Constitutions for the Purposes of Control: The Cases of Cundinamarca and Cartagena During the Independence Period

Abstract

In Colombian political history the moment of Independence from Spain is a topic that has been explored on many occasions by different analysts. This is not unusual as foundational moments provide legitimacy for current situations. Even though our historians have advanced a variety of explanations about this period, it is important to note that constitutional law textbooks present a very simple analysis of the provisions of the Constitutions discussed in this article. Most of the time, the explanation of the Constitutions presents the idea that our framers had some special relationship with European liberal ideas. This essay proposes a different thesis. It seeks to link two perspectives: the descriptions of the political struggles that were common in this period and, on the other hand, the consequences that these struggles might have manifested in the provisions of the Constitutions. It is argued that our Constitutions, particularly the ones enacted in Cartagena and Cundinamarca, turned out to be valves that closed the possibility for the lower classes to ascend the social pyramid despite initial promises of freedom. This kind of project is important in order to abandon the idea that the way of explaining our legal culture is in the North and start building a path towards a local explanation of our culture.