A BRIEF HISTORY OF COLOMBIA
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handicrafts, which, combined with unique combinations of Europeans, Africans,
and Indians, explains the differences in music, culture and cuisine that one can
enjoy in the various regions of Colombia today.
Social conditions in colonial New Granada were similar to those in the rest of
Spanish America, with a hierarchy based on race. The first murmurs of
independence from Spain often began near the top among native-born colonists
of European descent — the criollos. They controlled the local economy, but were
generally shut out of the colonial government, which was dominated by Spanish-
born officials. Travel to Europe by members of the criollo elite brought
Enlightenment ideas into the mix. New Granada then followed the pattern seen
in the rest of Spanish America during the years of the struggle for independence:
after Napoleon toppled the Spanish government in 1808, cities and towns set up
juntas that declared their loyalty to the deposed king, Ferdinand VII. These
juntas pointedly included criollos in their leadership, giving locally-born notables
their first experience of political leadership — in Bogotá, this occurred in 1810,
on July 20, which is a national holiday. As the situation in the mother country did
not change, various juntas took the step to declare outright independence (the
first city to declare independence in Colombia was Cartagena, in 1811 on
November 11 — another holiday). The newly independent cities and provinces
soon fell into civil war over how much power the central government should
have, and most were quickly reconquered when Ferdinand was restored to
power in Spain after Napoleon's final defeat in 1815.
In 1819, New Granada became the first colony to be liberated by the charismatic
Venezuelan Simón Bolívar after an impressive campaign in which he took his
army across the llanos and over the Andes to decisively defeat the Spanish at the
Battle of Boyacá on August 7 (yet another national holiday). Bolívar immediately
established a central administration in Bogotá with himself as president to
govern "Gran Colombia," which in time included present-day Panamá,
Venezuela, and Ecuador. Bolívar then led his armies north into Venezuela and