Constitutional history of Colombia
Encyclopedia
The Constitutional history of Colombia is the process of formation and evolution of the different constitutions that Colombia
has had since its formation.
During Colonial times, the Spaniards were supposed to behave according to the Laws of Burgos of 1512 that defined the rights of the indigenous people but most importantly legalised the right of the Spaniards over them. These were replaced by the New Laws of Indies
of 1542. The Monarchy of Spain tried to enforce these laws but revolts by Spaniards that benefited from oppressing the natives forced Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
to suppress them in 1545..
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, translated and published by Antonio Nariño
in 1794 and distributed in Santa Fe de Bogotá, could be considered the first draft of a political constitution in the New World. At present, the modern version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
forms the core of the political constitutions of many countries. The Constitution of Canada
, for example, is quite short and is limited almost exclusively to human rights
and basic freedoms
. Those rights and liberties were not an integral part of the initial Colombian constitutions, but some were slowly introduced until they were definitively and explicitly included in the Constitution of 1991
.
The first written constitution as such with jurisdiction in Colombia was the Spanish Constitution of 1808. The Spanish Constitution of 1812
also had theoretical jurisdiction during the Reconquista of Spanish America
until Independence in 1819.
During colonial times, the Catholic Church was the most powerful institution after the Monarchy of Spain. The Church had control over the press, education, literacy and access to professions. It was the decisive authority in matters of public and private morality and the government would turn to it to obtain civil servants when laymen were not available.
During the fight for independence, and after, the Church was losing its influence, but it continued take a decisive part in the decision making process. In particular, the federalists wanted to create a constitution without clerical influence, whereas the centralists leaned towards the Church not only to preserve the faith but as a political body. The minimum geographic area able to send members to the congresses were the parish
es. In larger urban areas there could be several parishes.
and thus continued to be named until August 10, 1819 when the republican armies arrived in Santa Fe de Bogotá and the Spanish viceroy Juan José de Sámano y Uribarri
fled.
In 1809, before the events of the Colombian Declaration of Independence
took place, the Cabildo (council)
of Santa Fe de Bogotá decided it was advisable to send a representative to the Junta Suprema Central
located in Seville
. It commissioned Camilo Torres Tenorio
to draft the document known in Colombian history by the name "Memorandum of Offenses". For reasons that are unknown, the Cabildo did not accept this document. Jose Maria Cárdenas, descendant of Camilo Torres, commented that "the Cabildo was intimidated when shown the representation project and decided to archive it". On July 20, 1810, Colombia delared independence from Spain. The "Memorandum of Offences" was kept unpublished until 1832.
Although the "Memorandum of Offences" did not have any direct political effect and only few people knew of it at the time, its content is useful, more than any other document, to gauge the changes that were taking place in the political climate of Spanish America. It shows the attitudes that Criollos
(locally born people of pure or mostly Spanish ancestry) had towards assuming a role in the government within the domains of Ferdinand VII of Spain. Some were royalists and others favored independence. The document demanded the same level of representation for Criollos in the American provinces as that of residents born in Spain (known as Peninsulares
). This demand was based on the claim that Criollos were "descendants of Conquistador
s" and the "legitimate heirs of the Spanish hegemony" which the conquistadors had established over the native populations of America, at whom they looked with some contempt.
in 1810 was the first of these. It was simultaneously federalist, democratic, liberal and catholic .
Socorro was the capital of the province of Santander
at the time, where 30 years before the second Revolt of the Comuneros
took place.
was appointed head of the Meeting, which makes him the first Chief of State.
The Constituent Electoral College of the State of Cundinamarca can be considered the first Constituent National Assembly and Congress. It met in Santa Fe de Bogotá in March 1811 and, with many difficulties due to disagreements between centralists and federalists, promulgated the first constitution with national scope: The Constitution of the state of Cundinamarca on April 4, 1811. The document was inspired by the United States Constitution
. The assembly appointed the second Chief of State, Jorge Tadeo Lozano
, for a period of three years. Because of internal pressures and frays, the assembly forced him to resign on September 19, 1811 and chose Antonio Nariño
instead.
, Tunja
, Antioquia, Mariquita and Neiva. Some of these (Cartagena, Tunja, Antioquia, Casanare
, Pamplona
and Popayán
) sent representatives to The Congress of the United Provinces that met initially in Santa Fe de Bogotá and later in Tunja and Villa de Leyva
.
On the second Sunday of October 1811 the first elections were held in Tunja. For each 2000 inhabitants there was a representing elector, and one for each municipality even if it did not have a population of this size. Any man 20 years old or older or anybody 15 or older and with "a modest occupation" could vote. The first name for the republic was established officially on November 27: United Provinces of New Granada
.
The Constituent Electoral College of the State of Cundinamarca elected Pedro Groot as its first president on December 23, and the following day Antonio Nariño as temporary president. At the meeting of October 4, 1812, the United Provinces elected Camilo Torres Tenorio as president (a position he held until October 5, 1814) and declared the union to be federalist as opposed to centralist. Simón Bolivar
and Antonio Nariño were in favor of centralism, which was also becoming more popular in Santa Fe de Bogotá. This disagreement threw the United Provinces into an armed confrontation at the end of 1812, and a second one, without Nariño, in 1814 .
Federalists (partisans of Francisco de Paula Santander
, who saw centralism as a restriction of freedom) would later evolve into the Liberal Party of Colombia. Centralists (partisans of Antonio Nariño and Simón Bolívar, who wanted to see the nation centralized) would evolve into the Colombian Conservative Party
.
Once Ferdinand VII recovered from the Peninsular War
, royal forces led by Pablo Morillo
defeated the revolutionary forces. In August, September and October 1816 Morillo executed most constitutional leaders, including Camilo Torres, and restored the Royal Hearing in Santa Fe de Bogotá in March 1817 .
Nariño was arrested in Pasto
in May 1814 and imprisoned in Spain. He remained so until 1821.
, representatives of Venezuela (now Venezuela
), New Granada (now Colombia and Panama
) and Quito (now Ecuador
) met in Angostura
, Venezuela. This meeting, called the Congress of Angostura
, worked on the development of a "Fundamental Law" (constitution). Representatives from Quito were few since that province was still under Spanish control.
These were the decisions taken initially:
After the Battle of the Marsh of Vargas
and the Battle of Boyacá, on December 17, 1819 the Congress of Angostura declared the Republic of Colombia formally created.
At the end of the sessions the Congress decided that it would meet again in Cúcuta
, in January 1821, in order to publish the new constitution.
During his six years in captivity, Antonio Nariño had drafted a constitution. After The Precursor was released in Spain on March 23, 1820 he presented his constitution in Cúcuta, but he did not get much attention.
defined in Angostura met this time in Villa del Rosario
, in Cúcuta, in the beginning of 1821.
The Battle of Carabobo
, on June 24, 1821, officially brought independence to Venezuela and on July 18 the Congress restarted with greater impetus in Cúcuta to include the regions recently liberated: Caracas, Cartagena
, Popayán
and Santa Marta
.
The Constitution of Cúcuta
was proclaimed on August 30, 1821 and published on July 12. This has been considered the first Constitution of Colombia that was effective in Gran Colombia until its dissolution in 1831. It consisted of 10 chapters and 91 articles, but the most important points are:
On May 24, 1822 the province of Quito sealed its independence in the Battle of Pichincha
; and on December 9, 1824 the Battle of Ayacucho
sealed Peru's (what today is Peru
and Bolivia
). Peru and Bolivia never formed part of the Gran Colombia but they share with Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia the title of Bolivarian Countries, being republics liberated by Simón Bolivar, to whom the congress bestowed the title of Libertador, and was considered the first official president of each of them.
, the people of Venezuela and Quito longed for a federalist constitution, one that would allow them to have regional freedom and control without strong central impositions. The Venezuelan military, in particular, wanted to exert more power in their region.
The members of the army had been allowed to vote in the elections since the constitution of Cúcuta in recognition of their efforts in the liberation. In 1827 the congress decided to reduce that right and made a constitutional change to exclude the ranks below sergeants, since excluding higher ranks was considered too bold.
In April 1828 the representatives of the municipalities (parishes) met in Ocaña to choose the constituent congress that would reform the constitution of Cúcuta. The Santanderists (federalists) formed a large contingent. The displeasure of the Bolivarians (centralists) was such that they decided to leave the deliberations, thus not allowing a quorum to be obtained. This unwillingness to behave democratically and solve problems with dialogue, negotiation and vote, deciding on abandonment of the process instead, was a behavior that the political parties of Colombia would maintain during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and it would generate violence. Nevertheless the members in the elections of July 1, 1828 were appointed.
Bolivar was eager to see Colombia united and decided to impose his will in a dictatorial fashion as a last resort. In August 1828, he presented a constitution in which he included Peru and Bolivia (by then, Bolivia had already separated from Peru), with a strong central government and a presidency for life in which the president could have the faculty to appoint his successor. That was the final spark that set afire the Santanderistas because they saw in that proposal a backward movement towards monarchy; on September 25 there was an assassination attempt on Bolivar. The leaders of Venezuela saw Bolivar's intentions with enough distrust that in November 1829 they decided to separate from Colombia. They let this be known at the convention of January 1829. Bolivar finally resigned his position during the constitutional convention in January 1830 held in Bogotá (also called the Admirable Congress); his health was starting to fail.
The Inhabitants of Quito, knowing that Venezuela had separated and that Bolivar was retired, decided to separate as well. Thus The Gran Colombia vanished after 11 years of existence.
The displeasure of military and liberal groups was accentuated and General Rafael Urdaneta
's dictatorship ensued. Finally in December 1830 Simón Bolivar the liberator died.
with some federal characteristics. The constitution established a presidentialist regime. The congress appointed Francisco de Paula Santander
president for a period of four years. On November 17, 1831 the Fundamental Law was promulgated, but the Congress continued working on it throughout 1832. The term for senators was reduced form eight to four years and that of representatives from four to two. Provinces, now called Departments, were granted greater representation and power, and were administered by a governor and the assemblies. The former was appointed by the president and the latter chosen by vote. Centralists and the Catholic Church began to be called "Conservatives" and their opponents, the federalists, "Liberals".
from 1839 to 1841 so during the presidency of General Pedro Alcántara Herrán
the Congress strengthened the office of president to an authoritarian and centralist extent with the purpose of keeping the national territory in order, something that Conservatism, being the ruling party, used to its advantage.
This reform eliminated the free press, gave the Catholic Church a monopoly over education and allowed the Jesuits, who had been expelled, to return.
Between 1849 and 1853 the number of provinces, now renamed departments, increased from 22 to 36.
Elections to choose the solicitor and the Supreme Court of Justice took place in September 1853. On October 3, 1853 the governor of Bogotá was chosen, counting the votes by parochial district.
During 1848 and 1849 the traditional parties, Liberal and Conservative, finally coined their names. Their ideological differences became solid and the emphasis on personal characters waned.
As of 1849, during the government of General Jose Hilario Lopez the country began a strong political and economic transformation because of the shift from colonialism towards capitalism.
, the country was officially renamed Granadine Confederation
in this constitution. The confederation was formed by eight states. The provinces were granted greater representation and power: each state could have independent legislative attributes and the possibility of choosing its own president.
The vice-presidency was abolished and it was replaced with one designate appointed by the Congress. The president and senators would be elected for a period of 4 years and the chamber for 2.
In 1859 an electoral law conferred the president of the confederation the power to replace state presidents and to take part in questions of public order, and conferred the upon Congress the right to judge the elections of the states.
The radical liberals had won the Colombian Civil War (1860–1862)
, and created the Constitution of Rionegro promulgated on May 8, 1863.
On February 3, 1863 Congress approved the name United States of Colombia
for the country.
The new constitution liberalized social and economic policies, proclaiming the freedom to express one's ideas orally or in written form; freedom to work or to organize any business; freedom of the press; freedom to travel through the territory; to enter or to leave it; freedom of education, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and freedom to possess arms and ammunition.
It established a federal system with a central presidency (presidency of the union) for two years and without the possibility of immediate re-election. The election of the president of the union was indirect: each one of the Nine States (Panama, Antioquia, Magdalena, Bolivar, Santander, Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Tolima and the Cauca) would choose their candidates following particular electoral procedures for each state; then, each one of the nine states would deposit a vote to elect the president of the union. The winning candidate was that who had the absolute majority of votes; if an absolute majority was not obtained, the Congress would choose him from the same group of candidates.
Under this decentralized regime, regionalistic feelings reached their ultimate expression.
On May 12, four days after having proclaimed the constitution, the 61 delegates chose Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera
to govern for two years until April 1, 1864, the moment at which the new regulations to name a president would start. Mosquera had the anticlerical tone of liberalism, and the conservatives a pro-clerical tone that would continue for many decades.
in power, repealed the Constitution of Rionegro with the Constitution of 1886. From now on, the country was officially called the Republic of Colombia
.
The Constituent Assembly consisted of 18 delegates, two from each of the nine states.
Rafael Núñez announced a national Regeneration program and changed the country from a decentralized federal system to a centralized system with a strong central presidency. The presidential period changed from two to six years. The president of the Republic was elected by the Congress. The president of the state was appointed governor who from that moment on was appointed by the president of the Republic. The governor would choose the mayors of his department, except the mayor of Bogotá who was chosen by the president himself. Thus the president in effect had control of the executive at all levels.
The re-election of the president in immediately subsequent periods was authorized.
The chamber, the departmental assemblies and the municipal councils were chosen by popular vote. The Senate was chosen by the departmental assemblies. The suffrage for elections of national scope was limited to literate men over the age of 21. The restriction of knowing how to read and to write did not apply in regional elections.
The position of the vice-president was reinstated, and initially occupied by Eliseo Payán
.
The Colombian Constitution of 1886
remained in effect for more than one hundred years, guiding the mandate of twenty-three presidents of the Republic.
separated from Colombia with support from the United States. On November 6 United States recognized the sovereignty of Panama. On November 11 United States informed Colombia they would oppose to Colombian troops trying to recover Panama. The Thousand Days War
had left Colombia too weak to prevent the separation. On November 18 United States signed the Hay–Bunau Varilla Treaty with Panama for the construction of the Panama Canal
.
, displeased because of their slowness in approving reforms he wanted to impose, closed the Congress. At the beginning of 1905 he summoned a National Constituent Assembly chosen by the departmental administrators.
The Assembly suppressed the vice-presidency, two of the designaturas and the Council of State. It also dedided that the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice would serve for life, recognized the right of representation of minorities and the possibility to reform the Constitution by means of the National Assembly.
The National Assembly demonstrated its support to the government with a dictatorial character when it established a presidential period of 10 years for General Reyes with the possibility for him to appoint his own successor. In However General Reyes quit in 1909.
After the overthrow and exile of General Rafael Reyes on June 13, 1909, the Congress chose the vice-president, Ramon González Valencia
, to govern the remaining year in Reyes' term.
Ramon González summoned a National Assembly in 1910 to reform the Colombian Constitution of 1886
. This important reform banned the participation of the military in politics, established the direct popular election of the president of the republic, departmental assemblies and municipal council; it reduced the presidential period from 6 to 4 years, prohibited the immediate re-election of presidents, eliminated the position of vice-president and replaced it with one appointee that would be chosen by the congress; it established a system of proportions for the appointment of the members of public corporations according to the votes obtained, assuring a minimum of one third for the opposition party; it granted the congress the right to choose the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, consecrated the constitutional control to the Supreme Court of Justice.
The president kept the power to name governors who in turn would appoint mayors, corregidores
, administrators, directors of post offices, heads of jails, managers of banks, and some others.
The Constituent National Assembly appointed Carlos Eugenio Restrepo
to be the first president of the Republican Union on July 15.
, on August 1, 1936 the congress made several reforms. The right of suffrage was extended to all men 21 or older, eliminating the literacy requirement.
and by his suggestion, The National Constituent Assembly unanimously recognized the voting rights of women on August 25, 1954. Women exerted this right for the first time during the plebiscite of December 1, 1957.
.
The plebiscite of December 1, 1957 approved, with almost 94% of votes cast, the constitutional reform giving parity to both traditional parties for a term of 12 years. It was determined that the elections for President of the Republic, Congress, Departmental Assemblies, and Municipal Councils would take place during the first semester of 1958.
, the next to last president of the National Front.
With the purpose of regulating the electoral competition between parties, the reforms eliminated the distribution by halves for departmental assemblies and municipal councils. Also included were some measures to recognize minority parties. Some required reforms were postponed, in some cases indefinitely, such Article 120 of the Constitution granting "the right and fair participation of the second party in voting". Article 120 had the unintended effect of limiting the participation of minority parties and therefore limiting citizen participation.
the congress established popular voting for mayors and governors on November 21, 1984.
, the guerrilla detachment M-19
insisted that one of the main requirements for them to lay down arms was the creation of a Constituent Assembly of Colombia
in order to modify the constitution which until then did not guarantee the creation and development of political parties other than the two traditional ones, nor gave representation to minorities.
The government initially refused to put in motion the process for constitutional change. Students, in particular those at the universities, decided to begin a national popular movement proposing the formation of a Constituent National Assembly to resolve the constitutional issue. More than 50% of the voters approved the "Seventh Paper Ballot" and president Cesar Gaviria Trujillo was forced by the Supreme Court to fulfill the popular mandate. Thus it was possible not only to obtain constitutional change, but also the guerrilla detachment M-19 laid down their arms and were integrated into the national political life, and the indigenous communities were henceforth guaranteed representation in Congress.
The Constitution of 1991 is called the Constitution of the Rights, as it recognizes and consecrates fundamental rights such as freedom of religion and freedom of expression. It also details economic and social rights specific to the social rule of law enshrined in Article 1 of the Constitution, and collective rights, some of which include public morality, free economic competition and the right to a healthy environment. In addition it creates the necessary mechanisms to ensure and protect those rights.
The student and political movement begun in 1989 resulted in 1990 in a Constituent Assembly of Colombia elected by direct popular vote, which one year later promulgated the Colombian Constitution of 1991 in Bogotá. The country kept the name "Republic of Colombia".
from the independent party Colombia First
proposed a constitutional reform to allow the re-election of the President in immediately subsequent periods. The proposal was approved according to the constitution procedures and the Constitutional Court declared it executable as of October 19, 2005. The first reelected president was Álvaro Uribe himself on May 28, 2006, obtaining a voting of 62.1%. Next in the polls was Carlos Gaviria Diaz
, a candidate for the leftist party Alternative Democratic Pole
, who obtained 22% of the vote.
The fact that Uribe and Gaviria were from independent parties highlights that an important era of ideological transformation occurred in the history of Colombia, even to the point where some mass media announced that bipartisanism had been hurt to the death.
It is also evident that a level of maturity had been reached in the electoral process, which had earned the confidence of the population and of opposition parties. The speed of the delivery of electoral data from the National Registration Office was also outstanding, as even observers abroad knew less than two hours before the ballot boxes had closed the results of 85% of the ballots.
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
has had since its formation.
Pre-Columbian and Spanish times
The indigenous nations that inhabited the present territory of Colombia did not have written records; therefore there is no evidence of constitutions prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.During Colonial times, the Spaniards were supposed to behave according to the Laws of Burgos of 1512 that defined the rights of the indigenous people but most importantly legalised the right of the Spaniards over them. These were replaced by the New Laws of Indies
New Laws
The New Laws, in Spanish Leyes Nuevas, issued November 20, 1542 by King Charles V of Spain regarding the Spanish colonization of the Americas, are also known as the "New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians", and were created to prevent the exploitation of the...
of 1542. The Monarchy of Spain tried to enforce these laws but revolts by Spaniards that benefited from oppressing the natives forced Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
to suppress them in 1545..
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, translated and published by Antonio Nariño
Antonio Nariño
Antonio de la Santísima Concepción Nariño y Álvarez was an ideological Colombian precursor and one of the early political and military leaders of the independence movement in the New Granada - Early political activity :Nariño was born to an aristocratic family...
in 1794 and distributed in Santa Fe de Bogotá, could be considered the first draft of a political constitution in the New World. At present, the modern version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
forms the core of the political constitutions of many countries. The Constitution of Canada
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...
, for example, is quite short and is limited almost exclusively to human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and basic freedoms
Freedom (political)
Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...
. Those rights and liberties were not an integral part of the initial Colombian constitutions, but some were slowly introduced until they were definitively and explicitly included in the Constitution of 1991
Colombian Constitution of 1991
The Political Constitution of Colombia, better known as the Constitution of 1991, is the current governing document of the Republic of Colombia. Promulgated on July 4 of 1991 , it replaced the Constitution of 1886...
.
The first written constitution as such with jurisdiction in Colombia was the Spanish Constitution of 1808. The Spanish Constitution of 1812
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...
also had theoretical jurisdiction during the Reconquista of Spanish America
Reconquista (Spanish America)
In colonial Spanish America, the Reconquista refers to the period following the defeat of Napoleon in 1814 during which royalist armies were able to gain the upper hand in the Spanish American wars of independence...
until Independence in 1819.
During colonial times, the Catholic Church was the most powerful institution after the Monarchy of Spain. The Church had control over the press, education, literacy and access to professions. It was the decisive authority in matters of public and private morality and the government would turn to it to obtain civil servants when laymen were not available.
During the fight for independence, and after, the Church was losing its influence, but it continued take a decisive part in the decision making process. In particular, the federalists wanted to create a constitution without clerical influence, whereas the centralists leaned towards the Church not only to preserve the faith but as a political body. The minimum geographic area able to send members to the congresses were the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es. In larger urban areas there could be several parishes.
Independence
At the time of independence from Spain, Colombia was part of the Viceroyalty of New GranadaViceroyalty of New Granada
The Viceroyalty of New Granada was the name given on 27 May 1717, to a Spanish colonial jurisdiction in northern South America, corresponding mainly to modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. The territory corresponding to Panama was incorporated later in 1739...
and thus continued to be named until August 10, 1819 when the republican armies arrived in Santa Fe de Bogotá and the Spanish viceroy Juan José de Sámano y Uribarri
Juan José de Sámano y Uribarri
Juan José Francisco de Sámano y Uribarri de Rebollar y Mazorra , was a Spanish military officer and viceroy of New Granada from 1818 to 1819, during the war of independence.-Military career:...
fled.
Memorandum of Offences (Memorial de Agravios): 1809
Colombian Declaration of Independence
Colombian Declaration of Independence refers to the historic events which happened on July 20,1810, in Santa Fe de Bogota, at the time the Viceroyalty of New Granada seceded and the related events around this date that defined the uprising of the Republic of Colombia.- Background :An important...
took place, the Cabildo (council)
Cabildo (council)
For a discussion of the contemporary Spanish and Latin American cabildo, see Ayuntamiento.A cabildo or ayuntamiento was a former Spanish, colonial administrative council that governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected, but were considered to be representative of...
of Santa Fe de Bogotá decided it was advisable to send a representative to the Junta Suprema Central
Junta (Peninsular War)
In the Napoleonic era, junta was the name chosen by several local administrations formed in Spain during the Peninsular War as a patriotic alternative to the official administration toppled by the French invaders...
located in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
. It commissioned Camilo Torres Tenorio
Camilo Torres Tenorio
Camilo Torres Tenorio was a Colombian politician. He is credited as being an early founder of the nation due to his role in early struggles for independence from Spain.-Biography:...
to draft the document known in Colombian history by the name "Memorandum of Offenses". For reasons that are unknown, the Cabildo did not accept this document. Jose Maria Cárdenas, descendant of Camilo Torres, commented that "the Cabildo was intimidated when shown the representation project and decided to archive it". On July 20, 1810, Colombia delared independence from Spain. The "Memorandum of Offences" was kept unpublished until 1832.
Although the "Memorandum of Offences" did not have any direct political effect and only few people knew of it at the time, its content is useful, more than any other document, to gauge the changes that were taking place in the political climate of Spanish America. It shows the attitudes that Criollos
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
(locally born people of pure or mostly Spanish ancestry) had towards assuming a role in the government within the domains of Ferdinand VII of Spain. Some were royalists and others favored independence. The document demanded the same level of representation for Criollos in the American provinces as that of residents born in Spain (known as Peninsulares
Peninsulares
In the colonial caste system of Spanish America, a peninsular was a Spanish-born Spaniard or mainland Spaniard residing in the New World, as opposed to a person of full Spanish descent born in the Americas or Philippines...
). This demand was based on the claim that Criollos were "descendants of Conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
s" and the "legitimate heirs of the Spanish hegemony" which the conquistadors had established over the native populations of America, at whom they looked with some contempt.
Constitution of Socorro: 1810
From 1809 to 1830 eight different provinces produced their own independent constitutions so there was not a single unified constitution in the country of Colombia. The Constitution of the Free State of SocorroSocorro, Santander
Socorro is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. It was founded in 1681 by Don José de Archila and Don José Díaz Sarmiento.The town was very influential in the history of Colombia...
in 1810 was the first of these. It was simultaneously federalist, democratic, liberal and catholic .
Socorro was the capital of the province of Santander
Santander Department
Santander is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, east of the Magdalena River, bordered to the south and southeast by Boyacá, to the northeast by Norte...
at the time, where 30 years before the second Revolt of the Comuneros
Revolt of the Comuneros (New Granada)
The Revolt of the Comuneros was an uprising by the inhabitants of the Viceroyalty of New Granada against the Spanish authorities in 1781. While underlying causes may have been economic, ideas of freedom and self-government were expressed...
took place.
Constitution of Cundinamarca: 1811
After the Colombian Declaration of Independence, the Junta (Meeting) of August 20, 1810 was created. Jose Miguel Pey de AndradeJosé Miguel Pey de Andrade
José Miguel Pey y García de Andrade was a Colombian statesman and soldier and a leader of the independence movement from Spain. He is considered the first vice president and first president of Colombia. He was a centralist.-Background:Pey, a Criollo, was born on March 11, 1763 in Santa Fe de...
was appointed head of the Meeting, which makes him the first Chief of State.
The Constituent Electoral College of the State of Cundinamarca can be considered the first Constituent National Assembly and Congress. It met in Santa Fe de Bogotá in March 1811 and, with many difficulties due to disagreements between centralists and federalists, promulgated the first constitution with national scope: The Constitution of the state of Cundinamarca on April 4, 1811. The document was inspired by the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. The assembly appointed the second Chief of State, Jorge Tadeo Lozano
Jorge Tadeo Lozano
Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Viscount of Pastrana was a Neogranadine scientist, journalist, and politician who presided over the Constituent College of Cundinamarca and was elected President of Cundinamarca in 1811....
, for a period of three years. Because of internal pressures and frays, the assembly forced him to resign on September 19, 1811 and chose Antonio Nariño
Antonio Nariño
Antonio de la Santísima Concepción Nariño y Álvarez was an ideological Colombian precursor and one of the early political and military leaders of the independence movement in the New Granada - Early political activity :Nariño was born to an aristocratic family...
instead.
United Provinces: 1811
By the end of 1810, other constitutions had arisen in different urban centres like CartagenaCartagena, Colombia
Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...
, Tunja
Tunja
Tunja is a city and municipality located in the central part of Colombia, in the region of "Alto Chicomocha". As of the 2005 Census it had 152,419 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Department of Boyacá and part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. It is approximately 145 km...
, Antioquia, Mariquita and Neiva. Some of these (Cartagena, Tunja, Antioquia, Casanare
Casanare
* Casanare Department a subdivision of the country of Colombia* Los Llanos del Casanare a province of the Viceroyalty of New Granada* Casanare River a tributary of the Meta River in Colombia* Casanare, Colombia a city in Colombia on the Casanare River...
, Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
and Popayán
Popayán
Popayán is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between Colombia's Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range...
) sent representatives to The Congress of the United Provinces that met initially in Santa Fe de Bogotá and later in Tunja and Villa de Leyva
Villa de Leyva
Villa de Leyva is a colonial town and municipality, in the Boyacá department of Colombia, part of the subregion of the Ricaurte Province. The town is located some 40 km west of Tunja and has a population of about 9,600 people...
.
On the second Sunday of October 1811 the first elections were held in Tunja. For each 2000 inhabitants there was a representing elector, and one for each municipality even if it did not have a population of this size. Any man 20 years old or older or anybody 15 or older and with "a modest occupation" could vote. The first name for the republic was established officially on November 27: United Provinces of New Granada
United Provinces of New Granada
The United Provinces of New Granada was a country in South America from 1811 to 1816, a period known in Colombian history as the Patria Boba. It was formed from areas of the New Kingdom of Granada. The government was a federation with a parliamentary system, consisting of a weak executive and...
.
The Constituent Electoral College of the State of Cundinamarca elected Pedro Groot as its first president on December 23, and the following day Antonio Nariño as temporary president. At the meeting of October 4, 1812, the United Provinces elected Camilo Torres Tenorio as president (a position he held until October 5, 1814) and declared the union to be federalist as opposed to centralist. Simón Bolivar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
and Antonio Nariño were in favor of centralism, which was also becoming more popular in Santa Fe de Bogotá. This disagreement threw the United Provinces into an armed confrontation at the end of 1812, and a second one, without Nariño, in 1814 .
Federalists (partisans of Francisco de Paula Santander
Francisco de Paula Santander
Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña , was a Colombian military and political leader during the 1810–1819 independence war of the United Provinces of New Granada...
, who saw centralism as a restriction of freedom) would later evolve into the Liberal Party of Colombia. Centralists (partisans of Antonio Nariño and Simón Bolívar, who wanted to see the nation centralized) would evolve into the Colombian Conservative Party
Colombian Conservative Party
The Colombian Conservative Party , is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was unofficially founded by a group of Revolutionary Commoners during the Revolutionary War for Independence from the Spanish Monarchy and later formally established during the Greater Colombia...
.
Once Ferdinand VII recovered from the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, royal forces led by Pablo Morillo
Pablo Morillo
Pablo Morillo y Morillo, Count of Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta, aka El Pacificador was a Spanish general....
defeated the revolutionary forces. In August, September and October 1816 Morillo executed most constitutional leaders, including Camilo Torres, and restored the Royal Hearing in Santa Fe de Bogotá in March 1817 .
Nariño was arrested in Pasto
Pasto
Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto, is the capital of the department of Nariño, located in southwest Colombia. The city is located in the "Atriz Valley", on the Andes cordillera, at the foot of the Galeras volcano, at an altitude of 8,290 feet above sea level...
in May 1814 and imprisoned in Spain. He remained so until 1821.
Congress of Angostura
Although in 1819 some large areas were still under Spanish control, the urge for independence energised the political climate. On February 15, 1819, six months before the Battle of BoyacáBattle of Boyacá
The Battle of Boyacá in Colombia, then known as New Granada, was the battle in which Colombia acquired its definitive independence from Spanish Monarchy, although fighting with royalist forces would continue for years....
, representatives of Venezuela (now Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
), New Granada (now Colombia and Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
) and Quito (now Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
) met in Angostura
Ciudad Bolívar
Ciudad Bolívar is the capital of Venezuela's southeastern Bolivar State. It was founded with the name Angostura in 1764, renamed in 1846, and, as of 2010, had an estimated population of 350,691....
, Venezuela. This meeting, called the Congress of Angostura
Congress of Angostura
The Congress of Angostura was summoned by Simón Bolívar and took place in Angostura during the wars of Independence of Colombia and Venezuela. It met from February 15, 1819, to July 31, 1821, when the Congress of Cúcuta began its sessions.It consisted of twenty-six delegates, representing...
, worked on the development of a "Fundamental Law" (constitution). Representatives from Quito were few since that province was still under Spanish control.
- New Granada was renamed Cundinamarca and its capital Santa Fe de Bogotá renamed Bogotá. The Capital of the province of Quito would be the city of QuitoQuitoSan Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
. The Capital of Venezuela would be CaracasCaracasCaracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
. The capital of Colombia would be Bogotá.
- The Republic of Colombia was created. In order to differentiate this period from present Republic of Colombia, historians have customarily called it Gran ColombiaGran ColombiaGran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to 1831. This short-lived republic included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru and northwest Brazil. The...
.
- The Republic would be governed by a president. There would be a vice president who would replace the president in his absence.
- The governors of the three Departments would also be called Vice Presidents.
- The presidents and vice-presidents would be elected with an indirect vote, but in the interim, the Congress chose them, as follows: President of the Republic: Simón BolivarSimón BolívarSimón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
, Vice President of the Republic: Francisco Antonio ZeaFrancisco Antonio ZeaFrancisco Antonio Zea was a Neogranadine journalist, botanist, diplomat and statesman that served as the 1st Vice President of Colombia under then-President Simón Bolívar...
, Vice President of Cundinamarca: Francisco de Paula SantanderFrancisco de Paula SantanderFrancisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña , was a Colombian military and political leader during the 1810–1819 independence war of the United Provinces of New Granada...
, and Vice President of Venezuela: Juan Germán RoscioJuan Germán RoscioJuan Germán Roscio , was a Venezuelan lawyer and politician of Italian background, served as the secretary of foreign affairs for the Junta of Caracas, and the main editor of the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence,. Roscio was also the chief architect of the Venezuelan Constitution of 1811.-...
. The office of Vice President of Quito was left vacant as Quito was still under Spanish control. In August, Bolivar continued his mission of liberation and left for Ecuador and Peru, with Santander remaining in charge of the country.
- Bolivar was given the title of "Liberator" and his picture with the motto "Bolivar, Liberator of Colombia and father of the Motherland" was exhibited in the congress assembly hall.
After the Battle of the Marsh of Vargas
Vargas Swamp Battle
Vargas Swamp Battle was an armed conflict that occurred near Paipa, on July 25, 1819. The joint Venezuelan and Neogranadan army commanded by Simón Bolívar was trying to prevent the Spanish forces from arriving at Santafe de Bogotá, which was lightly defended, before they did...
and the Battle of Boyacá, on December 17, 1819 the Congress of Angostura declared the Republic of Colombia formally created.
At the end of the sessions the Congress decided that it would meet again in Cúcuta
Cúcuta
Cúcuta is a Colombian city, capital of Norte de Santander, in the northeast of the country. Due to its proximity to the Colombian-Venezuelan border, Cúcuta is an important commercial center. The city has the constitutional category of Special District. It is located at the most active...
, in January 1821, in order to publish the new constitution.
During his six years in captivity, Antonio Nariño had drafted a constitution. After The Precursor was released in Spain on March 23, 1820 he presented his constitution in Cúcuta, but he did not get much attention.
Congress of Cúcuta: 1821
The CongressCongress of Cúcuta
The Congress of Cúcuta was a constituent assembly where Gran Colombia was created. The Congress elected Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Paula Santander president and vice-president, respectively....
defined in Angostura met this time in Villa del Rosario
Villa del Rosario, Norte de Santander
Villa del Rosario is a Colombian municipality and town located in the eastern part of the North Santander department. It is part of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta...
, in Cúcuta, in the beginning of 1821.
The Battle of Carabobo
Battle of Carabobo
The Battle of Carabobo, 24 June 1821, was fought between independence fighters, led by Simón Bolívar, and the Royalist forces, led by Spanish Field Marshal Miguel de la Torre. Bolívar's decisive victory at Carabobo led to the independence of Venezuela....
, on June 24, 1821, officially brought independence to Venezuela and on July 18 the Congress restarted with greater impetus in Cúcuta to include the regions recently liberated: Caracas, Cartagena
Cartagena, Colombia
Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...
, Popayán
Popayán
Popayán is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between Colombia's Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range...
and Santa Marta
Santa Marta
Santa Marta is the capital city of the Colombian department of Magdalena in the Caribbean Region. It was founded in July 29, 1525 by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas, which makes it the oldest remaining city in Colombia...
.
The Constitution of Cúcuta
Constitution of Cúcuta
The Constitution of Cúcuta, also known as Constitution of the Gran Colombia and Constitution of 1821 was the founding document and constitution of the country of Gran Colombia, unifying the territories of the Viceroyalty of New Granada as part of a federation...
was proclaimed on August 30, 1821 and published on July 12. This has been considered the first Constitution of Colombia that was effective in Gran Colombia until its dissolution in 1831. It consisted of 10 chapters and 91 articles, but the most important points are:
- It promulgated the progressive liberation of slavery: the children of enslaved parents would be free at age 18. It also created a fund to ensure that released slaves would have means to subsist. The fund was collected from a percentage of inheritances that varied from 0.15% to 10%. This happened 42 years before slavery was abolished in United States.
- It ended the InquisitionInquisitionThe Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
and made reforms regarding bishops, archbishops and church property.
- The Government of Colombia was declared popular and representative.
- It confirmed the division into three great departments: Cundinamarca, Venezuela and Quito. These departments were divided in 7 normal departments (not counting Panama and Quito; their fate was still in the future); three of Venezuela: Orinoco, Venezuela and Zulia, and four of Cundinamarca: Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Cauca and Magdalena. Each departament was divided into provinces, the provinces into cantons, cantons into cabildos and municipalities, and then into parishes. Venezuela consisted of ten provinces, Cundinamarca thirteen (to which the two Panamanian provinces would later be added), and Quito had seven provinces.
- Each parish would have an Assembly that would meet the last Sunday of July every four years. The members of these Assemblies would designate the voters of the cantons. Voters were required to be 25 years old and should have more than 500 piastraPiastraThe piastra is a historical currency used in some parts of what became Italy before unification in the 19th century. For more information, see:* Neapolitan piastra* Sicilian piastra* Two Sicilies piastraSee also piastre....
s in real estate or 300 in rent.
- Men age 21 who knew how to read and write and with one hundred piastras could also vote.
- These would constitute the provincial Assembly of voters who would meet the first day of October every four years, in order to elect the president and vice-president of the Republic, the senator of the Department and the representative or representatives of the province. These departmental civic employees would serve terms of four years.
- The Congress would be formed by two chambers: the Senate and the chamber of Representatives. The senators would be appointed for a period of eight years and the representatives for a period of four years.
- Each department would have 4 senators: two for eight years and two for four year terms. These differences were incorporated with the aim of renewing the Senate every four years.
- Senators should be 30 years old, Criollo by birth, have real estate worth 4000 piastras or a rent of 500 piastras per year, and practising a liberal profession. Foreigners were also allowed to be senators if they had been established in the country for twelve years and owned real estate worth 16000 piastras.
- The Chamber of Representatives would be made up of Deputies: one per 30,000 inhabitants.
- Delegates must be 25 and possess property worth 2000 piastras or a rent of 500 piastras, or be a professional. It was necessary to reside in the country two years before election. Foreigners had a residence requirement of eight years and had to have real estate worth 10000 piastras.
- The House of Representatives would have the exclusive faculty to accuse the president, the vice-president and the ministers of the High Court of Justice before the Senate.
- The Constitution established that sessions of both chambers be public; that the main civil servants be excluded from legislative functions; that their members enjoy immunity during their term, and that they receive pay.
- The Executive authority was to consist of a president and a vice-president, chosen for 4 years, who could not be re-elected and who, in case of death, would be replaced by the president of the Senate. The president would have a pay of 30000 piastras per year, and the vice-president 16000.
- Each department would be administered by an intendantIntendantThe title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...
and a governorGovernorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
, the former appointed by the president and the latter under the orders of the intendant.
- It established the positions of ministers, council, and supreme court, and regulated each position.
- The Congress chose Simón Bolivar by vote as president and Francisco de Paula Santander as vice-president, but since Bolivar was absent Santander took the presidency and Nariño the vice-presidency.
On May 24, 1822 the province of Quito sealed its independence in the Battle of Pichincha
Battle of Pichincha
The Battle of Pichincha took place on 24 May 1822, on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, 3,500 meters above sea-level, right next to the city of Quito, in modern Ecuador....
; and on December 9, 1824 the Battle of Ayacucho
Battle of Ayacucho
The Battle of Ayacucho was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. It was the battle that sealed the independence of Peru, as well as the victory that ensured independence for the rest of South America...
sealed Peru's (what today is Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
). Peru and Bolivia never formed part of the Gran Colombia but they share with Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia the title of Bolivarian Countries, being republics liberated by Simón Bolivar, to whom the congress bestowed the title of Libertador, and was considered the first official president of each of them.
Separation of Ecuador and Venezuela: 1830
The issue that initiated the separation of Venezuela and Quito from the Gran Colombia was the difference of opinions between federalists and centralists. Quito did not have a real representation in the constitutional deliberations and it was not until 1822 that joined the Gran Colombia. In spite of support for the constitution in Quito, and more specifically in GuayaquilGuayaquil
Guayaquil , officially Santiago de Guayaquil , is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador,with about 2.3 million inhabitants in the city and nearly 3.1 million in the metropolitan area, as well as that nation's main port...
, the people of Venezuela and Quito longed for a federalist constitution, one that would allow them to have regional freedom and control without strong central impositions. The Venezuelan military, in particular, wanted to exert more power in their region.
The members of the army had been allowed to vote in the elections since the constitution of Cúcuta in recognition of their efforts in the liberation. In 1827 the congress decided to reduce that right and made a constitutional change to exclude the ranks below sergeants, since excluding higher ranks was considered too bold.
In April 1828 the representatives of the municipalities (parishes) met in Ocaña to choose the constituent congress that would reform the constitution of Cúcuta. The Santanderists (federalists) formed a large contingent. The displeasure of the Bolivarians (centralists) was such that they decided to leave the deliberations, thus not allowing a quorum to be obtained. This unwillingness to behave democratically and solve problems with dialogue, negotiation and vote, deciding on abandonment of the process instead, was a behavior that the political parties of Colombia would maintain during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and it would generate violence. Nevertheless the members in the elections of July 1, 1828 were appointed.
Bolivar was eager to see Colombia united and decided to impose his will in a dictatorial fashion as a last resort. In August 1828, he presented a constitution in which he included Peru and Bolivia (by then, Bolivia had already separated from Peru), with a strong central government and a presidency for life in which the president could have the faculty to appoint his successor. That was the final spark that set afire the Santanderistas because they saw in that proposal a backward movement towards monarchy; on September 25 there was an assassination attempt on Bolivar. The leaders of Venezuela saw Bolivar's intentions with enough distrust that in November 1829 they decided to separate from Colombia. They let this be known at the convention of January 1829. Bolivar finally resigned his position during the constitutional convention in January 1830 held in Bogotá (also called the Admirable Congress); his health was starting to fail.
The Inhabitants of Quito, knowing that Venezuela had separated and that Bolivar was retired, decided to separate as well. Thus The Gran Colombia vanished after 11 years of existence.
The displeasure of military and liberal groups was accentuated and General Rafael Urdaneta
Rafael Urdaneta
Rafael José Urdaneta y Faría was a Venezuelan General and hero of the Spanish American wars of independence in several countries in northern South America.- Biographic data :...
's dictatorship ensued. Finally in December 1830 Simón Bolivar the liberator died.
The Admirable Congress and the Constitution of 1830
Trying to avoid the separation of Ecuador and Venezuela, the Admirable Congress (named thus due to the highly regarded people who formed it) worked on the Constitution of 1830, limiting centralism and giving the regions and municipalities more power. The separation came before this constitution could be in effect, but would become a model for following constitutions since it had a moderate and conciliatory tone.The constitution of 1832 - Republic of New Granada
The Gran Colombia (without Venezuela and Ecuador) consisted of Panama, Magdalena, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and the Cauca, and these departments were subdivided into about 15 provinces. On October 20, 1831 the Granadine Convention approved the separation and established a centralized republic officially called Republic of New GranadaRepublic of New Granada
The Republic of New Granada was a centralist republic consisting primarily of present-day Colombia and Panama with smaller portions of today's Ecuador, and Venezuela. It was created after the dissolution in 1830 of Gran Colombia. It was later abolished in 1858 when the Granadine Confederation was...
with some federal characteristics. The constitution established a presidentialist regime. The congress appointed Francisco de Paula Santander
Francisco de Paula Santander
Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña , was a Colombian military and political leader during the 1810–1819 independence war of the United Provinces of New Granada...
president for a period of four years. On November 17, 1831 the Fundamental Law was promulgated, but the Congress continued working on it throughout 1832. The term for senators was reduced form eight to four years and that of representatives from four to two. Provinces, now called Departments, were granted greater representation and power, and were administered by a governor and the assemblies. The former was appointed by the president and the latter chosen by vote. Centralists and the Catholic Church began to be called "Conservatives" and their opponents, the federalists, "Liberals".
The Reform of 1843
The country had gone through the War of the Convents and War of the SupremesWar of the Supremes
The War of the Supremes was a civil conflict in Republic of the New Granada from 1839 to 1841 caused by the ambitions of various regional leaders to seize power and depose President José Ignacio de Márquez...
from 1839 to 1841 so during the presidency of General Pedro Alcántara Herrán
Pedro Alcántara Herrán
Pedro Alcántara Herrán Martínez de Zaldúa was a Colombian general and statesman who served as President of the Republic of the New Granada between 1841 and 1845. As a general he served in the wars of independence of the New Granada and of Peru....
the Congress strengthened the office of president to an authoritarian and centralist extent with the purpose of keeping the national territory in order, something that Conservatism, being the ruling party, used to its advantage.
This reform eliminated the free press, gave the Catholic Church a monopoly over education and allowed the Jesuits, who had been expelled, to return.
Between 1849 and 1853 the number of provinces, now renamed departments, increased from 22 to 36.
The Reform of 1853
The constitution of 1832 leaned towards liberalism with the Reform of 1853. Now federalism prevailed; slavery was eliminated; the suffrage was extended to all men aged 21 and older; the direct popular vote to choose congressmen governors and magistrates was implemented; administrative and religious freedom were established; the State separated from the Church, and the juristic power of the Catholic Church was terminated. Some of these reforms were reverted later in the 1886 constitution.Elections to choose the solicitor and the Supreme Court of Justice took place in September 1853. On October 3, 1853 the governor of Bogotá was chosen, counting the votes by parochial district.
During 1848 and 1849 the traditional parties, Liberal and Conservative, finally coined their names. Their ideological differences became solid and the emphasis on personal characters waned.
As of 1849, during the government of General Jose Hilario Lopez the country began a strong political and economic transformation because of the shift from colonialism towards capitalism.
The constitution of 1858 - Granadine Confederation
Under the mandate of the conservative Mariano Ospina RodriguezMariano Ospina Rodríguez
Mariano Ospina Rodríguez was a Colombian politician, journalist and lawyer, founder of the Colombian Conservative Party and later President of Colombia between 1857 and 1861 during the Granadine Confederation.- Biographic data :...
, the country was officially renamed Granadine Confederation
Granadine Confederation
The Granadine Confederation was a short-lived federal republic established in 1858 as a result of a constitutional change replacing the Republic of New Granada. It comprised the present day nations of Colombia and Panama...
in this constitution. The confederation was formed by eight states. The provinces were granted greater representation and power: each state could have independent legislative attributes and the possibility of choosing its own president.
The vice-presidency was abolished and it was replaced with one designate appointed by the Congress. The president and senators would be elected for a period of 4 years and the chamber for 2.
In 1859 an electoral law conferred the president of the confederation the power to replace state presidents and to take part in questions of public order, and conferred the upon Congress the right to judge the elections of the states.
The constitution of 1863 - United States of Colombia
Colombian Civil War (1860–1862)
The Colombian Civil War of May 8 1860 to November 1862 was an internal conflict between the newly formed conservative Grenadine Confederation and a more liberal rebel force from the newly seceded region of Cauca, composed of dissatisfied politicians commanded by General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera,...
, and created the Constitution of Rionegro promulgated on May 8, 1863.
On February 3, 1863 Congress approved the name United States of Colombia
United States of Colombia
The United States of Colombia was the name adopted in 1861 through the Rionegro Constitution for the nation which had been known as the Republic of New Granada since the dissolution of the federation of Gran Colombia in 1830-1831....
for the country.
The new constitution liberalized social and economic policies, proclaiming the freedom to express one's ideas orally or in written form; freedom to work or to organize any business; freedom of the press; freedom to travel through the territory; to enter or to leave it; freedom of education, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and freedom to possess arms and ammunition.
It established a federal system with a central presidency (presidency of the union) for two years and without the possibility of immediate re-election. The election of the president of the union was indirect: each one of the Nine States (Panama, Antioquia, Magdalena, Bolivar, Santander, Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Tolima and the Cauca) would choose their candidates following particular electoral procedures for each state; then, each one of the nine states would deposit a vote to elect the president of the union. The winning candidate was that who had the absolute majority of votes; if an absolute majority was not obtained, the Congress would choose him from the same group of candidates.
Under this decentralized regime, regionalistic feelings reached their ultimate expression.
On May 12, four days after having proclaimed the constitution, the 61 delegates chose Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera
Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera
Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera y Arboleda was a Colombian general and political figure. He was president of Colombia four times. The first time was as president of Republic of New Granada from 1845 to 1849. During the Colombian Civil War of 1860-1862 he led liberal forces in a civil war against...
to govern for two years until April 1, 1864, the moment at which the new regulations to name a president would start. Mosquera had the anticlerical tone of liberalism, and the conservatives a pro-clerical tone that would continue for many decades.
The Reform of 1876
This federal period produced forty two new state constitutions and before 1876 elections were almost continuous, since the different states did not vote simultaneously, not even for the election of the president of the union. Therefore a constitutional change was implemented so that the elections for president of each state were made at the same time in all the states.The constitution of 1886 - Republic of Colombia
The coalition of moderate Liberals and Conservatives that ended the liberal hegemony and placed Rafael NúñezRafael Núñez (politician)
Rafael Wenceslao Núñez Moledo was a Colombian author, lawyer, journalist and politician, who was elected President of Colombia in 1880 and in 1884. Rafael Núñez was born in Cartagena de Indias, on September 28, 1825. He died in Cartagena on September 18, 1894.-Early life:Little is known about the...
in power, repealed the Constitution of Rionegro with the Constitution of 1886. From now on, the country was officially called the Republic of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
The Constituent Assembly consisted of 18 delegates, two from each of the nine states.
Rafael Núñez announced a national Regeneration program and changed the country from a decentralized federal system to a centralized system with a strong central presidency. The presidential period changed from two to six years. The president of the Republic was elected by the Congress. The president of the state was appointed governor who from that moment on was appointed by the president of the Republic. The governor would choose the mayors of his department, except the mayor of Bogotá who was chosen by the president himself. Thus the president in effect had control of the executive at all levels.
The re-election of the president in immediately subsequent periods was authorized.
The chamber, the departmental assemblies and the municipal councils were chosen by popular vote. The Senate was chosen by the departmental assemblies. The suffrage for elections of national scope was limited to literate men over the age of 21. The restriction of knowing how to read and to write did not apply in regional elections.
The position of the vice-president was reinstated, and initially occupied by Eliseo Payán
Eliseo Payán
José Eliseo Payán Hurtado was a Colombian lawyer, politician, and military officer. Payán as Vice President of Colombia assumed the Presidency of Colombia due to the absence of President Rafael Núñez in 1887.- Biographic data :...
.
The Colombian Constitution of 1886
Colombian Constitution of 1886
The Colombian Constitution of 1886 was the constitution that created the Republic of Colombia. Before 1886, the country was called United States of Colombia. The coalition of moderate Liberals and Conservatives that ended the liberal hegemony and placed Rafael Nuñez in power repealed the...
remained in effect for more than one hundred years, guiding the mandate of twenty-three presidents of the Republic.
Separation of Panama 1903
On November 3, 1903 PanamaPanama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
separated from Colombia with support from the United States. On November 6 United States recognized the sovereignty of Panama. On November 11 United States informed Colombia they would oppose to Colombian troops trying to recover Panama. The Thousand Days War
Thousand Days War
The Thousand Days' War , was a civil armed conflict in the newly created Republic of Colombia, between the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and its radical factions. In 1899 the ruling conservatives were accused of maintaining power through fraudulent elections...
had left Colombia too weak to prevent the separation. On November 18 United States signed the Hay–Bunau Varilla Treaty with Panama for the construction of the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
.
The Reform of 1905
In December 1904, few months after being elected president, General Rafael ReyesRafael Reyes
Rafael Reyes Prieto was Chief of Staff of the Colombian National Army and President of Colombia .- Biographic data :...
, displeased because of their slowness in approving reforms he wanted to impose, closed the Congress. At the beginning of 1905 he summoned a National Constituent Assembly chosen by the departmental administrators.
The Assembly suppressed the vice-presidency, two of the designaturas and the Council of State. It also dedided that the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice would serve for life, recognized the right of representation of minorities and the possibility to reform the Constitution by means of the National Assembly.
The National Assembly demonstrated its support to the government with a dictatorial character when it established a presidential period of 10 years for General Reyes with the possibility for him to appoint his own successor. In However General Reyes quit in 1909.
The Reform of 1910
Ramón González Valencia
Ramón González Valencia was a Colombian conservative, military officer and statesman. He participated in the civil wars of 1876, Colombian Civil War of 1895, and the Thousand Days War.- Biographic data :...
, to govern the remaining year in Reyes' term.
Ramon González summoned a National Assembly in 1910 to reform the Colombian Constitution of 1886
Colombian Constitution of 1886
The Colombian Constitution of 1886 was the constitution that created the Republic of Colombia. Before 1886, the country was called United States of Colombia. The coalition of moderate Liberals and Conservatives that ended the liberal hegemony and placed Rafael Nuñez in power repealed the...
. This important reform banned the participation of the military in politics, established the direct popular election of the president of the republic, departmental assemblies and municipal council; it reduced the presidential period from 6 to 4 years, prohibited the immediate re-election of presidents, eliminated the position of vice-president and replaced it with one appointee that would be chosen by the congress; it established a system of proportions for the appointment of the members of public corporations according to the votes obtained, assuring a minimum of one third for the opposition party; it granted the congress the right to choose the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, consecrated the constitutional control to the Supreme Court of Justice.
The president kept the power to name governors who in turn would appoint mayors, corregidores
Corregidor (position)
A corregidor was a local, administrative and judicial position in Spain and its empire. He was the highest authority of a Corregimiento. In the Americas a corregidor was often called an alcalde mayor. They began to be appointed in fourteenth century Castile and the institution was definitively...
, administrators, directors of post offices, heads of jails, managers of banks, and some others.
The Constituent National Assembly appointed Carlos Eugenio Restrepo
Carlos Eugenio Restrepo
For the President of Colombia from 1966 to 1970, see Carlos Lleras RestrepoCarlos Eugenio Restrepo Restrepo was a Colombian lawyer, writer, and statesman, who was elected President of Colombia in 1910. During his administration he worked towards making political reconciliation among the...
to be the first president of the Republican Union on July 15.
The Reform of 1936
During the government of Alfonso López PumarejoAlfonso López Pumarejo
Alfonso López Pumarejo was a two-time Colombian president and political figure, as a member of the Colombian Liberal Party. He served as president of Colombia for the first time between 1934 and 1938 and again between 1942 and 1945....
, on August 1, 1936 the congress made several reforms. The right of suffrage was extended to all men 21 or older, eliminating the literacy requirement.
The Reform of 1954
During the government of Gustavo Rojas PinillaGustavo Rojas Pinilla
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was a Colombian politician, military officer, General of the Army and President of Colombia between 1953 and 1957.- Biographic data :...
and by his suggestion, The National Constituent Assembly unanimously recognized the voting rights of women on August 25, 1954. Women exerted this right for the first time during the plebiscite of December 1, 1957.
The Reform of 1957
In October 1957 the temporary Military Junta that succeeded Rojas Pinilla authorized legislation with the stated purpose of finding a solution to the problems of the country. This agreement and the corresponding period was called National FrontNational Front (Colombia)
National Front was a period in the history of Colombia in which the two main political parties; Liberal Party and Conservative Party agreed to let the opposite party govern, intercalating for a period of four presidential terms....
.
The plebiscite of December 1, 1957 approved, with almost 94% of votes cast, the constitutional reform giving parity to both traditional parties for a term of 12 years. It was determined that the elections for President of the Republic, Congress, Departmental Assemblies, and Municipal Councils would take place during the first semester of 1958.
The Reform of 1958
The first Congress elected by popular means within the National Front extended the term of the National Front from 12 to 16 years, and decided in addition that the first president would be liberal and not conservative.The Reform of 1968
Although the National Front ended in 1974, the constitutional reforms preparing the transition began in 1968 during the government of Carlos Lleras RestrepoCarlos Lleras Restrepo
Carlos Lleras Restrepo was a Colombian lawyer and political figure, President of Colombia .- Biographic data :...
, the next to last president of the National Front.
With the purpose of regulating the electoral competition between parties, the reforms eliminated the distribution by halves for departmental assemblies and municipal councils. Also included were some measures to recognize minority parties. Some required reforms were postponed, in some cases indefinitely, such Article 120 of the Constitution granting "the right and fair participation of the second party in voting". Article 120 had the unintended effect of limiting the participation of minority parties and therefore limiting citizen participation.
The Reform of 1984
During the government of Belisario BetancurBelisario Betancur
Belisario Betancur Cuartas is a Colombian statesman, who as a member of the Colombian Conservative Party was President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986.- Biographic data :...
the congress established popular voting for mayors and governors on November 21, 1984.
The constitution of 1991
During peace negotiations with various rebel groups during the mandate of president Virgilio Barco VargasVirgilio Barco Vargas
Virgilio Barco Vargas was a politician and diplomat from Colombia. He was a member of the Colombian Liberal Party and served as president of Colombia from August 7, 1986 until August 7, 1990....
, the guerrilla detachment M-19
19th of April Movement
The 19th of April Movement or M-19, was a Colombian guerrilla movement. After its demobilization it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance , or AD/M-19.The M-19 traced its origins to the allegedly fraudulent presidential elections of 19 April 1970...
insisted that one of the main requirements for them to lay down arms was the creation of a Constituent Assembly of Colombia
Constituent Assembly of Colombia
The Constituent Assembly of Colombia was formed on February 5, 1991, to draft Colombia's 1991 constitution. It was dissolved in June 1991, after the new document was adopted nationwide.-Background:...
in order to modify the constitution which until then did not guarantee the creation and development of political parties other than the two traditional ones, nor gave representation to minorities.
The government initially refused to put in motion the process for constitutional change. Students, in particular those at the universities, decided to begin a national popular movement proposing the formation of a Constituent National Assembly to resolve the constitutional issue. More than 50% of the voters approved the "Seventh Paper Ballot" and president Cesar Gaviria Trujillo was forced by the Supreme Court to fulfill the popular mandate. Thus it was possible not only to obtain constitutional change, but also the guerrilla detachment M-19 laid down their arms and were integrated into the national political life, and the indigenous communities were henceforth guaranteed representation in Congress.
The Constitution of 1991 is called the Constitution of the Rights, as it recognizes and consecrates fundamental rights such as freedom of religion and freedom of expression. It also details economic and social rights specific to the social rule of law enshrined in Article 1 of the Constitution, and collective rights, some of which include public morality, free economic competition and the right to a healthy environment. In addition it creates the necessary mechanisms to ensure and protect those rights.
The student and political movement begun in 1989 resulted in 1990 in a Constituent Assembly of Colombia elected by direct popular vote, which one year later promulgated the Colombian Constitution of 1991 in Bogotá. The country kept the name "Republic of Colombia".
The Reform of 2005
In 2004, president Álvaro UribeÁlvaro Uribe
Alvaro Uribe Vélez was the 58th President of Colombia, from 2002 to 2010. In August 2010 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the UN panel investigating the Gaza flotilla raid....
from the independent party Colombia First
Colombia First
Colombia First is a political movement in Colombia that supported the candidacy of Álvaro Uribe in the 2002 and 2006 presidential elections.-External links:* Foundation...
proposed a constitutional reform to allow the re-election of the President in immediately subsequent periods. The proposal was approved according to the constitution procedures and the Constitutional Court declared it executable as of October 19, 2005. The first reelected president was Álvaro Uribe himself on May 28, 2006, obtaining a voting of 62.1%. Next in the polls was Carlos Gaviria Diaz
Carlos Gaviria Díaz
Carlos Emilio Gaviria Díaz is a Colombian lawyer, professor and politician. He served as the 5th Chief Magistrate of the Constitutional Court of Colombia, where he served as a Magistrate from 1993 to 2001...
, a candidate for the leftist party Alternative Democratic Pole
Alternative Democratic Pole
The Alternative Democratic Pole is a political alliance in Colombia, formed by the Independent Democratic Pole and the Democratic Alternative in December 2005...
, who obtained 22% of the vote.
The fact that Uribe and Gaviria were from independent parties highlights that an important era of ideological transformation occurred in the history of Colombia, even to the point where some mass media announced that bipartisanism had been hurt to the death.
It is also evident that a level of maturity had been reached in the electoral process, which had earned the confidence of the population and of opposition parties. The speed of the delivery of electoral data from the National Registration Office was also outstanding, as even observers abroad knew less than two hours before the ballot boxes had closed the results of 85% of the ballots.
External links
- Basic Atlas of History of Colombia – Events per years – Luis Angel Arango Library
- From the Constitution of 1886 to the Political Letter of 1991 - Luis Angel Arango Library
- the Colombian State: Crisis of Modernization or Incomplete Modernization? - Luis Angel Arango Library
- Monograph of the changes to the Colombian constitution
- Text of the Colombian Constitution of 1991, in English