United Provinces of New Granada
Encyclopedia
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 strong congress. The country was reconquered by Spain
in 1816.
managed to convene a Congress of the United Provinces, which met in late 1811. It issued an Act of Federation on November 27, 1811, which allowed Congress to establish a separate executive branch, if it felt it was required. An executive, consisting of a triumvirate, was created in 1814 after a royalist army from Pasto
and Popayán
defeated one from Cundinamarca (which had not accepted the Union and, in fact, had even sent troops against it). Congress nominated Manuel Rodríguez Torices
, President of the State of Cartagena
; José Manuel Restrepo
, Antioquia's Secretary of State
; and Custodio García Rovira
, Governor of the Province of Socorro
. At the time of the nomination, the nominated officials were exercising their jobs, so they were temporarily replaced by members of Congress: Joaquín Camacho
, Representative for the Tunja Province
, José María del Castillo y Rada
and José Fernández Madrid
, both Representatives for the Cartagena Province
. The triumvirate was inaugurated on October 5, 1814.
On January 12, 1815, Congress arrived in Santa Fe de Bogotá, after its army, headed by Simón Bolívar
, had forced Cundinamarca into the Union in December 1814. The interim triumvirate was replaced on January 21, 1815, by the original nominated members, with the exception of Joaquín Camacho, who had turned down the nomination. The first president of the triumvirate was José Miguel Pey de Andrade
, who at the moment was serving as the governor of Bogotá.
On August 17 García Rovira, who had presented his resignation as President of the Triumvirate to Congress on July 11, was replaced by Antonio Villavicencio
.
, Neiva
, Pamplona
and Tunja
. Under the Act of Federation each province was free to write its own constitution and form its own government. Other regions of the New Kingdom of Granada
established their own governments and confederations (for example, the Confederated Cities of the Cauca Valley,1811–1812) or remained royalist.
At the beginning of the revolution, the larger Viceroyalty of New Granada
consisted of 22 province
s. The provinces were under the jurisdiction of two audiencias. The Royal Audiencia of Quito
, whose president had executive powers, had jurisdiction over the provinces of Quito, Cuenca, Loja
, Ibarra, Riobamba, Pasto, Popayán
, Buenaventura
and parts of the Cauca River Valley. These provinces were located in what are now the Republic of Ecuador and the southern part of Colombia
. The Royal Audiencia of Santafé de Bogotá, had jurisdiction over the provinces of Panama
and Veragua
in what is now the Republic of Panama, and the provinces of Antioquia, Cartagena de Indias, Casanare
, Citará, Mariquita, Neiva
, Nóvita, Pamplona
, Ríohacha
, Santafé, Santa Marta
, El Socorro, and Tunja
.
The Audiencia of Quito, despite an attempt at establishing a junta in 1809, remained a royalist stronghold throughout the wars of independence.
The territory of the Captaincy General of Venezuela
had been part of the viceroyalty, but had become independent of it when the captaincy general was established in 1776, and therefore, never became part of the United Provinces. The Captaincy General had jurisdiction over the provinces of Cumaná, Guayana
, Maracaibo, Venezuela or Caracas (central Venezuela), and Margarita Island, and it had its own audiencia and superintendancy
based in Caracas. After the Revolution the captaincy general established itself as a republic.
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
from 1811 to 1816, a period known in Colombian history as the Patria Boba
Patria Boba
The period between 1810 and 1816 in the New Kingdom of Granada was marked by such intense conflicts over the nature of the new government or governments that it became known as la Patria Boba . Constant fighting between federalists and centralists gave rise to a prolonged period of instability...
. It was formed from areas of the New Kingdom of Granada
New Kingdom of Granada
The New Kingdom of Granada was the name given to a group of 16th century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Audiencia of Bogotá, an area corresponding mainly to modern day Colombia and parts of Venezuela. Originally part of the Viceroyalty of...
. The government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
was a federation
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
with a parliamentary system
Parliamentary system
A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch get their democratic legitimacy from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined....
, consisting of a weak executive and strong congress. The country was reconquered by Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1816.
The Triumvirate
After two attempts at establishing a congress, the State of CundinamarcaFree and Independent State of Cundinamarca
The Free and Independent State of Cundinamarca was a rebel state in modern Colombia between 1810 and 1815 during the Patria Boba period at the beginning of the Latin American wars of independence...
managed to convene a Congress of the United Provinces, which met in late 1811. It issued an Act of Federation on November 27, 1811, which allowed Congress to establish a separate executive branch, if it felt it was required. An executive, consisting of a triumvirate, was created in 1814 after a royalist army from 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...
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...
defeated one from Cundinamarca (which had not accepted the Union and, in fact, had even sent troops against it). Congress nominated Manuel Rodríguez Torices
Manuel Rodríguez Torices
Manuel Rodríguez Torices was a Neogranadine statesman, lawyer, journalist, and Precursor of the Independence of Colombia...
, President of the State of 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...
; José Manuel Restrepo
José Manuel Restrepo
José Manuel Restrepo Veléz was an investigator of Colombian flora, political figure and historian. The Orchid genus Restrepia was named in his honor....
, Antioquia's Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
; and Custodio García Rovira
Custodio García Rovira
José Custodio Cayetano García Rovira was a Neogranadine general, statesman and painter, who fought for the independence of New Granada from Spain, and became President of the United Provinces of the New Granada in 1816...
, Governor of the Province of Socorro
Socorro, 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...
. At the time of the nomination, the nominated officials were exercising their jobs, so they were temporarily replaced by members of Congress: Joaquín Camacho
Joaquín Camacho
José Joaquín Justo Camacho Lago was a Neogranadine statesman, lawyer, journalist and professor, who worked for the Independence of the New Granada, what is now Colombia, and participated in the Open Cabildo which declared the Act of Independence, of which he was also a signer...
, Representative for the Tunja Province
Tunja Province
Tunja Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. It belonged to the Boyacá Department which was created in 1824....
, José María del Castillo y Rada
José María del Castillo y Rada
José María del Castillo y Rada was a neo-granadine politician, President of the United Provinces of the New Granada from October 5, 1814 until January 21, 1815. Castillo y Rada also served as Vice President of the Republic of Colombia from June 6, 1821 until October 3, 1821....
and José Fernández Madrid
José Fernández Madrid
José Luis Álvaro Alvino Fernández Madrid was a Neogranadine statesman, physician, scientist and writer, who was President of the interim triumvirate of the United Provinces of New Granada in 1814, and President of the United Provinces of the New Granada in 1816...
, both Representatives for the Cartagena Province
Cartagena Province
Cartagena Province was a province of Gran Colombia. With the 1824 changes in the subdivisions of Gran Colombia, it became part of Magdalena Department....
. The triumvirate was inaugurated on October 5, 1814.
On January 12, 1815, Congress arrived in Santa Fe de Bogotá, after its army, headed by Simón Bolívar
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...
, had forced Cundinamarca into the Union in December 1814. The interim triumvirate was replaced on January 21, 1815, by the original nominated members, with the exception of Joaquín Camacho, who had turned down the nomination. The first president of the triumvirate was José Miguel Pey de Andrade
José 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...
, who at the moment was serving as the governor of Bogotá.
On August 17 García Rovira, who had presented his resignation as President of the Triumvirate to Congress on July 11, was replaced by Antonio Villavicencio
Antonio Villavicencio
Antonio Villavicencio y Verástegui was a Neogranadine Lieutenant statesman and soldier, born in Quito, and educated in Spain. He served in the Battle of Trafalgar as an office in the Spanish Navy...
.
Administrative Divisions
The Act was ratified by the provinces of Antioquia, CartagenaCartagena Province
Cartagena Province was a province of Gran Colombia. With the 1824 changes in the subdivisions of Gran Colombia, it became part of Magdalena Department....
, Neiva
Neiva Province
Neiva Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. With the 1824 changes in the subdivisions of Gran Colombia, it became part of the Cundinamarca Department....
, Pamplona
Pamplona Province
Pamplona Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. It belonged to the Boyacá Department which was created in 1824....
and Tunja
Tunja Province
Tunja Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. It belonged to the Boyacá Department which was created in 1824....
. Under the Act of Federation each province was free to write its own constitution and form its own government. Other regions of the New Kingdom of Granada
New Kingdom of Granada
The New Kingdom of Granada was the name given to a group of 16th century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Audiencia of Bogotá, an area corresponding mainly to modern day Colombia and parts of Venezuela. Originally part of the Viceroyalty of...
established their own governments and confederations (for example, the Confederated Cities of the Cauca Valley,1811–1812) or remained royalist.
At the beginning of the revolution, the larger Viceroyalty of New Granada
Viceroyalty 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...
consisted of 22 province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
s. The provinces were under the jurisdiction of two audiencias. The Royal Audiencia of Quito
Royal Audience of Quito
The Royal Audience of Quito was an administrative unit in the Spanish Empire which had political, military, and religious jurisdiction over territories that today include Ecuador, parts of northern Peru, parts of southern Colombia and parts of northern Brazil...
, whose president had executive powers, had jurisdiction over the provinces of Quito, Cuenca, Loja
Loja Province
Loja Province is one of 24 provinces in Ecuador and shares its southern border on the west by El Oro Province, on the north by El Azuay, and on the east by Zamora-Chinchipe. Founded on its present site in 1548 by Captain Alonso de Mercadillo the site had been previously moved and rebuilt from La...
, Ibarra, Riobamba, Pasto, Popayán
Popayán Province
Popayán Province was one of the provinces of Cauca Department .It was also one of the provinces of the Republic of New Granada...
, Buenaventura
Buenaventura Province
Buenaventura Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. It belonged to the Cauca Department which was created in 1824. In 1857 Cauca State was declared and the province was one of its provinces....
and parts of the Cauca River Valley. These provinces were located in what are now the Republic of Ecuador and the southern part 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 Royal Audiencia of Santafé de Bogotá, had jurisdiction over the provinces of Panama
Panamá Province
Panamá is a major province of the country of Panama, containing the capital city, Panama City. The governor of the province is Mayin Correa, a former mayor of Panama City and elected by President Martinelli after being sworn in on July 1, 2009.-Districts:...
and Veragua
Veraguas Province
Veraguas is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. The province covers 10,677.2 km² and is divided into twelve districts.-History:...
in what is now the Republic of Panama, and the provinces of Antioquia, Cartagena de Indias, Casanare
Casanare Province
Casanare Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. It belonged to the Boyacá Department which was created in 1824....
, Citará, Mariquita, Neiva
Neiva Province
Neiva Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. With the 1824 changes in the subdivisions of Gran Colombia, it became part of the Cundinamarca Department....
, Nóvita, Pamplona
Pamplona Province
Pamplona Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. It belonged to the Boyacá Department which was created in 1824....
, Ríohacha
Riohacha Province
Riohacha Province was a province of Gran Colombia. With the 1824 changes in the subdivisions of Gran Colombia, it became part of Magdalena Department....
, Santafé, Santa Marta
Santa Marta Province
Santa Marta Province was a province of Gran Colombia. With the 1824 changes in the subdivisions of Gran Colombia, it became part of Magdalena Department....
, El Socorro, and Tunja
Tunja Province
Tunja Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. It belonged to the Boyacá Department which was created in 1824....
.
The Audiencia of Quito, despite an attempt at establishing a junta in 1809, remained a royalist stronghold throughout the wars of independence.
The territory of the Captaincy General of Venezuela
Captaincy General of Venezuela
The Captaincy General of Venezuela was an administrative district of colonial Spain, created in 1777 to provide more autonomy for the provinces of Venezuela, previously under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of New Granada and the Audiencia of Santo Domingo...
had been part of the viceroyalty, but had become independent of it when the captaincy general was established in 1776, and therefore, never became part of the United Provinces. The Captaincy General had jurisdiction over the provinces of Cumaná, Guayana
Guayana Province
Guayana Province was a province of the Spanish Empire and later of Venezuela. It was incorporated into the Captaincy General of Venezuela in 1776 and covered a territory roughly equal to today's Guayana Region and Guyana....
, Maracaibo, Venezuela or Caracas (central Venezuela), and Margarita Island, and it had its own audiencia and superintendancy
Intendant
The title of intendant has been used in several countries through history. Traditionally, it refers to the holder of a public administrative office...
based in Caracas. After the Revolution the captaincy general established itself as a republic.