|
Colombia The Independence Movement
Leaders in the various localities that had formed
criollo
councils sought to unite the colony of New Granada. From
the
beginning of their attempts, however, conflict emerged
over the
form the new government should take. The provincial
councils did
not want the centralist, authoritarian type of government
advocated
by the Bogotá council, preferring a federal type of
government more
in keeping with the liberal principles of the
Enlightenment and the
example of the North American revolution. This represented
the
first ideological split between groups of leading
criollos.
Federalists rallied behind Camilo Torres; Centralists
rallied
behind Antonio Nariño. To avoid a civil war between the
two
factions, the provincial councils sent representatives to
Bogotá in
1811 to draft a constitution for the territory. In
November 1811,
a congress was installed, and the provinces formed the
United
Provinces of New Granada. The federal union consisted of
autonomous
provinces joined only in common interest; the national
army was
subordinate to Bogotá.
Starting in 1812, individual provinces began declaring
absolute
independence from Spain. That year, Simón Bolívar Palacio,
considered the liberator of South America, tried for the
first time
to gain independence for New Granada. The absence of
united support
from the various provinces, however, frustrated him.
Bolívar left
New Granada in 1815 and went to Jamaica. The continuing
tension
between federalist and centralist forces led to a conflict
that
left New Granada weak and vulnerable to Spain's attempts
to
reconquer the provinces.
At the time of Bolívar's departure, the independence
cause in
New Granada was desperate. Ferdinand VII had been restored
to the
Spanish throne, and Napoleon's forces had withdrawn from
Spain. A
pacification expedition led by Pablo Morillo on behalf of
the king
proceeded from present-day Venezuela to Bogotá, and those
who laid
down their arms and reaffirmed their loyalty to the
Spanish crown
were pardoned. Morillo also granted freedom to slaves who
helped in
the reconquest of the colonies. Because of dissension
between the
upper class and the masses and inept military leadership,
Cartagena
fell to the royalists by the end of 1815.
In early 1816, Morillo moved to reconquer New Granada
and
changed his tactics from pardons to terror; Bogotá fell
within a
few months. Morillo repressed antiroyalists (including
executing
leaders such as Torres) and installed the Tribunal of
Purification,
responsible for exiles and prisoners, and the Board of
Confiscations. The Ecclesiastical Tribunal, in charge of
government
relations with the church, imposed military law on priests
who were
implicated in the subversion. The Spanish reconquest
installed a
military regime that ruled with violent repression. Rising
discontent contributed to a greater radicalization of the
independence movement, spreading to sectors of the
society, such as
the lower classes and slaves, that had not supported the
previous
attempt at independence. Thus the ground was laid for
Bolívar's
return and ultimate triumph.
At the end of 1816, Bolívar returned to New Granada,
convinced
that the war for independence was winnable only with the
support of
the masses. In the earlier attempt at independence, large
segments
of the population had been lured to the royalist side by
promises
such as repartition of land and abolition of slavery. When
the
masses saw that the promises were unfulfilled, however,
they
changed their allegiance from Spain to the independence
movement.
Two significant military encounters led to the
movement's
success. After having won a number of victories in a drive
from the
present-day Venezuelan coast to present-day eastern
Colombia via
the Río Orinoco, Bolívar gave Francisco de Paula Santander
the
mission of liberating the Casanare region, where he
defeated
royalist forces in April 1819. After the decisive defeat
of
royalist forces at the Battle of Boyacá in August 1819,
independence forces entered Bogotá without resistance.
The merchants and landowners who fought against Spain
now held
political, economic, and social control over the new
country that
encompompassed present-day Venezuelan, Colombia, and
Panana. The
first economic reforms that they passed consolidated their
position
by liberalizing trade, thereby allowing merchandise from
Britain
(New Granada's major trading partner after Spain) freer
entry into
the area. As a result, the artisan class and the emerging
manufactguring sector, who previously had held only slight
economic
and political power, now lost stature.
Data as of December 1988
|
