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News Colombian Independence 4 Key Facts Official History Often Omits

The official story of Colombian independence omits several key facts: 1. July 20th was neither the first nor last cry for independence, as other cities like Cartagena declared independence on different dates. 2. Independence was as much a civilian process as a military one, driven by desires for equal rights and freedoms from the Spanish Crown. 3. Independence did not end all wars and conflict in the region, and Colombia did not achieve full sovereignty, as independence was aided by the weakening of Spain due to events like the Napoleonic Wars.

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53 views1 page

News Colombian Independence 4 Key Facts Official History Often Omits

The official story of Colombian independence omits several key facts: 1. July 20th was neither the first nor last cry for independence, as other cities like Cartagena declared independence on different dates. 2. Independence was as much a civilian process as a military one, driven by desires for equal rights and freedoms from the Spanish Crown. 3. Independence did not end all wars and conflict in the region, and Colombia did not achieve full sovereignty, as independence was aided by the weakening of Spain due to events like the Napoleonic Wars.

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Colombian Independence: 4 Key Facts Official History Often

Omits
Daniel Pardo | BBC Mundo correspondent in Colombia | July 20th_ 20204

The official story tells that on July 20, 1810 an altercation between Creoles and officials of the Spanish Crown
over the loan of a vase resulted in a popular revolt that began the independence process of Colombia, which
concluded on August 7, 1819.
The history of the Vase of Llorente, and the military victory over the royalists that occurred in the following nine
years, became since then the founding myth of a nation that, 210 years later, has not left behind violence or political
and cultural struggle over the pillars of the State.
"We don't know what is being commemorated," says historian Marcos González. "They are not socially assumed
parties because the approved referent is deviated: at first it was 333 with a virgin, then it was the feast of the flag and
now, 50 years ago, it is the celebration of the army." In the end, the July 20 parades remain a celebration of
military heroes that relegates or omits the cultural, geographical and political diversity of the complex — and
for many unfinished — Colombian independence process.

1. July 20 was neither the first nor the last cry for independence

One of the main complaints of historians is that setting July 20 as the most important day of independence is a
reading from Bogotá that deepens one of Colombia's main problems: regionalism.
"You ask a Cartagena man when independence was and he tells you that it was November 11, 1811," says González,
referring to the case of Cartagena.

2. The process was as civilian as military

Although official history usually describes independence as a victory for Simón Bolívar's army, the social and
cultural scenario within which that struggle took place was as or more important than the liberator's deed.
"To understand the military victory, you have to see why you were fighting," says Andrés Vargas, who is director of
the history department at the Universidad del Rosario. "Not only did they fight because there was a will to free
themselves from the Crown, but because they sought equal rights among citizens.".

3. Independence did not end wars (nor did it mean complete independence)

More than an event, independence was—or is—a process. In fact, the independence in Latin America not only
responded to the liberating deeds, but to two substantial facts: the weakening of the Spanish Empire in the midst of
the rise of Napoleon and the health crisis suffered by the Spaniards due to infections such as smallpox and yellow
fever.

4. Independence was not just a war between Spaniards and Creoles

Historians also complain that official history tends to relate independence as a struggle between good guys and bad
guys. That wasn't. On the one hand, because on both sides there were men and women, elites and subordinates,
whites, mestizos, indigenous and Afro-descendants, realistic neogranadinos and pro-independence Spaniards.
On the other, because there were Creoles who fought in favor of the Crown and Spaniards who fought for
independence.
In fact, there were cases of indigenous people who were with the royalists because they feared that the new regime
would mean an increase in taxes.

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