Breaking The Spanish Connection
Several criollo disciples of Mutis would be active participants in the early nineteenth-century movement for independence. Not only scientific concepts but also ideas subversive of the existing political order managed to penetrate late-colonial New Granada, which was in principle an absolute monarchy. News of the American and French revolutions penetrated, too, and in 1793 a prominent member of the criollo elite, Antonio Nariño, printed in Santa Fe a translation of the French revolutionary “La Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen” (Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen) of 1789. For this act, Nariño was arrested in 1794 and would spend much of his time in prison until the final independence movement began.
It would seem that even at that early date he was hoping ultimately for outright independence, in which regard he was ahead of most New Granadans. Yet it occurred to more and more New Granadans, especially in the ranks of the educated minority, that the colonial regime was susceptible to improvement, even short of breaking all ties to Spain.
Political unrest reflected more than just the appearance of liberal and democratic ideas or the example of the British American colonies, which had demonstrated the feasibility of breaking loose from imperial control. Another contributing factor was the turn of events in Spain after the “Enlightened Despot,” Charles III, was succeeded in 1788 by his son, the well-intentioned but weak Charles IV, under whom corruption and incompetence seemed the order of the day. Nor did the colonial population lack additional long-standing grievances, ranging from taxes and trade restrictions to the discrimination against native New Granadans in favor of those from the mother country in government appointments and other considerations.
Naturally these grievances would be exaggerated by independence-period propagandists and by many later historians. For most people, taxes were more an annoyance than a crushing burden, and overseas trade was hampered more by the shortage of viable exports and lack of purchasing power for imports than by imperial regulations. Discrimination in appointments was rampant only at the highest levels, and the criollo upper class could influence the decisions and conduct even of peninsular appointees through social connections or, if need be, outright corruption.
Moreover, different elements of the population sometimes disagreed on what was a grievance and what was not: people on the coast objected to barriers to the importation of cheap flour from the United States, whereas wheat growers in the highlands wanted stricter enforcement of the rules. Nevertheless, sources of discontent did exist, and any sudden aggravation could lead to violent protest.
Alongside lesser examples of rioting and protest in the late colonial period, one episode stands out: the Comunero Rebellion of 1781. The triggering mechanism was Spain’s participation, as a traditional foe of England, in the very struggle that was bringing the British colonies their independence. Spain needed money for the naval base at Cartagena among other things, and the result was tax increases in New Granada along with irritating new controls to make sure the taxes were paid. Farmers and artisans in the province of Socorro demonstrated their defiance of these measures by destroying the liquor and tobacco belonging to state monopolies and establishing revolutionary committees (comunes), which took control of local administration.
The movement spread beyond Socorro to much of New Granada, with the Comuneros demanding a rollback of the offensive tax measures. The protesters also made some unrelated demands designed to satisfy other complaints, such as that native New Granadans be given preference over Spaniards in official appointments. The audiencia, acting on behalf of the viceroy, who was in Cartagena overseeing defenses, gave an outward show of granting most demands.
But as soon as it became possible to send military reinforcements from the coast into the interior, the movement quickly collapsed. A few leaders of last-ditch resistance were executed. At no point had the Comuneros proclaimed independence as an objective, and most likely few even considered the idea, but the rebellion underscored the existence of grievances and the potential for popular protest.
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