"The Great Colombia"
Can you imagine a world where two United States existed? One in the north of the American continent and another one in the south of the continent, maybe they would be two “great” countries working together towards a world westernization, or two rivals with different political systems and viewpoints fighting against each other. Well, once in our history a group of people attempted to unified some South-American territories in order to make a great united nation, however, they did not succeed in their objective.
This country’s name was -at its time- the Republic of Colombia, but historians decided to name it as “La Gran Colombia” or “The Great Colombia” just to make a difference between it and the present-day Colombia. This Republic was established in 1821 and It included the territories of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru, western Guyana and northwest Brazil.
This country’s name was -at its time- the Republic of Colombia, but historians decided to name it as “La Gran Colombia” or “The Great Colombia” just to make a difference between it and the present-day Colombia. This Republic was established in 1821 and It included the territories of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru, western Guyana and northwest Brazil.
Its foundation and founders
The first mind behind the idea of a great South American nation was Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan national hero who also fought, for example in the French Revolution. However, Miranda did not live long enough to see her dream come true.
Simon Bolivar, another Venezuelan national hero, took up Miranda's ideas later, and after several successful campaigns and battles against the Spanish colonizers, he, among other important people, founded the new nation. Another important figures were: Francisco de Paula Santander, who was interim president, and José Antonio Páez, Venezuelan politician and military leader, who achieved the victory on the Battle of Ayacucho, which marked the end of the Spanish resistance.
Its importance at the time
Regarding to the economic importance, the country's soils, due to their fertility, allowed numerous crops to be planted, from temperate to warmer climates. This is why the main economic activity of the inhabitants of Great Colombia was agriculture. The main export items were cocoa, tobacco, coffee and livestock, most of which were transported to Europe (mainly Great Britain and France), the United States and Peru.(Guhl, 1991) In other words, it could have been a powerful nation at that time, but it did not last long enough to grow as powerful as the United States in the north.
Why did it split up?
We have seen that this country was large and powerful economically, so why did it split up? In short, insufficient unity between the different departments of the republic.
The Great Colombia was formed mainly by the colonial entities of: The Viceroyalty of the New Granada, The Captaincy General of Venezuela, the Government of Quito and the Government of Guayaquil. Each with their own cultures and peoples, therefore with their own interests, which the dream of being a great nation could not destroy.
The end of the Republic
The Republic had a shameful end, due to a lack of governance Simon Bolivar had to take up a dictatorial role, which caused more division among the population. In its last years, the departments of the republic were separated one by one, beginning with Ecuador (1830), Panama (1830 and 1831) and Venezuela (1830).
I hope that you really enjoy reading my first post! It was just a summary of this important period in the history of South America, there is much more interesting information to know. Please give me an upvote and follow me, I will upload more interesting content like this in the future. I will also upload about another topics.
I hope that you really enjoy reading my first post! It was just a summary of this important period in the history of South America, there is much more interesting information to know. Please give me an upvote and follow me, I will upload more interesting content like this in the future. I will also upload about another topics.
If you really like history and you want to know more please visit:
https://www.britannica.com/place/Gran-Colombia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Colombia
Pictures references
1. The Gran Colombia map
2. Retrato del General Francisco de Miranda por Martin Tovar y Tovar
3. Simon Bolivar
References
Guhl, Ernesto (1991). «Capítulo XII: División Política de la Gran Colombia». Las fronteras políticas y los límites naturales. Fondo Fen Colombia, Bogotá.