Gran Colombia
Panama, 1819–1831. Draft, not yet reviewed
It was the Colombian state that encompassed much of northern South America and parts of Central America from 1819 to 1831. It included present-day Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, parts of northern Peru, northwestern Brazil, and claimed the Essequibo region. In the 80 years following its independence from Spain, Panama was a subdivision of Gran Colombia, after voluntarily joining the country at the end of 1821. Gran Colombia was proclaimed through the Fundamental Law of the Republic of Colombia, issued during the Congress of Angostura (1819), but did not come into being until the Congress of Cúcuta (1821) promulgated the Constitution of Cúcuta.
Seat of power: Panama City
Rulers
Simón Bolívar
President of Colombia, 1819–1830
He was a Venezuelan military officer and statesman who led what are currently the countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela to independence from the Spanish Empire. He is known colloquially as El Libertador, "the Liberator," of America.
Portrait of Simón Bolívar: Luis Enrique Toro Moreno (1897-1933), Public domain, file
Domingo Caycedo
President of Colombia, 1830–1831
He was a Colombian statesman who served as the vice president of Gran Colombia and the Republic of New Granada. He served as acting President of Colombia a total of eleven times, the most terms any president has served to date.
Portrait of Domingo Caycedo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Culture
- Its existence was marked by a struggle between those who supported a centralized government with a strong presidency and those who supported a decentralized, federal form of government.
- The faction that favored constitutional rule coalesced around Vice-President Francisco de Paula Santander, while those who supported the creation of a stronger presidency were led by President Simón Bolívar.
- Gran Colombia was dissolved in 1831 due to the political differences that existed between supporters of federalism and centralism, as well as regional tensions among the peoples that made up the republic.
Picture
This republic was constituted as a unitary centralist state.
Image: HansenBCN, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
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Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.