In Search of National Identity: Colombia's Constitutional Acts of the Era of Radical Liberalism (1853–1863)

Abstract

The middle of the XIX century in Colombia (then New Granada) was marked by radical transformations, which went down in history as the revolutionary events of the 50s. The modernization of Colombian soci-ety affected all aspects of public life: political economic, social and administrative. The younger generation of radical liberals who came to power in search of ways of national identity used two mutually contra-dictory practices in their activities: the development of modern legal norms of national creation (constitutional acts) and the practice of civil wars, a tradition rooted in the era of the War of Independence of 1810–1826. The constitutional acts of this period (1853–1863) and the creation of the foundations of the modern state were based on the recognition of the federal structure of the republican society and the complete eradication of all vestiges of the old colonial regime. The proposed work analyzes the constitutional acts and reforms of this period in the history of Colombia (1853–1863), their role and importance for the subsequent development of the country.

Keywords

• constitutions and constitutional acts (1853–1863)
• federalism
• radical liberals
• generation 1848
• conservatives
• civil wars