Manuela Beltrán was a Neogranadine woman who organized a peasant revolt against excess taxation in 1780.

General settings

The information concerning the biography of Manuela Beltran is scarce and fragmented. It is believed she was of peasant origin, was born around 1750, and lived most of her life in Villa del

Socorro, Santander Socorro is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. It was founded in 1681 by José de Archila and José Díaz Sarmiento. The town was very influential in the history of Colombia. There began the Revolt of the ...

, where she ran her own small grocery store, at the main square of Socorro; at the time, in the

Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada ( ), also called Viceroyalty of New Granada or Viceroyalty of Santa Fe, was the name given on 27 May 1717 to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in northern South America, corresponding to modern ...

, it was very uncommon for a woman to own her own business. Besides, Beltran was one of the few people in the region that could read and write, given the virtually complete illiteracy of the population due to the absence of education facilities.

The taxation

During the first half of the 18th century, the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

was focused on the improvement of its military force, especially the Infanteria de Marina, since the main economic interests of the empire depended of the complete control of its American colonies. By 1717, the ''Cuerpo de Batallones de Marina'' was definitively settled and organized, reaching its full strength of twelve battalions. The first ones were named: Armada, Bajeles, Marina, Oceano, Mediterráneo and Barlovento. Their mission was to form the "Main body of landing columns and ship's soldiers tasks" in a time when boarding was still a critical part of battle at sea. The major actions they took part in during this period were:

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, 1717;

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, 1732; Defense of

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Siege of Pensacola The siege of Pensacola, fought from March 9 to May 10, 1781, was the culmination of Spain's conquest of West Florida during the Gulf Coast Campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The siege was commanded by Bernardo de Gálvez, whose near ...

, (1781) and

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Re ...

(1793). These military actions demanded a large amount of money and resources, which resulted in larger taxations for the people living in the colonies. The new harsh taxation regimen (implemented and promoted by General Visitor Juan Francisco Gutiérrez de Piñeres, and ratified by the Viceroy and

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Antonio Caballero y Góngora) included the raise on the

Alcabala The alcabala or alcavala () was a sales tax of up to fourteen percent,Joaquín Escriche, ''Diccionario razonado de legislacion y jurisprudencia'', Volume 1, Third Edition, Viuda e hijos de A. Calleja, 1847. Entry "Alcabala", pp. 143–149Availabl ...

, taxes over the consumption of

Aguardiente ( Portuguese) or ( Spanish) (; ; ) is a type of distilled alcoholic spirit that contains between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It is a somewhat generic term that can refer to liquors made from various foods. It originates from and is t ...

and

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, taxes over the entry of merchandises, and a sales tax.

The revolt

The edict of the new taxation regimen was placed in the main square of Socorro on March 16, 1781. Since Beltran could read, she informed the crowd about the dispositions, which was greeted with general outrage. She tore apart the document and led the

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...

which extended to over sixty cities and towns in the

Andean Region of Colombia The Andean region, located in central Colombia, is the most populated natural region of Colombia. With many mountains, the Andes contain most of the country's urban centers.Llanos The Llanos ( Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, ...

. The revolt eventually ended with a fake negotiation offered by the Viceroy, followed by the capture and execution of most of the revolt leaders including José Antonio Galán. Whether or not Manuela Beltran was also executed remains unclear.

Cultural relevancy

*Manuela Beltran is a common name for elementary schools, institutions and neighborhoods throughout Colombia. *A popular television series in Colombia in the 1980s was based on her life. *

Manuela Beltrán University The Manuela Beltrán University (, UMB) is a private university based in the city of Bogotá, Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insul ...

is named after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beltran, Manuela People from Santander Department Colombian women Colombian rebels Women in 18th-century warfare Viceroyalty of New Granada people Women in war in Colombia Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 18th-century Colombian people 1724 births Tax resisters