Independence swiftly followed for
the region of Central America. The elites
of the captaincy-general of Guatemala,
which extended from what is now the
state of Chiapas, Mexico, through Costa
Rica, followed Mexico’s path and
declared independence from Spain.
Under Iturbide, who declared himself
Emperor Agustín I in 1822, the region
briefly became part of the Mexican
Empire. When that empire toppled to
republican revolt in 1823, all Central
American states except Chiapas split
away and, in 1824, became the United
Provinces of Central America.
MEXICO’S FAR
NORTHERN FRONTIERWith independence, Mexico inherited
what had been the Far North of New
Spain and would soon become the
American Southwest. The people of that
region, used to a rugged existence far
from the centers of Spanish colonial
power, accepted the change in masters
peacefully but without much apparent
enthusiasm. California’s Spanish-born
governor Pablo Vicente de Sola, who
reluctantly complied with orders to takeINDEPENDENCE IN THE NEW WORLD 75Mexican Territory in 1823