The Granadine Confederation (Spanish: Confederación Granadina) was a short-lived federal republic established in 1858 as a result of a constitutional change replacing the Republic of New Granada. It consisted of the present-day nations of Colombia and Panama and parts of northwestern Brazil. In turn, the Granadine Confederation was replaced by the United States of Colombia after another constitutional change in 1863.
History
The short but complicated life of the Granadine Confederation was marked by rivalry between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party, which ended in a Civil War (1860–1862). It also was a period of hostility against the Roman Catholic Church, and of divided regionalism.
The Granadine Confederation was established by the Constitution of 1853, considered pro-federalist or centro-federalist because it gave more autonomy to the provinces, which multiplied to 35 provinces during the administration of Manuel María Mallarino (1855–1857), each with its own provincial constitution.
Background
Even though the majority of the mid-century reforms came from the Liberal Party, their beginnings can be traced to the last two administrations of the 1840s decade. In this sense, the government of Pedro Alcántara Herrán (1841–1845) and the first mandate of Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera (1845–1849) stood out for their modernizing tone, which included among other measures the compilation of Granadine laws, the liberation of trade, the reduction of import and export customs duties, the formation of normal schools for the instruction of teachers, the promotion of the Panama railroad, the control of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and freedom of the press.
All these measures opened the way for the deeper transformations that formally began with the arrival to power of the liberal José Hilario López in 1849. The change in the Government party, according to historian Frank Safford, was possible thanks to the division of the Conservative Party in the elections of 1848 between José Joaquín Cori and Rufino Cuervo, in addition to the mobilization of the artisan sector in support of the Liberal Party candidate. The reforms of this government included the abolition of slavery, the end of the death penalty, non-imprisonment for debts, universal suffrage for adult males was allowed and the consolidation of freedom of the press, worship, trade and education. Additionally measures were implemented to grant greater autonomy to regional governments, with the transfer of revenues and responsibilities that previously belonged to the central Government to the provinces, under the creation between 1849 and 1852 of thirteen new territorial entities, which —according to what was believed— could exercise a more effective government of the territory, in addition to guaranteeing the democratization of these spaces of the country. In this reformist environment José Hilario López, even against the refusal of several sectors of the Liberal Party, expelled the Society of Jesus from the national territory, whom he considered tools of the Conservative Party in the midst of the political struggle that was taking place at that moment.
This last measure, together with the abolition of slavery and the elimination of the civil and criminal ecclesiastical jurisdiction, motivated the first conservative uprising of the period in 1851.
On the other hand, the alliance that José Hilario López had forged with the artisans came to an end due to what the president considered as the danger generated by the excessive force that this guild had taken, and its tendency to use violence as an element of pressure on the Government and Congress so that they would grant them special protection measures. This change of perspective of López's Government led to the consolidation of another political figure, José María Obando, who reached the presidency in the elections of 1852 with the support of several sectors of liberalism and the artisans.
Obando began his government in 1853, together with a new Constitution, which restricted presidential powers and expanded the autonomy of the provinces with respect to the central Government, in what was an evident prelude to the federal model. Likewise, it presented a marked liberal character in what refers to the creation of civil marriage and civil divorce, the proclamation of the separation of Church and State, the end of the death penalty and the reduction of the Army.
All these measures, especially the reduction of the power of the Military Forces, added to the discontent of the artisans, propitiated a military coup directed by José María Melo on 17 April 1854. This coup d'état survived until the month of December of the same year, when it was controlled by a coalition of the Liberal and Conservative Parties, headed by Vice President José de Abadía and General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera. In this sense, for Frank Safford, the majority participation of conservatives in the counterrevolution allowed the party to control the elections of 1854 and 1856, which first led to a transitional government directed by Manuel María Mallarino and then by Mariano Ospina Rodríguez.
However, even with the return of conservatism to power, the road to the formation of a federal and liberal system was difficult to modify, especially after the declaration of the territory of Panama as a sovereign State beginning in 1855.
Federal subjects
After the disestablishment of Gran Colombia, the centralized government of the Republic of New Granada which was ratified by the constitution of 1843, was soon challenged by the independentist feelings of the different regions; particularly the provinces of Azuero, Chiriquí, Panamá, and Veraguas, which were demanding autonomous status. The Constitution of 1853 permitted this so that on February 27, 1855, the State of Panamá could be created within the Republic of New Granada.
Soon others followed, regionalism was too strong, and in order to prevent a division like the one Greater Colombia had, with Venezuela and Ecuador quitting the union, congress allowed the creation of other sovereign states:
- Federal State of Antioquia was created from Antioquia Province on June 11, 1856.
- Federal State of Santander, which included the provinces of Socorro and Pamplona, was created May 13, 1857.
The Law of June 15, 1857 created the other states that would later form parts of the Granadine Confederation:
- Federal State of Bolívar (Estado Federal de Bolívar), which included Cartagena Province.
- Federal State of Boyacá (Estado Federal de Boyacá), which included the provinces of Tunja, Tundama, Casanare, and the cantons of Chiquinquirá and Vélez.
- Federal State of Cauca (Estado Federal de Cauca), which included the provinces of Buenaventura, Chocó, Pasto and Popayán and the region of Caquetá.
- Federal State of Cundinamarca (Estado Federal de Cundinamarca), which included the province of Mariquita, Bogotá, Neiva, and Tolima.
- Federal State of Magdalena (Estado Federal de Magdalena), which included the provinces of El Banco, Padilla, Santa Marta, Tenerife and Valledupar.
The nation was formed by the union of these Sovereign States which were confederated in perpetuity to form a Sovereign Nation, free and independent with the name "Granadine Confederation".
During 1858 the new constituency, with its majority of conservatives, convened and signed the Constitution for the Granadine Confederation of 1858, confirming Bogotá as its Federal Capital.
On July 12, 1861, after fighting the constitutional government of the president Mariano Ospina Rodríguez, the general Tomas Cipriano de Mosquera created the Sovereign State of Tolima, created out of the State of Cundinamarca. This was confirmed and legalized by the rest of the states of the Colombian Union, by means of Article 41 of the Pact of the Union on September 20, 1861, reaffirming the legality of the institutionalism of Tolima.
Constitution of 1858
By the conservative mandate of Mariano Ospina Rodríguez, Congress passed and approved a new Constitution for the country on May 22, 1858.
By this constitution, the country was named officially as the Granadine Confederation and conformed by eight sovereign states.
More power and representation were given to the provinces, as each state could have its own legislature and elect its own president.
The vice presidency was abolished and replaced with a dignitary named by the Congress.
The president and senators could be elected to serve a period of four years and the Representatives of the House for two.
The Constitution also listed the powers and obligations of the states and of the central government, and gave parameters to creating new laws and amending the constitution. It included the basic freedoms, and rights of the people. The constitution was important as it signaled the official beginning of the confederacy and set legal parameters.
Civil war
Even though the Constitution of 1858 had legalized federalism, the politics of the president Mariano Ospina Rodríguez favored centralism. This conservativism clashed with the wishes of the states which wanted more power and autonomy.
This caused some leaders to consider the administrative base of the federation as a notion to underestimate the authority of the states, and led the national government to view the independent aspirations of the states as a threat to the overall nation.
The political tension came to its pinnacle in 1859 when Congress passed two controversial laws. On April 8, 1859, Congress passed a law giving the President the right to remove the duly appointed governors of the states and appoint one of his choosing. With this law, the president secured the power of the Conservative Party.
On May 10, 1859, another law was passed, this one giving the president the power to create administrative departments in states so to control their resources and how would they be used.
These laws angered many liberal leaders, especially general Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, an ex-president of New Granada, and a powerful and influential politician in the country. He denounced these laws as unconstitutional and made contact with other liberal leaders in other states, who gave him their support to revolt against the president, even though not all agreed with his ideas, they supported him and accepted to allow him to become Supreme Director of War, because they saw no other way to get back their autonomy than to revolt against the government.
By a decree of May 8, 1860, Mosquera broke relations with the national government, declared himself Supreme Director of War, and declared a separated state, the Sovereign State of Cauca. From that moment the country entered a civil war.
In retaliation, the government of Ospina Rodríguez endorsed insurrections against the liberal governments in some states, the first of these armed conflicts being in Santander, against the government of Eustorgio Salgar during 1859; the Confederacy Granadine declared war on the state of Santander, and sent its army to subdue Eustogio Salgar, who was captured along with other important figures, including Aquileo Parra.
Civil war then spread to other states, including Bolívar, Antioquía, Magdalena and Cauca. In an unexpected act, Mosquera captured Bogotá on June 18, 1861, declared himself president of the provisional government, and arrested Ospina Rodríguez, his brother Pastor Ospina, and Bartolomé Calvo, the newly elected president of the confederacy.
The war ended in 1862 when the last leaders of the conservative opposition died or gave up.
The Convention of Rionegro of 1863
The Granadine Confederation came to an end on 8 May 1863, with the signing of the Rionegro Constitution. In this new constitutional order the country was officially renamed the United States of Colombia.
The United States of Colombia consisted then of nine sovereign states, and new rules and powers were given to the states and presidents. The Liberals had come to fear the great power of Mosquera, and they drafted the new constitution to limit his power. The Radical Liberals defended a federal government based on a laissez-faire policy, in which regional and local autonomy were protected, where there was no national army, a society with basic rights and freedoms, based on education and open market values, with no intervention by the church.