A strong , José de Bustamante y Guerra (1811–18), and Creole fear of Indian uprisings were factors that prevented Central Americans from seizing power as had been done in . The government easily put down such attempts in the state of (which did not become , the name by which it is now known, until 1841), , and Guatemala. In 1814, after the defeat of Napoleon, promptly annulled the 1812 constitution. This ungrateful act caused Creole opposition to Spanish rule in Central America to mount, especially against the repressive rule of Bustamante. The restoration of the constitution in 1820 once more permitted popular political activity in Central American towns and led to the emergence of factions that would form the basis of the liberal and conservative parties destined to dominate Central America for the following century. A council of notables in accepted the independence plan of the Mexican Creole and former caudillo (military chieftain) on Sept. 15, 1821, but there were wide differences of opinion among the municipalities on the next step. Some favoured independence from as well as from Spain, and some of the provinces also wanted independence from Guatemala. This divisive action by the municipalities was a product of their newly acquired vitality under the constitution, but it also reflected their resentment against centralized authority in Guatemala. Conservatives in Guatemala succeeded in annexing the kingdom to Iturbide’s Mexican empire, but this led immediately to civil war, as San Salvador and Granada refused to accept the decision. Mexican and Guatemalan troops subdued San Salvador after a long siege, but in the meantime Iturbide’s empire collapsed and was succeeded by a liberal republic that allowed Central America to go its own way. The (1823–40) A liberal-dominated assembly elected from all the provinces convened in Guatemala, and on July 1, 1823, it declared the independence of the former kingdom under the name the . In 1824 it adopted the constitution of the Federal Republic of Central America, a document similar in its liberal features to the Spanish constitution of 1812, providing for a federation of Guatemala, San Salvador, , Nicaragua, and . had elected to stay with Mexico, and had become part of the in 1821. The first election The 1824 constitution provided for a single-house legislature and reserved considerable autonomy for the states, yet it offered an adequate framework for a strong union. Political difficulties from the outset and the failure of federal leaders to enforce the constitutional provisions led to its disintegration. The provincial jealousies and ideological differences that had emerged in the late colonial period had already sown the seeds of Central American disunion. The first presidential election, in 1825, was disputed and began a pattern of civil war and bad faith. , a liberal Salvadoran army officer, won that election over a moderate Honduran attorney and prominent intellectual, José Cecilio del Valle, despite the appearance that del Valle had more popular votes. The intrigue connected with the electoral process alienated not only conservatives supporting del Valle but also extreme liberals who accused Arce of selling out to conservatives in the congress in order to gain their votes. Arce did in fact ally himself with conservative interests in Guatemala City. When he deposed the liberal Guatemalan state governor, Juan Barrundia, and replaced him with a staunch conservative, the Salvadoran state government rebelled, touching off a civil war from 1826 to 1829. The bloody struggle established animosities between conservatives and liberals throughout the federation that would last well beyond the brief life of the . The Honduran general led the liberals to victory in 1829. Under his presidency during the following decade, the liberals exiled leading conservatives, including the archbishop and other clergy, and instituted sweeping anticlerical, economic, social, educational, and judicial reforms. Morazán also moved the federal capital to San Salvador in 1834., The brief restoration of the constitution during the Liberal Triennium beginning in 1820 allowed the Central American provinces to reestablish their elected councils, which then became focal points for constitutionalist and separatist sentiments., A liberal-dominated assembly elected from all the provinces convened in Guatemala, and on July 1, 1823, it declared the independence of the former kingdom under the name the United Provinces of Central America..