Colombian Constitution of 1821

Commemoration of the Constitution of Cúcuta

The Constitution of Cúcuta, also known as Constitution of the Gran Colombia and Constitution of 1821 was the founding document and constitution of the country of Gran Colombia, unifying the territories of the Viceroyalty of New Granada as part of a federation. It was signed during the Congress of Cúcuta on August 30, 1821.

The Congress elected in Angostura reassembled in Cúcuta after the June 24, 1821, Battle of Carabobo, which gave independence to Venezuela. After liberating Caracas, Cartagena, Popayán and Santa Marta, on July 18, the Congress resumed efforts to draft a new Constitution to include the liberated regions. The final draft was approved on August 30, 1821, and expedited on July 12, 1822. The Constitution was structured into 10 chapters and 91 articles.

Historic church of Cúcuta, where the deputies of New Granada (Colombia) and Venezuela signed the Constitution

This is considered the first constitution of Colombia, and lasted until the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1831.

Bibliography

• Bushnell, David (1970). The Santander Regime in Gran Colombia. Westport: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-8371-2981-8
• Gibson, William Marion (1948). The Constitutions of Colombia. Durham: Duke University Press.

Gran Colombian independence Background Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1723), (1739-1819) Captaincy General of Venezuela (1777–1821) Peninsular War in Spain (1808–1814) Overview Military career of Simón Bolívar Ecuadorian War of Independence Venezuelan War of Independence Political history Luz de América (1809) First Republic of Venezuela (1810–12) Colombian Declaration of Independence (1810) Venezuelan Declaration of Independence (1811) United Provinces of New Granada (1811–16) Second Republic of Venezuela (1813–14) Third Republic of Venezuela (1817–19) Gran Colombia (1819–31) (Ecuador, 1830 Venezuela/Republic of New Granada, 1831) Military history 1812–16 La Victoria (June 1812) Magdalena Campaign (1812-1813) Admirable Campaign (1813: Cúcuta, February 1813 Alto de los Godos, May 1813) Araure (December 1813) Spanish reconquest of New Granada (1815–16) 1819–23 Bolívar's campaign to liberate New Granada (1819–20: Las Queseras del Medio, April 1819 – Vargas Swamp, July 1819 – Boyacá, August 1819) Carabobo (June 1821) Lake Maracaibo (July 1823) Colombian figures Antonio Nariño Benito Salas Vargas Joaquín Camacho Liborio Mejía José María Obando José Miguel Pey de Andrade Antonio Ricaurte Manuel Rodríguez Torices Francisco de Paula Santander Venezuelan figures Simón Bolívar Francisco de Miranda José Antonio Páez Manuel Piar José Félix Ribas Antonio José de Sucre Rafael Urdaneta Carlos Soublette Santiago Mariño Cristóbal Mendoza Mariano Montilla Pedro Camejo Juan Bautista Arismendi Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi Luis Brión José Antonio Anzoátegui Other figures José Tomás Boves Louis-Michel Aury Juan Manuel Cajigal Juan Domingo de Monteverde Pablo Morillo Daniel Florence O'Leary José Prudencio Padilla Miguel de la Torre Other Carmañola Americana (1797) Decree of War to the Death (1813)