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Panama THE COLOMBIA DEPARTMENT
Independence from Spain
Lacking communication except by sea, which the Spanish
generally controlled, Panama remained aloof from the early efforts
of the Spanish colonies to separate from Spain. Revolutionaries of
other colonies, however, did not hesitate to use Panama's strategic
potential as a pawn in revolutionary maneuvers. General Francisco
Miranda of Venezuela, who had been attracting support for
revolutionary activities as early as 1797, offered a canal
concession to Britain in return for aid. Thomas Jefferson, while
minister to France, also showed interest in a canal, but the
isolationist policies of the new United States and the absorption
of energies and capital in continental expansion prevented serious
consideration.
Patriots from Cartagena attempted to take Portobelo in 1814 and
again in 1819, and a naval effort from liberated Chile succeeded in
capturing the island of Taboga in the Bay of Panama. Panama's first
act of separation from Spain came without violence. When Simón
Bolívar's victory at Boyacá on August 7, 1819, clinched the
liberation of New Granada, the Spanish viceroy fled Colombia for
Panama, where he ruled harshly until his death in 1821. His
replacement in Panama, a liberal constitutionalist, permitted a
free press and the formation of patriotic associations. Raising
troops locally, he soon sailed for Ecuador, leaving a native
Panamanian, Colonel Edwin Fábrega, as acting governor.
Panama City immediately initiated plans to declare
independence, but the city of Los Santos preempted the move by
proclaiming freedom from Spain on November 10, 1821. This act
precipitated a meeting in Panama City on November 28, which is
celebrated as the official date of independence. Considerable
discussion followed as to whether Panama should remain part of
Colombia (then comprising both the present-day country and
Venezuela) or unite with Peru. The bishop of Panama, a native
Peruvian who realized the commercial ties that could be developed
with his country, argued for the latter solution but was voted
down. A third possible course of action, a union with Mexico
proposed by emissaries of that country, was rejected.
Panama thus became part of Colombia, then governed under the
1821 Constitution of Cúcuta, and was designated a department with
two provinces, Panamá and Veraguas. With the addition of Ecuador to
the liberated area, the whole country became known as Gran
Colombia. Panama sent a force of 700 men to join Bolívar in Peru,
where the war of liberation continued.
The termination of hostilities against the royalists in 1824
failed to bring tranquillity to Gran Colombia. The constitution
that Bolívar had drafted for Bolivia was put forward by him to be
adopted in Gran Colombia. The country was divided principally over
the proposal that a president would serve for life. The president
would not be responsible to the legislature and would have power to
select his vice president. Other provisions, generally centralist
in their tendencies, were repugnant to some, while a few desired a
monarchy. Panama escaped armed violence over the constitutional
question but joined other regions in petitioning Bolívar to assume
dictatorial powers until a convention could meet. Panama announced
its union with Gran Colombia as a "Hanseatic State," i.e., as an
autonomous area with special trading privileges until the
convention was held.
In 1826 Bolívar honored Panama when he chose it as the site for
a congress of the recently liberated Spanish colonies. Many leaders
of the revolutions in Latin America considered the establishment of
a single government for the former Spanish colonies the natural
follow-up to driving out the peninsulares. Both José de San
Martin and Miranda proposed creating a single vast monarchy ruled
by an emperor descended from the Incas. Bolívar, however, was the
one who made the most serious attempt to unite the Spanish American
republics.
Although the league or confederation envisioned by Bolívar was
to foster the blessings of liberty and justice, a primary purpose
was to secure the independence of the former colonies from renewed
attacks by Spain and its allies. In this endeavor Bolívar sought
Britain's protection. He was reluctant to invite representatives of
the United States, even as observers, to the congress of
plenipotentiaries lest their collaboration compromise the league's
position with the British. Furthermore, Bolívar felt that the
neutrality of the United States in the war between Spain and its
former colonies would make its representation inappropriate. In
addition, slavery in the United States would be an obstacle in
discussing the abolition of the African slave trade. Bolívar
nevertheless acquiesced when the governments of Colombia, Mexico,
and
Central America (see Glossary)
invited the United States to
send observers.
Despite the sweeping implications of the Monroe Doctrine,
President John Quincy Adams--in deciding to send delegates to the
Panama conference--was not disposed to obligate the United States
to defend its southern neighbors. Adams instructed his delegates to
refrain from participating in deliberations concerning regional
security and to emphasize discussions of maritime neutrality and
commerce. Nevertheless, many members of the United States Congress
opposed participation under any conditions. By the time
participation was approved, the delegation had no time to reach the
conference. The British and Dutch sent unofficial representatives.
The Congress of Panama, which convened in June and adjourned in
July of 1826, was attended by four American states--Mexico, Central
America, Colombia, and Peru. The "Treaty of Union, League, and
Perpetual Confederation" drawn up at that congress would have bound
all parties to mutual defense and to the peaceful settlement of
disputes. Furthermore, because some feared that monarchical
elements sympathetic to Spain and its allies might regain control
of one of the new republics, the treaty included a provision that
if a member state substantially changed its form of government, it
would be excluded from the confederation and could be readmitted
only with the unanimous consent of all other members.
The treaty was ratified only by Colombia and never became
effective. Bolívar, having made several futile attempts to
establish lesser federations, declared shortly before his death in
1830 that "America is ungovernable; those who served the revolution
have plowed the sea." Despite his disillusion, however, he did not
see United States protection as a substitute for collective
security arrangements among the Spanish-speaking states. In fact,
he is credited with having said, "The United States seems destined
by Providence to plague America with misery in the name of
Liberty."
Three abortive attempts to separate the isthmus from Colombia
occurred between 1830 and 1840. The first was undertaken by an
acting governor of Panama who opposed the policies of the
president, but the Panamanian leader reincorporated the department
of Panama at the urging of Bolívar, then on his deathbed. The
second attempted separation was the scheme of an unpopular
dictator, who was soon deposed and executed. The third secession,
a response to civil war in Colombia, was declared by a popular
assembly, but reintegration took place a year later.
Data as of December 1987
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