The constitutional history of Colombia is the process of formation and evolution of the different constitutions that Colombia has had since its formation.
Pre-Columbian and Spanish times
The indigenous nations that inhabited the present territory of Colombia did not have written records; therefore there is no evidence of constitutions prior to the arrival of the Spaniards.
During Colonial times, the Spaniards were supposed to behave according to the Laws of Burgos of 1512 that defined the rights of the indigenous people but most importantly legalised the right of the Spaniards over them. These were replaced by the New Laws of Indies of 1542.Lecturas de Historia Colonial II. Las leyes nuevas y su promulgación en la Nueva Granada (1542-1550) The Monarchy of Spain tried to enforce these laws but revolts by Spaniards that benefited from oppressing the natives forced Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor to suppress them in 1545.Derechos humanos de los indígenas. Las instituciones coloniales fallaron en su defensa
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, translated and published by Antonio Nariño in 1794 and distributed in Santa Fe de Bogotá, could be considered the first draft of a political constitution in the New World. At present, the modern version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights forms the core of the political constitutions of many countries. The Constitution of Canada, for example, is quite short and is limited almost exclusively to human rights and basic freedoms. Those rights and liberties were not an integral part of the initial Colombian constitutions, but some were slowly introduced until they were definitively and explicitly included in the Constitution of 1991, which has been in force since it replaced in July 1991 the Political Constitution of 1886.
The first written constitution as such with jurisdiction in Colombia was the Spanish Constitution of 1808. The Spanish Constitution of 1812 also had theoretical jurisdiction during the Reconquista of Spanish America until Independence in 1819.
During colonial times, the Catholic Church was the most powerful institution after the Monarchy of Spain. The Church had control over the press, education, literacy and access to professions. It was the decisive authority in matters of public and private morality and the government would turn to it to obtain civil servants when laymen were not available.
During the fight for independence, and after, the Church was losing its influence, but it continued take a decisive part in the decision making process. In particular, the federalists wanted to create a constitution without clerical influence, whereas the centralists leaned towards the Church not only to preserve the faith but as a political body. The minimum geographic area able to send members to the congresses were the parishes. In larger urban areas there could be several parishes.
Independence At the time of independence from Spain, Colombia was part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada and thus continued to be named until August 10, 1819 when the republican armies arrived in Santa Fe de Bogotá and the Spanish viceroy Juan José de Sámano y Uribarri fled.
Memorandum of Grievances (Memorial de Agravios): 1809
In 1809, before the events of the Colombian Declaration of Independence took place, the Cabildo (council) of Santa Fe de Bogotá decided it was advisable to send a representative to the Junta Suprema Central located in Seville. It commissioned Camilo Torres Tenorio to draft the document known in Colombian history by the name "Memorandum of Grievances". For reasons that are unknown, the Cabildo did not accept this document.Proceso histórico del 20 de Julio de 1810 – Seccion 2 Luis Angel Arango Library - Virtual Library Jose Maria Cárdenas, descendant of Camilo Torres, commented that "the Cabildo was intimidated when shown the representation project and decided to archive it". On July 20, 1810, Colombia declared independence from Spain. The "Memorandum of Grievances" was kept unpublished until 1832.
Although the "Memorandum of Grievances" did not have any direct political effect and only few people knew of it at the time, its content is useful, more than any other document, to gauge the changes that were taking place in the political climate of Spanish America. It shows the attitudes that Criollos (locally born people of pure or mostly Spanish ancestry) had towards assuming a role in the government within the domains of Ferdinand VII of Spain. Some were royalists and others favored independence. The document demanded the same level of representation for Criollos in the American provinces as that of residents born in Spain (known as Peninsulares). This demand was based on the claim that Criollos were "descendants of Conquistadors" and the "legitimate heirs of the Spanish hegemony" which the conquistadors had established over the native populations of America, at whom they looked with some contempt.
Constitution of Socorro: 1810 From 1809 to 1830 eight different provinces produced their own independent constitutions so there was not a single unified constitution in the country of Colombia. The Constitution of the Free State of Socorro in 1810 was the first of these. It was simultaneously federalist, democratic, liberal and catholic.Colombia: Elections and Events 1810-1849 Social Science and Humanities Library of the University of California, San Diego
Socorro was the capital of the province of Santander at the time, where 30 years before the second Revolt of the Comuneros took place.
Constitution of Cundinamarca: 1811 After the Colombian Declaration of Independence, the Junta (Meeting) of August 20, 1810 was created. Jose Miguel Pey de Andrade was appointed head of the Meeting, which makes him the first Chief of State.
The Constituent Electoral College of the State of Cundinamarca can be considered the first Constituent National Assembly and Congress. It met in Santa Fe de Bogotá in March 1811 and, with many difficulties due to disagreements between centralists and federalists, promulgated the first constitution with national scope: The Constitution of the state of Cundinamarca on April 4, 1811. The document was inspired by the United States Constitution. The assembly appointed the second Chief of State, Jorge Tadeo Lozano, for a period of three years. Because of internal pressures and frays, the assembly forced him to resign on September 19, 1811 and chose Antonio Nariño instead.
United Provinces: 1811 By the end of 1810, other constitutions had arisen in different urban centres like Cartagena, Tunja, Antioquia, Mariquita and Neiva. Some of these (Cartagena, Tunja, Antioquia, Casanare, Pamplona and Popayán) sent representatives to The Congress of the United Provinces that met initially in Santa Fe de Bogotá and later in Tunja and Villa de Leyva.
On the second Sunday of October 1811 the first elections were held in Tunja. For each 2000 inhabitants there was a representing elector, and one for each municipality even if it did not have a population of this size. Any man 20 years old or older or anybody 15 or older and with "a modest occupation" could vote. The first name for the republic was established officially on November 27: United Provinces of New Granada.
The Constituent Electoral College of the State of Cundinamarca elected Pedro Groot as its first president on December 23, and the following day Antonio Nariño as acting president. At the meeting of October 4, 1812, the United Provinces elected Camilo Torres Tenorio as president (a position he held until October 5, 1814) and declared the union to be federalist as opposed to centralist. Simón Bolivar and Antonio Nariño were in favor of centralism, which was also becoming more popular in Santa Fe de Bogotá. This disagreement threw the United Provinces into an armed confrontation at the end of 1812, and a second one, without Nariño, in 1814.Hechos y Gentes de la primera Republica Colombiana (1810-1816) Luis Angel Arango Library – Virtual Library
Federalists (partisans of Francisco de Paula Santander, who saw centralism as a restriction of freedom) would later evolve into the Liberal Party of Colombia. Centralists (partisans of Antonio Nariño and Simón Bolívar, who wanted to see the nation centralized) would evolve into the Colombian Conservative Party.
Once Ferdinand VII recovered from the Peninsular War, royal forces led by Pablo Morillo defeated the revolutionary forces. In August, September and October 1816 Morillo executed most constitutional leaders, including Camilo Torres, and restored the Real Audiencia in Santa Fe de Bogotá in March 1817.
Nariño was arrested in Pasto in May 1814 and imprisoned in Spain. He remained so until 1821.
The Gran Colombia
Congress of Angostura
Although in 1819 some large areas were still under Spanish control, the urge for independence energised the political climate. On February 15, 1819, six months before the Battle of Boyacá, representatives of Venezuela (now Venezuela), New Granada (now Colombia and Panama) and Quito (now Ecuador) met in Angostura, Venezuela. This meeting, called the Congress of Angostura, worked on the development of a "Fundamental Law" (constitution). Representatives from Quito were few since that province was still under Spanish control. These were the decisions taken initially: New Granada was renamed Cundinamarca and its capital Santa Fe de Bogotá renamed Bogotá. The Capital of the province of Quito would be the city of Quito. The Capital of Venezuela would be Caracas. The capital of Colombia would be Bogotá. The Republic of Colombia was created. In order to differentiate this period from present Republic of Colombia, historians have customarily called it Gran Colombia. The Republic would be governed by a president. There would be a vice president who would replace the president in his absence. The governors of the three Departments would also be called Vice Presidents. The presidents and vice-presidents would be elected with an indirect vote, but in the interim, the Congress chose them, as follows: President of the Republic: Simón Bolivar, Vice President of the Republic: Francisco Antonio Zea, Vice President of Cundinamarca: Francisco de Paula Santander, and Vice President of Venezuela: Juan Germán Roscio. The office of Vice President of Quito was left vacant as Quito was still under Spanish control. In August, Bolivar continued his mission of liberation and left for Ecuador and Peru, with Santander remaining in charge of the country. Bolivar was given the title of "Liberator" and his picture with the motto "Bolivar, Liberator of Colombia and father of the Motherland" was exhibited in the congress assembly hall.
After the Battle of Vargas Swamp and the Battle of Boyacá, on December 17, 1819 the Congress of Angostura declared the Republic of Colombia formally created.
At the end of the sessions the Congress decided that it would meet again in Cúcuta, in January 1821, in order to publish the new constitution.
During his six years in captivity, Antonio Nariño had drafted a constitution. After The Precursor was released in Spain on March 23, 1820 he presented his constitution in Cúcuta, but he did not get much attention.
Congress of Cúcuta: 1821
The Congress defined in Angostura met this time in Villa del Rosario, in Cúcuta, in the beginning of 1821. The Battle of Carabobo, on June 24, 1821, officially brought independence to Venezuela and on July 18 the Congress restarted with greater impetus in Cúcuta to include the regions recently liberated: Caracas, Cartagena, Popayán and Santa Marta.