José Francisco Morazán Quezada (3 October 1792 – 15 September 1842) was a Central American statesman, military officer, and caudillo who served as the president of the Federal Republic of Central America on three occasions between 1829 and 1839. He also served as the head of state of Honduras thrice between 1827 and 1830, the head of state of El Salvador twice in 1832 and 1839 to 1840, and the head of state of Costa Rica in 1842.
Born in Tegucigalpa, Morazán faced difficulties in obtaining an education due to a lack of available schools and due to his being born in the New World rather than on the Iberian Peninsula. He joined a militia in Tegucigalpa that opposed Central America's annexation to Mexico in 1821 as a lieutenant. He rose to prominence at the Battle of La Trinidad on 11 November 1827. Morazán then dominated the political and military scene of Central America until his execution in 1842. In the political arena, Francisco Morazán was recognized as a visionary and great thinker, as he attempted to transform Central America into one large and progressive nation. He enacted liberal reforms in the new Federal Republic of Central America, including freedom of the press, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Morazán also limited church power by making marriage secular and abolishing government-aided tithing.
These reforms made him some powerful enemies, and his period of rule was marked by bitter infighting between liberals and conservatives. But through his military skills, Morazán was able to keep a firm grip on power until 1837, when the Federal Republic became irrevocably fractured. This was exploited by the conservative leaders, who rallied around the leadership of Rafael Carrera and in order to protect their own interests, ended up dividing Central America into five nations.
José Francisco Morazán Quezada was born on 3 October 1792, in Tegucigalpa, then a part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala in New Spain. His parents were Eusebio Morazán, a criollo (a Spaniard born in the New World) from the Antilles, and Guadalupe Quezada, a Central American. Morazán's paternal ancestors were of Corsican descent and originally bore the surname Morazzani before changing to it Morazán, its Spanish form. His maternal ancestors belonged to the Quezada family, one of the most distinguished families of Tegucigalpa at the time. Morazán had three younger siblings: Marcelina, Cesárea, and Benito.
Morazán was baptized on 16 October at the St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral in Tegucigalpa. Despite Morazán's mixed ancestry and status as a criollo, he was identified as Spanish on his baptismal certificate in order to avoid discrimination from the colonial casta system that blocked non-peninsulares (Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula) from attending universities or obtaining employment in law and science.
In Morazán's early years, he was educated in a private school that was funded by his parents as there were no other schools available. In 1804 at the age of twelve, Morazán attended a Latin school taught by priest José Antonio Murga. The following year, however, Murga was replaced by friar Andrés López, a peninsulare who opposed teaching Latin to criollos forcing Morazán to abandon his studies. For the rest of Morazán's education, he visited several convents hoping that its members would provide him with lessons. Morazán studied in mathematics, drawing, and law. At some point, Morazán worked at the notary office of Tegucigalpa. While working there, Morazán learned skills in jurisprudence and business administration.
Early military and political career
On 15 September 1821, Central America bloodlessly declared its independence from the Spanish Empire. Shortly after independence, however, the region's leaders were divided on whether to maintain their independence or to seek annexation to the First Mexican Empire. In Honduras, Comayagua supported annexation while Tegucigalpa opposed it. In late 1821, Morazán joined a militia in Tegucigalpa that opposed annexation. He held the rank of lieutenant and was the aide-de-camp to the militia's first battalion. In April 1822, Morazán was arrested by pro-annexation forces in the Comayagua valley while he was traveling to Gracias to prepare the city to recruit militiamen for the Tegucigalpa militia. He was released three days later and recruited 14 militiamen in Gracias.
Although Mexican military forces commanded by Brigadier Vicente Filísola were dispatched to the region to enforce its annexation, the overthrow of Mexican emperor Agustín de Iturbide in 1823 led Filísola to call for a congress of Central American leaders in Guatemala City to decide the region's future. On 1 July, the congress declared independence from Mexico and the establishment of the United Provinces of Central America, later renamed to the Federal Republic of Central America on 22 November 1824.
Dionisio de Herrera became Head of State of Honduras in December 1824 after being elected by the Honduran Constituent Assembly. Herrera appointed Morazán as Minister General. During Morazán's tenure, he helped Herrera combat several issues facing the state including a bankrupt treasury, a disorganized judiciary, and continued ideological tensions between Comayagua and Tegucigalpa, among others. On 11 December 1825, Morazán ratified the constitution of Honduras. In April 1826, Morazán was elected as a state councillor (equivalent of a senator) by the assembly and became the president of the council of state, upon which, he resigned as Minister General.
In 1826, the Federal Government headed by Manuel José Arce attempted to dissolve the federal congress and called a meeting to be held in Cojutepeque, on 10 October 1826, to elect an extraordinary congress. This unconstitutional move was rejected by the Honduran head of state, Dionisio de Herrera. But President Arce did not recognize Herrera's authority, claiming that Herrera's provisional mandate had expired, and that he was in power illegitimately. For this reason, the National Assembly had called for new elections in Honduras, but Herrera had ignored this decree and remained in power. For these reasons, but under the guise of protecting Copán's tobacco plantations owned by the federal government, Arce decided to oust Herrera. This mission was entrusted to colonel Justo Milla, who on 9 April 1827, commanded 200 men and seized Comayagua (the state capital) capturing Herrera and sending him to a Guatemalan prison.
While Milla was busy consolidating power in Comayagua, Morazán escaped from the federal troops. He left the besieged capital in the company of colonels Remigio Díaz and José Antonio Márquez, with the purpose of getting reinforcements in Tegucigalpa. Their plan was to return, and to liberate the state capital. Upon their return from Tegucigalpa, his men clashed with Milla's forces on the ranch 'La Maradiaga'. This confrontation, had no major consequences for either side; Milla remained in charge of Honduras, and Morazán left for Ojojona where he was captured and transferred to Tegucigalpa by order of Major Ramón Anguiano.
But Francisco Morazán managed to escape from his captors and left for La Unión, El Salvador, with the intention of emigrating to Mexico. In La Unión, he met Mariano Vidaurre, a special Salvadoran envoy to the government of Nicaragua. Vidaurre convinced him that, in that country, he could find the military support he needed to expel Milla from Honduran territory. He arrived in the city of León, Nicaragua, where he met with the commander-in-chief of the Nicaraguan armed forces, José Anacleto Ordóñez. For Morazán the meeting paid off; the Nicaraguan leader provided him with weapons and a contingent of 135 men. These men were joined by Colonel Zepeda's troops from El Salvador, and some columns of Honduran volunteers in Choluteca, Honduras.
When Justo Milla discovered the presence of Morazán in southern Honduras, he quickly moved his troops to Tegucigalpa, where he established his headquarters, meanwhile Morazán headed for Sabanagrande. At 9am on November 11, Morazán faced General Milla in the memorable battle of 'La Trinidad'. After five hours of intense fighting in a hill used by the Justo Milla forces, Morazan disguised a plan for attack at the flanks using the fresh and rested troops coming from El Salvador, at last moment the troop from El Salvador reached the hill and attacked the rear forces from Justo Milla, driving Milla's forces to the front shock army from Morazan. Milla's federal troops were crushed by Morazán's men. Milla and few of his officers survived and fled the scene of battle. Following this victory, Morazán marched to Comayagua where he was declared Honduras' new Chief of State.