UNITED STATES OF COLOMBIA: HISTORY, ORGANIZATION, PRESIDENTS - HISTORY - 2025

The United States of Colombia was a federal state created in 1863 by radical liberal partisans. It was influenced and based on European constitutional models. Territorially, this nation was made up of the current Republic of Colombia, Panama, and some portions of Brazil and Peru. Its disintegration occurred in 1886.

Colombia -sovereign state of South America-, like the vast majority of nations, has undergone important changes that have shaped its national history. In the 16th century, the Colombian territory was designated as the viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, a province of the Spanish Empire.

It subsequently won its independence from Spain on July 20, 1810. Following this, a series of unions, disunity and territorial conflicts began that shaped the new State. The political and territorial variations that Colombia suffered during its first decades of independence were various.

Colombia began as United Provinces, became the Confederación Granadina, and later became part of one of the largest nations that has ever existed in South America: Gran Colombia. Civil wars and the desire for power were not long in coming, violently attacking the desire to form a unified, viable and stable country.

Border disputes were always the order of the day, as were political differences between conservatives, liberals, and radical liberals. However, during this time the Colombian culture grew and diversified, becoming part of the identity of a people.

History

In 1862, the Colombian State had already undergone various transformations, some much more successful than others. It had achieved independence from Spain, had recognition as a nation, had a defined government and territorial unification.

However, its union with Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador did not enjoy good fortune; neither was it the case of its time as a centralist republic. The ideas of the Enlightenment made a dent in the young Latin American nations; the Republic of Colombia was no exception.

These ideals proclaimed man as a free being and with equal rights, and drove not only the pro-independence struggles, but also numerous civil wars between liberals and conservatives.

Birth of the United States of Colombia

The United States of Colombia was born in 1863 with a form of federal government, broadly liberal and radical liberal tendency. It was the heir state of the Grenadian Confederation and arose thanks to the civil war won by the liberals.

This led to the drafting of the Constitution of Ríonegro, promoted by General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera. The liberalism of this new Constitution was both an impact and a novelty for the society of the time.

In this magna carta freedom of expression, freedom of worship were established and the printed media were proclaimed free of censorship, as was education. The free right to carry arms was even guaranteed, a fact inspired by the Constitution of the United States of America.

The nation was made up of nine states. At the time of the most radical liberalism, Colombia had 42 different constitutions.

This fact caused a strong atmosphere of ungovernability, as each state held elections and legislated on its own. Then, in 1876 a reform was made to the Constitution.

Territorial organization

The United States of Colombia was divided into nine entities that had a federal government. These entities were sovereign states and were identified with the names of: Boyacá, Antioquia, Cauca, Bolívar, Cundinamarca, Panama, Magdalena, Tolima and Santander.

Territorially, it was a slightly larger state than Colombia today. It still owned Panama as part of the nation, in addition to small portions of Peru and Brazil. It had an outlet to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Geographically it was divided by the Central, Western and Eastern mountain ranges. Later the sovereign state of Panama separated and formed its own independent nation.

It had land borders with the United States of Venezuela, the Empire of Brazil, the Republic of Ecuador and the Republic of Costa Rica. During that historical period, the coexistence with its South American neighbors was considerably peaceful.

Presidents and government

The system of government of the United States of Colombia was federalist, backed by a liberal policy. Being a democracy, the president was elected by vote and ruled for a period of two years.

It had a Senate and a House of Representatives, and the powers of the State were divided into Legislative, Judicial and Executive.

The United States of Colombia had a total of 18 presidents, the vast majority of whom were independent liberals or moderate liberals, while only one was nationalist.

First presidents

The first to assume the position of first president was Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, military and diplomat. He was a reformer for the young country.

He promoted foreign trade, proclaimed the use of the decimal metric system, initiated the separation of State and Church and ordered the first national census of Colombia.

Cipriano de Mosquera was known for his feelings against the Catholic Church, which was predominant and powerful in the Colombian territory. One of the main objectives of its newborn liberal republic was to be a secular state; this was a first on the continent.

The vast majority of the presidents were military by profession, experienced in various battles. One of the few civilians who took office was Manuel Morillo Toro, a writer by profession. Morillo Toro was a radical liberal, who stood out more for his ideas than as a speaker or politician.

Rafael Núñez, the last president

The last to hold the presidency of the country was Rafael Núñez, author of the lyrics of the National Anthem of Colombia.

This politician and native writer from Cartagena de Indias was the forerunner of the Constitution of 1886. With this, the federalist system, which until then had ruled as a form of State, was put to an end.

All presidents

List of presidents in the United States of Colombia:

• Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera (July 18, 1861 - February 10, 1863)
• Froilán Largacha (February 10 - May 14, 1863)
• Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera (May 14, 1863 - April 1, 1864)
• Manuel Murillo Toro (April 1, 1864 - April 1, 1866)
• José María Rojas Garrido (April 1 - May 20, 1866)
• Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera (May 20, 1866 - May 23, 1867)
• Santos Acosta (May 23, 1867 - April 1, 1868)
• Santos Gutiérrez Prieto (April 1, 1868 - April 1, 1870)
• Eustorgio Salgar (April 1, 1870 - April 1, 1872)
• Manuel Murillo Toro (April 1, 1872 - April 1, 1874)
• Santiago Pérez Manosalva (April 1, 1874 - April 1, 1876)
• Aquileo Parra (April 1, 1876 - April 1, 1878)
• Julián Trujillo Largacha (April 1, 1878 - April 8, 1880)
• Rafael Núñez (April 8, 1880 - April 1, 1882)
• Francisco Javier Zaldúa (April 1 - December 21, 1882)
• Clímaco Calderón (December 21 - 22, 1882)
• José Eusebio Otálora (December 22, 1882 - April 1, 1884)
• Ezequiel Hurtado (April 1 - August 10, 1884)
• Rafael Núñez (August 10, 1884 - April 1, 1886)

Political, social and economic characteristics

Policies

The United States of Colombia was founded under the principles of the French Revolution, believing that all citizens are equal before the law.

It was a liberal and federal system, inspired by the political and governmental functioning of the United States of America.

Economical

The official currency was the Colombian peso and it had a pre-industrial economic system; this was largely dependent on agricultural production.

The free market allowed commercial exchange with different countries in Europe and America. The main agricultural products were cereals, sugar cane and tobacco.

The future industrial development of Colombia began in the cities of Antioquia and Santander during the period in which the United States of Colombia existed.

Social

At the national level, the population was concentrated in the states of Cundinamarca, Cauca, Santander and Boyacá. Throughout the territory, almost three million people who shared the name were counted, according to the results of the 1871 census.

The culture flourished when new centers of higher learning were opened. The university institution, which had practically no prominent position during the previous decades, lived a golden age.

The Church and the State began their separation. They were transformed into entities that, although they still maintained their power, exercised it separately without interfering in the other's behavior. In the United States of Colombia, freedom of worship was made legal.

Present

The United States of Colombia disappeared on August 8, 1886, as a consequence of the political movement known as Regeneration. It happened during the presidency of Rafael Núñez and was the beginning of the 44 years of conservative and deeply Catholic rule that followed.

The 20th century began in Colombia with the Thousand Days War and, later, with the war against Peru. In the second half of the last century, the New Granada state became infamous for its intense connection with drug trafficking and the brutal violence that it brings.

The links with Colombian drugs came to affect the entire continent; many of the other South American countries served as a bridge to export the illicit substances.

The FARC

Meanwhile, another war was being fought on a different front, this time with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC. This conflict bled the country for more than 30 years.

Border problems with neighboring Venezuela have also been the order of the day: from difficulties in establishing the dividing line that separates the countries to smuggling that occurs along the trails (illegal crossings at land borders).

Sometimes the problem is aggravated by opposing ideologies (socialism and capitalism) that the governments of both nations follow.

Corruption, as a Latin American evil, affects the modern Republic of Colombia. Since the late 1990s, attempts have been made to carry out peace processes that have been unsuccessful, which has caused the average Colombian to lack faith that a positive change in that direction can occur.

XXI century

The 21st century seems to paint better for the South American nation. The typical violence that made Colombia famous began to wane and the economy reached a point of relative stability.

The violence of the war between the state and the rebel groups -which has left thousands of victims- has diminished mainly due to the attempt at a peace process that the government of Juan Manuel Santos has carried out with the FARC.

However, other groups of for-profit paramilitary practices continue to be present in the lives of millions of Colombians. Social leaders are assassinated for demanding basic rights such as health and education.

Experts assure that the construction of peace in Colombia will need time, effort, the will of the actors involved and the guarantee of a series of factors.

References

1. Don Quixote (2018). Colombian culture. Recovered at: donquijote.org
2. Roa, G. (2014). The periods of history. Recovered at: es.slideshare.net
3. All of Colombia (2015). Distribution of indigenous groups in Colombia. Recovered in: todacolombia.com
4. Romero Hernández D, (2017). United States of Colombia The Liberal Disaster? Arte-Facto Magazine, Santo Tomás University. Recovered at: tecno.usta.edu.co
5. Political Constitution of the United States of Colombia of 1863, (2015). Miguel de Cervantes virtual library Recovered in: cervantesvirtual.com