The Cartagena independence petition

The history books tell that, in 1873, Cartagena asked to be included in the United States of America. The city, established as a canton, had been out of Spain for several months and was seeking international recognition. The Americans did not respond to the request, the siege of the Spanish troops ended with the canton and the Cartagena port returned to Spanish hands after 185 days out of them. But how did you get to that situation? On July 12 of that year, a red flag (symbol of revolution) was hoisted over the castle of San Julián. This is how the canton of Cartagena was born, a threat of independent status. Six months later, Spain stifled this sovereign project with special cruelty.

But to arrive at the origin of Cartagena's "independence", it is necessary to go back to February of 1873, when the First Republic was proclaimed and the elections were called, which the federal republicans won. The elected government then established that the State should be divided into 17 sovereign regions (15 in the metropolis, plus the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico) with "complete autonomy to obtain a Constitution and its own organs of Government." All promises.

Flag of the Cartagena Canton

Finally, the good intentions of the first Republican government did not materialize, a situation of stagnation that provoked nervousness in some territories and led to dozens of revolts throughout the State. Among these, the only one that triumphed and that lasted in time beyond a few days or weeks was the one that occurred in Cartagena.

No religious education or death penalty

The entire city is proclaimed cantonalist on July 12. The Army and its fleet, too. Sailors and officers who do not want to join the revolution go freely. It is the second joy in a few months: first, the Republic; then, cantonalism.

Once the victory is achieved, it is time to organize. The Sovereign Board takes power and initiates reforms. Religious education is prohibited and collectivisations begin. The goods are confiscated to the Church and those acquired by inheritance and with origin of grace and real donation, such as bonds, mayorazgos or chaplaincies, among others. Divorce is decreed and the death penalty is repealed. In the 19th century, the right to work was recognized, the eight-hour day was established and an educational plan of its own was even designed.

In addition, the new cantonal government decides to mint its own currency. The silver that is needed is extracted from the mines of Mazarrón and from seized objects. The new coins did not bear any figure, only two inscriptions: on the one hand "Cartagena besieged by the centralists, September 1873", and on the other side "Cantonal Revolution, five pesetas". This was the hard cantonal born of self-management.

The end of the state

But, from the beginning, the canton suffers the siege of the Spanish troops. The State does not look favorably on losing one of its most important ports and hostilities begin, which are increased after the assumption of the presidency of the Council of Ministers, General Francisco Serrano. And, after 185 days, with a Spanish Republic already under the command of General Serrano and without federal republicans in high places, the law of the strongest is imposed.

The siege will end up destroying Cartagena's sovereign desires. The city was besieged by land and sea. The bombings followed each other, reaching more than 1,000 shells a day over the urban area. On January 12, 1874, the definitive capitulation took place after thousands of deaths, more than 300 buildings totally destroyed and 1,500 with great destruction; only 27 were unscathed throughout the city. The Canton of Cartagena had come to an end.

It will not be until a century later when the cantonalists will return to power. Between 1987 and 1991, they govern in the City council with ten councilmen and more than 22,000 votes, under the acronym of the Cantonal Party. But the power lasted very little and, at present, they lack municipal representation. In the 2011 elections, only 367 people voted for him.

Of the Canton of Cartagena and nobody remembers, neither in the USA, that never answered the request of the Spanish city.

Now thanks to the development of the new technologies and thanks to Internet, we can discover a lot of historical events that took place in the past. The Cartagena's independence history can be a chapter more for some micronationalists and libertarians. I am sure that most people who follow micronations like Sealand, Pontinha, Seborga, Tavolara, ..., they don't know about the existence of Cartagena as an independent state. One of the reasons can be that in Spain ther are not a lot of followers of libertarianism and micronationalism.

Antonio Gálvez Arce

Antonio Gálvez Arce, (Torreagüera, Murcia, June 29, 1819 - December 28, 1898), or Antonete, as his contemporaries called him, was a Spanish farmer, revolutionary and deputy, one of the highest figures of federal republicanism of the last third of the nineteenth century.

Despite its apparent strength in the Court and on the street, republicanism was a minority among Spaniards. In addition, it was internally divided between the moderate federalists - who wanted to build the federation from above, from the state - and those who, like Antonete, wanted a "Federal" from below - that the autonomous States would create the later federation -.

The weakness of the republic caused enormous political instability. Four presidents succeeded each other in the short span of one year: Estanislao Figueras, Francisco Pi and Margall, Nicolás Salmerón and Emilio Castelar. In addition, the federal system could not be put into practice because the executive power was absorbed by the complications entailed by the Third Carlist War and the riots in Cuba and other colonies. Seeing the exalted federals that the proclamation of the federal Constitution was extended indefinitely, and with it their demands, decided to become cantons.

THE FIRST SPANISH MICRONATION?

Manuel Cárceles Sabater proclaimed the Canton of Cartagena on July 12, 1873, which would later join Antonete after proclaiming the canton in Murcia on the 14th. These constituted the so-called Canton Murciano, ready to extend the federal uprising throughout the region. After the events of Cartagena, where Antonete managed to get the crew to join the cause, several provincial capitals and other smaller towns were constituted in the canton, such as Valencia, Malaga or Motril. The republican government managed to suppress the insurrection in all Spain except in the Region of Murcia, where the rebels had greater implantation. The Murciano Canton was reduced to the Canton of Cartagena in August of 1873, when the centralist troops of Arsenio Martinez-Campos put down the cantonal nuclei of the rest of the Region of Murcia. Cartagena withstood the siege until January 1874 thanks to the defenses of the city and the support of the seamen.

In January 1874 the government bombing of Cartagena was increasingly intense. The city was practically undone and the food shortage became unbearable. On January 11 began the surrender of the Canton of Cartagena: the forces that besieged the city entered and the Cantonal Revolution was terminated. Gálvez was again sentenced to death and had to face a new exile in Oran. However, he returned to his home one year later to fight against the cholera epidemic that was ravaging the region.