COLOMBIA IN THE 19TH CENTURY: POLITICS, SOCIETY, ECONOMY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Colombia in the 19th century experienced great social, economic, political and cultural changes. After the Spanish conquest, the Colombian people were left in a social situation powerfully marked by inequality and injustice.

The socioeconomic elites that were formed after the Spanish conquest, among which the Catholic Church, the landowners and the slave owners, took control and subdued the people.

Calle Real de Bogotá (Today seventh race) in 1869.

Under these circumstances the Liberal Party emerged, made up of the popular liberals and the liberal elites who allied themselves; and the Conservative Party made up of members of some small elites. Both parties wanted total domination of the country.

Historical tour of the political, economic, social and cultural changes of 19th century Colombia

This century was characterized by being the scene of the struggle for political power of two existing socioeconomic classes represented by two political parties: the liberals and the conservatives.

The radical liberals consolidated their national government by decentralizing power, which led to several civil wars between their allies and the elites of the Conservative party. Dissident liberals, including Rafael Núñez, allied with conservatives to gain control of the country.

The pressure that these classes exerted to achieve better marketing and production conditions for their elites led to decisions that would change the entire social landscape, such as the abolition of slavery and the abolition of Indian reservations.

Liberals supported the abolition of slavery to obtain very cheap labor, and the expropriation of land from the Catholic Church, which would increase land for production because these large tracts of land could be sold.

The conservatives were made up of the landowners, the slave owners, the Catholic Church and the military elite that had been in command after the independence of the Spanish conquest.

Both groups worked for their commercial and economic benefits. However, the struggle of the small power groups to define the model of government that would be proposed for Colombia also created another scenario of conflict in the political sphere.

The Confederate States

Since the first Constituent Congress of Cúcuta, held in 1819, the creation of three federal states was advocated, among which were Venezuela, Ecuador, and Nueva Granada, which generated a power struggle that persisted for a long time.

Later, with the Constitution of 1863 in Rionegro, the country was given the name of the United States of Colombia under a confederation of nine autonomous states.

The benefits of this political formation did not fall on the socio-economic conditions of the town. This distribution of power, with the absence of a centralized government, only served the wishes of the local power groups and not the majority of the people.

The Catholic Church and its might

Relations between the conservative-supported Catholic Church and the liberal-led state were also highly antagonistic. The church had great power over the masses in that it controlled education completely at the university level, schools and missions among others.

Furthermore, as the Catholic Church was widespread throughout the territory, it could serve as a local authority in many cases. The church was powerful economically or because of the large tracts of land it owned by colonial laws.

However, before the attempts of the liberal party to break the monopoly of the church, it joined the conservative party during the nineteenth century. When the expropriation of the assets of the Catholic church was achieved, the conservative party requested that the land be returned to it or that the church be compensated.

Eventually, both the liberal and conservative elites benefited from the confiscation of church property and gained greater power.

The War of the Supreme in 1839 under the Liberal government saw the attempt by various local leaders to emerge victorious and seize church assets.

Social struggles and civil wars

Likewise, in 1851 the Conservative Party confronted the Liberal Party because they imposed the abolition of slavery and the secularization of the country.

Local power elites of the Conservative Party established provincial navies to counter the central government and waged a civil war that began in 1859.

The last war in Colombia of the 19th century known as the Thousand Days War had economic motives as its central axis. Colombia increased its coffee production drastically, which led to an international drop in international prices.

This drop in prices in turn generated a terrible economic situation in the country for which the liberal government was held responsible.

Regeneration Period

The period of Regeneration carried out from 1885 to 1902 sought to reform the national political organization to serve the entire nation and end the damage generated by radical liberal policies.

During the mandate of President Rafael Núñez, power was restored to the central state:

• An extensive land and river transportation network was built for local commerce and industry.
• The economic system was leveled through the creation of banks, the tax system and the national currency.
• Confederations were abolished and these were transformed into departments that served the central government.
• An agreement was instituted to establish the Catholic religion as a national religion protected by the state.
• The national armed forces were strengthened
• Confederate military forces in the provinces were dismantled.

In conclusion, it can be said that, indisputably, the history of Colombia during the nineteenth century is full of crucial decisions and achievements that mark Colombia today.

References

1. Buchot, E. (2019). Colombia in 19th Century: The Struggle for Liberal Reform. Photographic Book Trip and Information.
2. Pérez, G (Unknown). Colombia in the 19th Century. Helgera Collection. Vanderbilt University Library. At: exhibits.library.vanderbilt.edu.
3. Spanish America's Challenge to the Contours of Atlantic History. Journal of World History. Utah State University