Political and Territorial Configuration and Reconfiguration in the Kingdom of New Granada, 1810-1816

Abstract

This paper examines the consequences of the dissolution of the Spanish monarchy and the fragmentation of power in the viceroyalty of New Granada between 1810 and 1816. During this period various juntas of supreme government were constituted, as well as congresses and states in the different politicaladministrative entities and territorial Viceroyalty, similarly to other areas of Spanish America. The diversity of those projects generated political conflicts and wars between provinces, and localities (cities, towns, parishes, etc.). This phenomenon has been poorly analyzed by Colombian historiography, which refers to the period mentioned by the nicknames of patria boba or “First Republic”. This undoubtedly points to the problem of the myth of the origins of the Nation-State. This myth makes us lose sight of the various projects which shaped and reshaped the territories which were part of the former viceroyalty.