Quito's first junta and cry for independence, 10 August 1809

Background. The Napoleonic invasion of Spain and the abdication of Ferdinand VII in 1808 created chaos in the colonies. In 1809, Quito was the capital of the Real Audiencia of Quito, governed by Manuel Ruiz Urriés de Castilla. The political instability provided the context for local criollos to challenge Spanish authority.

Establishment of the Junta. On 10 August 1809, a group of rebels deposed the Spanish ruler Manuel Ruiz Urriés de Castilla and formed a provisional Junta. The movement was led by the city's criollos, including Carlos de Montúfar and Bishop José Cuero y Caicedo, and constituted one of the first calls in Latin America for independence from Spain. Per the event scope, the junta initially professed loyalty to Ferdinand VII rather than proclaiming full independence; no supplied passage states this loyalty explicitly, so it is recorded as framing rather than sourced fact.

Suppression and Legacy. The initial movement was defeated on 2 August 1810 when colonial troops from Lima killed the leaders and about 200 settlers. The broader Quito Revolution of 1809–1812, of which the 1809 junta formed part, is described as the seed of the independence movements that eventually formed the Republic of Ecuador.