The United Provinces of New Granada was a country in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

from 1810 to 1816, a period known in Colombian history as '' la Patria Boba'' ("the Foolish Fatherland"). It was formed from areas of the New Kingdom of Granada, roughly corresponding to the territory of modern-day Colombia. The government was a

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

with a

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...

, consisting of a weak executive and strong congress. The country was reconquered by Spain in 1816.

Government

The Triumvirate

After two attempts at establishing a congress, the State of Cundinamarca 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, officially San Juan de Pasto (; "Saint John of Pasto"), is the capital of the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia. Pasto was founded in 1537 and named after indigenous people of the area. In the 2018 census, the city had app ...

and

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. It has a population of 318,059 people, an area of 483 km2, is locate ...

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 (full birth name Manuel Juan Robustiano de los Dolores Rodríguez Torices y Quiroz) (May 24, 1788 – October 5, 1816) was a Neogranadine statesman, lawyer, journalist, and Precursor of the Independence of Col ...

, President of the State of Cartagena; José Manuel Restrepo, Antioquia's Secretary of State; and

Custodio García Rovira José Custodio Cayetano García Rovira (March 2, 1780 – August 8, 1816) 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 Gran ...

, 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 Tunja Province was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia. It belonged to the Boyacá Department which was created in 1824. Provinces of Gran Colombia Provinces of the Republic of New Granada {{Colombia-geo-stub ...

José María del Castillo y Rada José María del Castillo y Rada (December 20, 1776 in Cartagena de Indias – June 5, 1833 in Bogotá) was a neo-granadine politician, President of the United Provinces of the New Granada from October 5, 1814 until January 21, 1815. Castillo y ...

and

José Fernández Madrid José Luis Álvaro Alvino Fernández Madrid (February 19, 1789 – June 28, 1830) 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 Pr ...

, 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 Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

, 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 José Miguel Pey y García de Andrade (March 11, 1763 – August 17, 1838) 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 ...

, 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.

Administrative divisions

The Act was ratified by the provinces of Antioquia, Cartagena,

Neiva Neiva () is the capital of the Department of Huila. It is located in the valley of the Magdalena River in south central Colombia with a population of about 357,392 inhabitants. It is one of the most important cities in southern Colombia, mainly ...

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

and

Tunja Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá departmen ...

. 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. awadzky, Alfonso ''Las Ciudades Confederadas del Valle del Cauca''. (Bogotá: Editorial Librería Voluntad, S.A., 1943). At the beginning of the revolution, the larger

Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of New Granada ( es, Virreinato de Nueva Granada, links=no ) also called Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada or Viceroyalty of Santafé was the name given on 27 May 1717, to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in norther ...

consisted of 22 provinces. The provinces were under the jurisdiction of two '' audiencias''. The

Royal Audiencia of Quito The of Quito (sometimes referred to as or ) 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 Colo ...

, whose president had executive powers, had jurisdiction over the provinces of Quito, Cuenca, Loja, Ibarra,

Riobamba Riobamba (, full name San Pedro de Riobamba; Quechua: ''Rispampa'') is the capital of Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, and is located in the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is south of Ecuador's capital Quito and located at an ele ...

, Buenaventura and parts of the Cauca River Valley. These provinces were located in what are now the

Republic of Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

and the southern part of Colombia. The Royal Audiencia of Santa Fe de Bogotá, had jurisdiction over the provinces of

Panamá Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and

Veragua {{unreferenced, date=January 2015 Veragua or Veraguas was the name of five Spanish colonial territorial entities in Central America, beginning in the 16th century during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term was based on a Central Amer ...

in what is now the

Republic of Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

, and the provinces of Antioquia, Cartagena de Indias, Casanare, Citará, Mariquita,

Nóvita Nóvita is a municipality and town in the Chocó Department, Colombia. It was the first capital of Chocó Province. It was a traditional center for gold mining, Many of its residents are Afro-Colombians. In the 1850s, supplies, and possibly eve ...

Riohacha Riohacha (; Wayuu: ) is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean Sea. It is the capital city of the La Guajira Department. It has a sandy beach waterfr ...

, Santafé, Santa Marta, El Socorro, and

. 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 The Captaincy General of Venezuela ( es, Capitanía General de Venezuela), also known as the Kingdom of Venezuela (), was an administrative district of colonial Spain, created on September 8, 1777, through the Royal Decree of Graces of 1777, t ...

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 Coro, Cumaná, Guayana, Maracaibo, Venezuela or Caracas (central Venezuela), and

Margarita Island Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the States of Venezuela, Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on t ...

, and it had its own ''audiencia'' and superintendency based in Caracas. After the Revolution the captaincy general established itself as a republic.

References

Bibliography

Government

The Triumvirate

Administrative divisions

See also

References

Bibliography