuel José Arce. He served as the secretary of the junta that functioned as the first independent government of the province in November 1811. Elected as mayor of San Salvador in 1814, he supported the insurrection of January 24, 1814. Following the suppression of the movement, he was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison, but was eventually pardoned in 1819.

In November 1821, he was appointed to the governing body of the Province of El Salvador. In January 1822, he signed the act of separation from the Kingdom of Guatemala to oppose incorporation into the First Mexican Empire. He was subsequently commissioned to Washington, D.C., to negotiate the potential admission of El Salvador to the United States as a protective measure against Mexican expansion, an initiative that ended with the fall of the empire in 1823.

As Head of State of El Salvador

On 22 April 1824, the constituent assembly elected Rodríguez as the 1st Head of State. On the following day, he formally enacted the abolition of slavery in the state, making El Salvador one of the first territories in the Americas to do so. His administration also decreed the foundation of the Diocese of San Salvador, appointing José Matías Delgado as the first bishop.

In May 1824, Rodríguez oversaw the publication and swearing-in of the first State Constitution. He established the Supreme Court of Justice and organized the first constitutional elections. These elections were won by Juan Vicente Villacorta Díaz as Head of State and Mariano Prado as Vice-Head of State. On 1 October 1824, Rodríguez transferred executive power to Prado, who served until Villacorta's inauguration in December.

During his tenure, the first official printing press in El Salvador began operations in June 1824, printing the state's first newspaper, El Semanario Político Mercantil, which debuted on 31 July 1824.

Later life

After years of political service and a stint as Treasury Secretary, Rodríguez retired to his hacienda "San Jerónimo" near Cojutepeque. In his final years, he took minor orders with the Franciscans and dedicated himself to charitable works. He died of cholera in 1847.

External links

(in Spanish) Short biography from the Salvadoran government web site
(in Spanish) Short biography

Presidents and heads of state of El Salvador
List of heads of state of El Salvador
Post-independence (1821–1823)	Barriere Delgado Filísola* Codallos* Consultive Junta^‡ Prado^†
Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1841)	J. Rodríguez Prado J. V. Villacorta Prado^† Cornejo J. D. Villacorta^† Cornejo Morazán^†* J. San Martín* Prado J. San Martín* C. Salazar^†* G. Salazar^† Escolán^† Silva^† Escolán^† Espinoza* F. Gómez^†* Vigil T. Menéndez^† Vigil T. Menéndez^† Cañas^†* Morazán* Silva^† Municipal Council of San Salvador Cañas^† Ramírez^† Lindo^†
Republic of El Salvador (1841–1931)	Lindo^† Arce^† Lindo Marín^†* J. J. Guzmán* D. Villacorta^† Marín^†* J. J. Guzmán* Arce^† J. J. Guzmán* Palacios^† Malespín* J. E. Guzmán^†* Malespín* J. E. Guzmán^†* Palacios^† J. E. Guzmán^†* Palacios^† Aguilar Palacios^† Aguilar Medina^† Quirós^† Vasconcelos R. Rodríguez^† Quirós^† Vasconcelos Dueñas^† Quirós^† Dueñas^† J. M. San Martín^†* Dueñas V. Gómez^† J. M. San Martín* Hernández^†* J. M. San Martín* Dueñas^† Campo Dueñas^† Campo Zepeda^† Santín* Barrios^†* Santín* J. E. Guzmán^†* Peralta^† Barrios* Peralta^† Barrios* Dueñas González* Méndez^† González* del Valle Zaldívar Guirola^† Zaldívar Figueroa^†* Rosales^† F. Menéndez* C. Ezeta* A. Ezeta^†* Gutiérrez* Regalado* Escalón* Figueroa* M. Araujo C. Meléndez^† Quiñónez^† C. Meléndez Quiñónez^† J. Meléndez Quiñónez P. Romero A. Araujo
Military dictatorship (1931–1979)	Civic Directory^‡ Martínez^†* A. Menéndez^†* Martínez* A. Menéndez^†* Aguirre^†* Castaneda* Revolutionary Council of Government^‡ Osorio* Lemus* Junta of Government^‡ Civic-Military Directory^‡ Cordón^† Rivera* F. Sánchez* A. Molina* C. Romero*
Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992)	Revolutionary Government Junta^‡ Magaña Duarte Cristiani
Post-civil war (since 1992)	Cristiani Calderón Flores Saca Funes S. Sánchez Bukele C. Rodríguez^†
^† – Acting or provisional president ^‡ – Military junta * – Military president

Presidents of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
1800s	Delgado Calderón M. Fagoaga Sagastume M. Romero J. San Martín B. González Unknown J.M. Rodríguez J. Castro Ximénez J.J. Arce Marín Cornejo J. Castro M. Lara F. Gómez Cornejo Guzmán León J. López J. Durán Cisneros Cornejo Funes Pineda Enríquez Funes Colom Garay A. Paiz Ximénez F. González Cañas A. Molina G. Paiz Cañas A. Rivas F. González Delgado D. Fagoaga Padilla D. Lara Montoya Murga Avilés J. Castillo Alegría F. Saldaña Unknown Silva Unknown Guzmán J. Campo J. Saldaña M. Lara J. Villacorta Ayala Angulo Mencía Barberena J.R. Molina Menéndez M. Morales Morán J.D. Molina Ayala Silva M. Aguilar P. Lara F. Castillo Barberena Montoya Guzmán Hoyos Cornejo Mencía V. Rodríguez Blanco A. Paiz Mencía Zelaya E. Aguilar A. Morales J.M. San Martín Bonilla Dueñas Hernández I. Gómez Cabañas Gallardo Quirós S. González Chacón Gallardo Zaldívar Gallardo Chacón Zaldívar R. Campo Vasconcelos Larreynaga Fallos A. Valle M. Castro G. López D. López Vides Moreno Guirola Alvarado Galindo Ruiz J. Valle Larreynaga Pacas Vaquero J.D. Arce O. Durán A. Castro Pinto Medina Arriola Fallos Interiano T. Romero Aráuz
1900s	Arriola R. García Aráuz Novoa Mejía Aráuz R. García Martínez Pinto Meléndez F. García Batrés Falla Parker M. Castro D. González J.A. Rodríguez F. López F. Reyes Olano H. Villacorta R. Morales Unknown Cierra F. Reyes R. Rivas Galindo Peralta Carmona Esquivel Cordón Guerrero Guardado Guerra R. Rodríguez Echeverría D'Aubuisson M. Castillo Guevara Alvarenga Angulo Salguero Flores Duch
2000s	Cruz Zepeda Araujo Cruz Zepeda Orellana Cruz Zepeda S. Reyes Peña Gallegos Quijano Ponce E. Castro