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| 8. Colombia (Nueva Granada) |
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| Gran Colombia comprised the viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, the captaincy general of Venezuela, and the presidency of Quito. Despite Bolívar's efforts, separatist movements in Venezuela (1829–30) and Quito (1830) destroyed the confederation. | 1 |
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| 1831, Nov. 17 |
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| Nueva Granada was declared independent. The wars left its social structure intact. The church maintained its power, and regional elites were strong enough to resist attempts to install a centralized state based in Bogotá. | 2 |
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| 1832–37 |
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| Francisco de Paula Santander, a conservative, assumed the presidency. He reduced military influence. Santander gave some protectionist measures to local manufactures and expanded education. | 3 |
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| 1837–42 |
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| Dr. José Ignacio de Márquez assumed the presidency with support of the ex-Bolivarian military and defeated a liberal federalist uprising (1839–42). Coffee became the most important export commodity in Santander and Cundinarca, where large landowners engaged rural workers in a debt peonage system. | 4 |
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| 1841–45 |
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| Conservative and centralist administration of Pedro Alcántara Herrán. | 5 |
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| 1845–49 |
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| Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera (1798–1878) became president. Liberal measures reduced tariffs and ended state tobacco monopoly. | 6 |
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| 1849–53 |
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| Gen. José Hilario López, liberal leader, assumed the presidency. Slavery was abolished, with compensation for the owners (1851–52). Artisans in Bogotá formed political clubs, allied to a liberal faction that opposed free trade. | 7 |
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| 1853–54 |
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| During José Maria Obando's administration, the constitution of 1853 provided universal male suffrage. In Vélez, liberals enacted female suffrage, which the national supreme court vetoed. Laws separating church and state were approved. Most Indian community lands changed to individual private property. | 8 |
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| 1854 |
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| Provinces demanded greater autonomy. The national army virtually disappeared. | 9 |
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| April |
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| Gen. José María Melo staged a coup d'état with artisan support. The movement was suppressed, and hundreds of artisans were sent to penal colonies in Panama. | 10 |
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