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during the chaos of the next three years
when the monarchy was overthrown and
Prim was assassinated.
confronted with the realities of the situa-
tion on the ground, decided to come to
terms with the insurrection in New Spain.
He and Iturbide met and concluded the
Treaty of Córdoba, which recognized the de
facto independence of New Spain. The
troops of Iturbide marched unopposed into
Mexico City and were saluted from the bal-
cony of the viceregal palace by O'Donojú,
who thus formally acknowledged the birth
of a sovereign nation. By the time Spain's
leaders learned of the rapid rush of events
during 1821 and repudiated the Treaty of
Córdoba, it was too late for them to affect
events. O'Donojú had been appointed a
member of the provisional government in
M EXICO but died of pneumonia shortly after
greeting Iturbide. He was honored as a
friend and patron of Mexico's national ful-
fillment and buried with viceregal honors
in the capital city's cathedral.
O'Donojú, Juan (1762-1821)
Spanish colonial administrator
Born in S EVILLE , a descendant of the distin-
guished Irish clan O'Donoghue, O'Donojú
followed his family's military tradition and
achieved promotion to the rank of general
officer during the P ENINSULAR W AR . The
Regency Council that directed the fight
against the Napoleonic invaders made him
a member and charged him with the port-
folio of minister of war. After the restora-
tion of F ERDINAND VII in 1814, O'Donojú
was named captain general of A NDALUSIA .
He was, however, a covert supporter of the
liberal movement in Spain and a leader of
the Freemasons, who were particularly
strong among dissident officers. After the
liberal coup d'état in 1820 O'Donojú was
promoted to captain general of N EW S PAIN
with full viceregal powers. On arriving in
his new domain he found that virtually the
whole of the country, outside of Mexico
City and a few other large towns, was in the
hands of the nationalist rebels.
Although O'Donojú had not been autho-
rized to undertake political negotiations
with the insurgents, he established contact
with their recognized leader, A GUSTÍN DE
I TURBIDE . Himself a former Spanish general,
Iturbide had united all the Mexican politi-
cal factions under his command with the
shared goal of achieving independence.
Despite its own revolutionary origin the
Madrid government had no intention of
abandoning its colonial rule in the Ameri-
cas. O'Donojú, true to his profound com-
mitment to reform and, in any case,
O'Higgins, Bernardo (1778-1842)
Spanish colonial rebel
Born in Chillán in the colonial province of
C HILE , O'Higgins was the son of Don Ambro-
sio (Ambrose) O'Higgins (1720-1800), a
Spanish colonial administrator originally
from Ireland who served as governor of
Chile from 1778 to 1795 and then as vice-
roy of P ERU from 1795 to 1800. As colonial
officials were forbidden to marry residents
of their jurisdictions lest their in-laws
acquire undue influence, Bernardo was
technically illegitimate, though his mother
was of a prominent Chilean family. He was
fully recognized and supported by his father
and sent to Europe for his education. After
spending time in England as well as Spain
and coming under the influence of the ban-
ished South American rebel F RANCISCO DE
 
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