The Republic of New Granada (20 October 1831-11 April 1858) was a country located in northwestern South America and southern Central America, formed after the breakup of Gran Colombia in 1831. New Granada encompasses the present-day countries of Colombia and Panama, with parts of Ecuador and Venezuela.
History[]
New Granada was formed on 20 October 1831 in the aftermath of the breakup of Gran Colombia, including the present-day countries of Colombia and Panama in addition to parts of Venezuela and Ecuador. New Granada granted autonomy to its federal states and gave lots of power to the Catholic Church, but in 1839 the shutting down of monasteries by the Congress of New Granada led to the War of the Supremes, fought between General Jose Maria Obando's gamonales revolutionaries and the governments of New Granada and Ecuador, who intervened to prevent Obando from re-forming Gran Colombia.
A soldier of New Granada
New Granada was further destabilized in the 1843 Brazilian War of Colombian Amazonas, during which the Brazilian Empire invaded New Granada between 27 February and 2 December 1843, when New Granada decided to surrender control of the Colombian Amazonas region. The only battle fought was an incomplete battle between Jorge Boyd's Colombian 1st Army and the I Corpo do exercito, which was actually going well for the Colombians before the peace treaty was agreed on 2 December.
Demands for decentralization of the New Granadan government led to the formation of the Confederacion Granadina in 1858, with the constitution rewritten to give voting rights to all males over 21 and abolishing slavery.
Culture[]
The population of Colombia in 1843
New Granada was a diverse mix of several ethnic groups. In 1843, New Granada had a population of 601,200 people. 60.4% of them were North Andeans, 12.9% Afro-Caribenos, 5.9% Central Americans, 4.9% South Italians, 3.3% Native Americans, 2.8% South Germans, 2.8% Quechua, 2.2% Amazonians, 1.7% North Germans, 1.6% North Italians, and 2.8% others (including British, Croatians, Ukrainians, Russians, Romanians, Armenians, etc.). 93.5% of the population was Catholic, 3.8% Protestant, and 2.6% Animist.
New Granada was a developing nation, with 74.2% of the population being farmers, 10.7% laborers, 4.4% artisans, 4.2% slaves, 1.8% soldiers, 1.7% aristocrats, 1.3% craftsmen, .8% clergymen, .3% bureaucrats, .2% officers, .2% clerks, and .1% capitalists.