INDEPENDENCE OF COLOMBIA: CAUSES, PROCESS AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The independence of Colombia was generated from trivial matters, which were the triggers of a series of events that led to mark a before and after in the history of this nation, then known as the Viceroyalty of New Granada.

On July 20, 1810, a riot broke out in Bogotá at the home of the Spanish merchant José González Llorente. It is when the Scream or Brawl of July 20 happened; The Spaniard did not want to lend a vase to Luis de Rubio, who wanted to use it at the dinner for the visit of Antonio Villavicencio, born in Quito.

Act of Independence of Colombia (1810)

Actually, something as insignificant as refusing to loan a vase was not what caused the revolt. The creoles were unhappy with the Spanish government and planned events to generate revolution.

Background

Among the antecedents that are recognized in the historical context that was lived at the time and that caused the emancipation of Granada to feed on his ideas, the following stand out:

The French Revolution

The French Revolution was the movement that caused the fall of the French monarchy, when the principles that definitively influenced the generations that acted to achieve change were established.

Under the revolutionary slogan "freedom, equality and fraternity", the French Revolution laid the foundations of an ideology that would later animate the independence movements of the American continent.

Invasion of Spain by Napoleon Bonaparte

The Napoleonic Empire took possession of the Spanish Crown in 1808, usurping King Ferdinand VII, which generated a power vacuum in the Latin American colonies and later the implementation of Government Boards that were unaware of the authority.

This event is considered an element of utmost importance, both for what it meant and for its influence in the colonized territories.

The absence of power in the Spanish Crown and the promotion of the revolution by Bonaparte was an imminent example for what would happen later in America.

Errors in the policy implemented by Spain for the colonies

Some of these errors were the Bourbon reforms, the international war treaties, the expulsion of the Jesuits and support for the United States of America for its independence from the English.

In addition, there was a very bad management of financial resources due to excesses of King Ferdinand VII, coupled with the French invasion.

Causes

The independence of Colombia from the Spanish Crown was influenced by a series of events that it is necessary to contextualize in order, in this way, to have a panorama of the historical moment that was being lived.

These events occurred both within and outside the territory of Granada, which groups these causes into two groups: external causes and internal causes.

External causes

The independence of the United States of America

It was an important event with a wide scope for the South American independence ideology. This fact revealed the possibility of ending the yoke imposed by the colonizers.

Illustration

It was a revolution in the field of ideas that transformed the way in which literate Creoles conceived justice, politics, but above all freedom. Through the schools, such an ideology was spreading.

The Board of Quito

Quito was one of the main cities to hold a meeting in favor of its independence. Taking advantage of Napoleon's invasion of Spain, they proclaimed their emancipation.

Some participants of the meeting took the message with them to Santafé, so that the Granada natives would also take their act as an example. Quiteños took advantage of the gatherings to sell their idea of ​​rebellion.

Francisco de Miranda

The universal Venezuelan was a key piece for the independence of Colombia. The Caracas general had acted in the French Revolution and in the independence of the United States.

It was also the ideology of The Paris Manifesto, a strategy aimed at the freedom of South America. He tried a failed Liberation Campaign plan around 1806, thus leaving a sense of revolution.

The other revolutions

The popular uprising in other American territories, in addition to the novelties of the revolution, increasingly fed the revolutionary ideology of New Granada.

Internal causes

The commune Revolution

It had its origin in what is now known as Santander. The Creole comuneros were in disagreement with the Spanish reign in their territory due to their constant abuses of the population by the Spanish army.

In addition to this, living conditions and access to food were very precarious. Taxes would be the great trigger for this rebellion. The Spanish Crown wanted to raise taxes to sustain the war it was maintaining against England.

The botanical expedition

The exuberant tropical vegetation made it possible for him to come across unknown plants that were the immediate object of study at every step.

It is about José Celestino Mutis, who introduced the ideas of illustration in America and scientific knowledge through the creation of a herbarium of the flora of the country.

In the year 1783 the botanical expedition was organized through the Colony's territories, a fact that further ahead was decisive for the future of it.

The scientists, illustrators, artists and intellectuals of the expedition will be almost all Creoles hired, trained, taught and organized by Mutis in American territory.

The knowledge acquired during the expedition made them aware of the possibilities of development of the territory without dependence on the Crown, forming among them an awareness of the country, of belonging and of property, independent of the Spanish administration.

For this reason, figures of the expedition such as Jorge Tadeo Lozano and Francisco Antonio Zea would be involved in the first independence of the territory in 1810.

The Grievance Memorial

Known as "Representation of the very illustrious Cabildo de Santafé to the Supreme Central Board of Spain", it was a document drawn up in 1908 by Camilo Torres y Tenorio.

In this document, the Creoles (Spanish Americans) made a call for equality before the Spanish authorities.

The letter was addressed to King Ferdinand VII, who at that time was Napoleon's prisoner, for which a new Junta was erected in Seville to assume the power that had the greatest representation on the part of the provinces.

The instance was not sent to Spain, but it was known in Colombia. It was a protest against the precariousness that existed in the Granada neighborhood and the inequalities, both in opportunities and in political representation.

In this sense, they demanded justice, equality and cried out for sovereignty, which resides in the mass of the nation. This thus constituted an essential contribution to the independence spirit of the time.

The rights of man

Although they were drawn up in France in the framework of the French Revolution, this fact was known in the territory of Granada.

The declaration was translated from French by Antonio Nariño, the greatest hero of independence, which influenced the spirit of the Creoles and fueled the desire for freedom.

The gatherings

They were meetings for the exchange of ideas and knowledge in politics and law. In these gatherings, illustrious figures such as General Francisco de Paula Santander, Antonio Nariño and Camilo Torres, made plans for the emancipation of the Spanish Crown.

They were held in cafes, where they discussed ideas of freedom and equality and of turning New Granada into a sovereign and autonomous nation, within the framework of dialectics, hermeneutics and French encyclopedism.

Independence Process

Silly homeland

With this name, the historical period that began with the cry of independence of Santa Fe de Bogotá on July 20, 1810, and ended with the Spanish reconquest in 1816, is known. It was the equivalent of the first republic established in New Granada.

It was marked by a series of difficulties that the Creoles had to face to reach the government in the territory, which resulted in a civil war.

The confrontation originated between patriots: some defended federalist ideas (Camilo Torres) and others tried to establish centralism (Antonio Nariño), all this in a nation just in formation.

During this period, each province appoints its authorities, establishes its independent boards, creates its Constitution, many of these inspired by that of the United States (almost a score of these).

In 1812 the civil war between federalists and centralists culminated in the taking of Santafé by Simón Bolívar, in command of the United Provinces troops.

The profound social differences that existed in New Granada made it clear that they were not yet a nation.

But it was not until 1823 that the definition of "Patria Boba" was coined to this period by Antonio Nariño, who referred to the fact that the disagreements originated between the Creoles themselves caused the weakening of Colombia before its Spanish enemies.

Others affirm that Nariño wanted to silence the obvious social differences that made those first independence efforts unsuccessful under the name of "fool."

Liberation campaign

The liberation campaign of New Granada took place under the strategic-military leadership of Simón Bolívar and the patriot army. It lasted 77 days, from May 20, 1819 to August 10 of the same year.

In these days the patriot army performed great feats, participating in a series of battles that would be in favor of recovering New Granada from Spanish rule. The patriots participated in the battles of Paya, where part of the royalist army made a withdrawal.

They also participated in the battle of Tópaga and Gameza, which was not favorable for the libertarians; and in the battle of the Pantano de Vargas, where Bolívar seeks the encounter against the royalist leader but he refuses from combat.

On August 4, the battle of Boyacá took place, where finally the royalist chief, Colonel Barreiro, was captured. The victory of the libertarian army reaches the ears of viceroy Juan de Sámano, who flees to Cartagena de Indias.

Bolívar made the taking of Santafé de Bogotá on August 10, 1819 without any resistance, thus ending the New Granada campaign.

This would later bring the integration of the Captaincy General of Venezuela, the Viceroyalty of New Granada and the Royal Court of Quito in the Republic of Colombia.

Declaration of Independence

It was the starting point of Colombian constitutionalism. What happened on July 20, 1810 is summarized there.

It is the document that dictates that Colombia becomes a democratic nation with duties and responsibilities, such as choosing its leaders intelligently, control over its statutes and laws on their application.

This ordinance was not what granted Colombia its freedom or what generated its independence. However, it served as lights so that citizens understood that they were free from the Spanish Empire and that they had obligations to their homeland.

The act of independence is a document that establishes the characteristics collected both from the people in their feeling of being independent from the Spanish Crown, as well as from the heads of the town councils and Creole boards.

These chiefs were called upon to take the people's requests and translate those that were of greatest importance.

This document establishes that the decisions made that involve the people must be discussed and voted on by the people and that no authority would be given to a single person or company to make arbitrary decisions.

This was decided for the well-being of the settlers, already exhausted from the abuses of the Spanish army under the orders of the kings of Spain to loot the raw material existing in this portion of land that they had declared as theirs.

Most important consequences of the independence of Colombia

The consequences of the independence of Colombia began to be noticed from the very day of its proclamation on July 20, 1810. The first republic emerged and with it very relevant social and political changes in the history of the South American country.

The transition from a colony to an independent republic was a complex process in which the idea of ​​maintaining the status quo was confronted with the idea of ​​generating a new and modern republic in all aspects.

Despite the limitations of being part of a colonial system, Colombia had some economic prosperity in the last era of the colonial period.

However, after obtaining independence, a significant decrease was generated, which began to be notably overcome in the mid-nineteenth century.

The independence of Colombia brought both favorable and unfavorable consequences. The thirst for modernity of some citizens met with resistance from the followers of the conservative system.

This diversity of thoughts as to what was considered to be the structure of the newborn republic, generated political instability that took years to disappear.

The most important consequences were:

Loss of political order

Once independence is achieved, the existing (colonial) political order is extinguished and it is necessary to create a new order in the hands of the emancipatory leaders, who had no experience in this field.

As a result of this inexperience, many different points of view and many internal divisions were generated, which resulted in clashes and a certain disorder in the leadership of the country.

The liberal and conservative tendencies were at odds and each had an idea of ​​what this new republic that had been generated should be.

On the one hand, the liberals were against the relationship of submission and paternalism built with the indigenous people in colonial times.

Liberals rejected the high tax rates, the credit system in the hands of the Catholic Church, and the old and limiting system of regulations. They also believed in opening trade to the international arena to generate greater economic development.

On the other hand, conservatives had strong resistance to the ideas generated by the Enlightenment. They had an affinity for the existing legal and tax system, and believed in maintaining the strong influence of the Catholic Church in all areas of society.

For the conservatives, the indigenous population had to remain subdued, to avoid possible insurrections and the risk of loss of the civility of the Republic.

There was much instability and a long and bloody brawl between liberals and conservatives, which lasted throughout the nineteenth century. Historians indicate that the lost political order took about a century to recover.

Tax burden reduction

The tax system was transformed. There were several tax reforms that meant that taxes were greatly reduced, and also simplified.

For example, tithes for the Catholic Church suffered a significant reduction.

According to historians, taxes comprised 11.2% of the gross domestic product in colonial times and, after independence, they were reduced to 5%.

Building modern regulations

There were a series of new regulations that sought to modernize the nation. Both the civil code and the different constitutions that were promulgated had clear intentions to modernize society through legality.

From the independence of Colombia, it was sought to generate a legal system that would favor international trade, through which to achieve economic development.

Disarticulation of slavery

After gaining independence, slavery was dismantled in Colombia, because it was part of the imposed colonial heritage.

Slavery did not disappear immediately, but it was gradually fading, and the so-called “maroonage” emerged, a term assigned to those demonstrations against the discrimination of people due to their former condition of slaves in the Colony.

This action meant an increase in the quality of life of the slaves, who had the possibility of freeing themselves from this condition.

However, it also meant the deterioration of the mining industry and plantations in some regions of Colombia, activities that were sustained almost entirely through the work of the slave population.

Decline of the Caribbean region

Cartagena, located in the Caribbean region, was one of the most influential cities in colonial times.

It was the city that received and managed the largest amount of slave population, a population that worked in agriculture, the mining industry, and even in domestic work in the homes of the Spanish.

The city of Cartagena was also the most important port of Spain in America. Different imported products entered Colombia through this city and personalities from the viceroyalty established at the time were also received.

This constant contact with the aristocracy originated an important cultural, economic and social exchange, which gave Cartagena a certain preponderance over other cities belonging to the viceroyalty.

Once the independence of Colombia was achieved, this region suffered a significant decline.

Given the characteristics mentioned above, the Spanish invested large sums of money in Cartagena, to maintain a military and architectural development. When the time of independence arrives, Cartagena stops receiving this income.

The confrontations typical of the pro-independence struggle and the actions carried out in the civil wars that occurred later, also left havoc in the area.

The areas of agriculture and livestock suffered, and it was a long time before the economy of the region could grow again.

In addition to material losses, there were significant human losses: 51 thousand inhabitants of Cartagena died in these struggles.

Before independence, Cartagena focused its economy on mining. Once the independence process took place, the region dedicated itself to cattle ranching, taking advantage of the large extension of space it had, and to the cultivation of some specific products, such as indigo, tobacco, sugar cane, among others.

However, the cultivation of these products did not generate much profit and, therefore, did not contribute enough to the economic growth of the country.

Colombia's independence day

Colombia's Independence Day is celebrated on July 20, a date that the Colombian Congress decreed in 1873.

References

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3. Kalmanovitz, S. "Economic effects of Independence: agriculture" (May 7, 2010) in Money. Recovered on August 10, 2017 from Money: money.com.
4. Kalmanovitz, S. "Economic consequences of the process of Independence of Colombia" (2008) at Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano. Retrieved on August 10, 2017 from Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano: utadeo.edu.co.
5. Bank of the Republic. "Visual memory and social life in Cartagena, 1880-1930" (1998) in Banco de la República Cultural Activity. Retrieved on August 10, 2017 from Banco de la República Cultural Activity: banrepcultural.org.
6. The Act of Independence of Colombia ”. Recovered from Independencia de Colombia.net: Independenciadecolombia.net
7. The rebellion of the comuneros ”. Recovered from Escolares.net: escolar.net
8. July 20: Independence Day of Colombia ”. Recovered from Mincultura: mincultura.gov.co
9. Botanical expeditions: José Celestino Mutis, from the flora of the New Kingdom of Granada to the independence of Colombia ”. Recovered from German Pharmacy: Farmaciagermana.com
10. The Grievance Memorial ”. Recovered from El Tiempo: eltiempo.com
11. The silly homeland? Recovered from Semana: semana.com.