chapter 1 Freedom and the birth of a nation

THE PHILOSOPHER OF LIBERTAD AND THE BIRTH OF A NATION.

In Quito August 10th, 1809, a Junta of Government, led by the criollo Juan Pio Montufar, disposed the president of the Royal Audience and took power in behalf of King Fernando VII, in response of the Napoleonic Invasion of Spain. The Junta was imprisoned by loyal troops coming from other nearby provinces, and later executed. However, the flames of their fight weren't over. What happened that day is known as El Primer Grito de Independencia, a national holiday almost as important as Dia de la Libertad in the actual Colombia. What happened that day, was the start of the Independence and the birth of a nation.

The process for which the Spanish colonies in America obtained independence is a long anc complicated one, that started thanks to the crown's incompetence, the rage of the Criollos and Mestizos, the influence from France and the United States and the work of prominent men all over the Viceroys. Quito was specially influencied by the works of Eugenio Espejo and his newspaper.

Several Juntas tried to take power and declare independence from Spain after this episode. Examples include Caracas, April 19th 1810; Valledupas, April; Cartagena, May 22nd; Cali, July 3rd. Then, Santafe itself rebelled.

It was the morning of July 20th, 1810. Luis de Rubio, a criollo gentleman from the city, went to the house of Jose Gonzales Llorente in order to ask for a flower base. He wanted it for the visit of the Royal Commissioner, the Quiteño Antonio Villavicencio, who was bringing an order from the Cadiz Courts to dispose the Viceroy Amar y Borbon. Llorente was a classic example of the racism and prejudice of the colonial society. As a Spaniard, he was in the top of the pyramid and looked down in Criollos, Mestizos and Natives. The Criollos were the most conscious about it since they were, by all means, ethnically European, yet they still couldn't hold political power because they were born in the colonies. Thus, Llorente denied de Rubio's petition, being not willing to borrow one of his possessions to a Criollo who would use it to attend another one. [1]

This was all according to the plan. De Rubio was part of a complot, and once the "incident" happened, the Criollos from all over Santafe used the occasion to mobilize the townspeople against the Spaniards and their government. This ultimately failed, and the Criollos behind the complot were arrested and executed, just like the ones behind the Junta of Quito. This was what convinced the few Granadian criollos who wanted to remain loyalist or who only wanted some more autonomy from Spain instead of independence, that the Spaniards had to be defeated and exiled and that total freedom was needed. [2]

With Cartagena having declared its own independence, the Spanish colonies decided to adopt the Juntismo system, created in Spain in order to oppose the Napoleonic Government. Each province, and in some cases, each town created then its own Junta, which would then be unified into a Junta Suprema that would rule the Viceroy.

While this happened, in the nearby Caracas, a successful rebellion took place in April 19th, 1810, instauring the Junta Suprema de Caracas who ruled the General Captaincy "en ausencia del Rey" and instituted various reforms like the abolishment of slavery and tried to establish relations with foreign powers. When July 20th came, the Junta was split between those who wanted to move to the offensive right away and those who wanted to call to elections and secure the support of all the provinces first.

In Cartagena a call was made for all the Juntas all around the Viceroy to come and form a central government. Unfortunately, several provinces didn't send any "representantes" and a lot of fight ensued between those who supported Centralism and those who supported Federalism. It's in this moment when the Philosopher of Libertad, Francisco de Miranda, decided to step in.

A detailed biography of Miranda is avalaible in Chaper 5, but for now we're going to see a quick summary. Of humble origins, Miranda received a complete education thanks to his father, a rich merchant from Caracas who was discriminated against by the Criollos, who saw him as inferior thanks to being supposedly a Mestizo. Miranda would latter decide to go to Spain, after his father was designed captain of the White Militias of Caracas creating great backlash from the Criollos there.

Miranda would then walk the earth, going through Great Britain, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Scandinavia, North America and other European Countries. His ideas started to take shape, as he saw the huge differences in education and culture between the colonies and the motherland, and the social

inequalities of the age. After his journeys, he became a captain in the Spanish Army, under the Regimiento de la Princesa, Several years passed by, including some problems with his superiors that ended when he was reassigned to Cadiz. When Spain decided to intervene in the American Revolution, Miranda was sent to North America and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Later on, he participated in a mission in Jamaica and in the assault to the Bahamas, receiving another promotion to Colonel. However, by that time, the Inquisition took actions against him because he possessed many forbidden books.

Miranda remained safe until a failed assault to Jamaica took place and then he fled to the United States, already independent, and was amazed by the progress of the young nation and its political institutions. He met a young woman there, Susan Livingston, daughter of the Livingston family and fell in love with her. [3] They married and Miranda settled there, forming part of the American High Society and meeting several important figures, like Hnery Knox, Samuel Adams and even Gergo Washington himself. Miranda's new life style was threatened when France, wanting to put all the blame of the Jamaica assault's failure in Spain, said he was a traitor and criminal. Miranda exiled himself to London, but he still maintained contact with his wife. He moved around Europe again, meeting the Hungarian prince Nicolas Esterhazy and Katherin II from Russia.

When the French Revolution started, Miranda took active part and fought there, even becoming a Marshall. But during the Terror Regime of Robespierre he was judged, and even when he was freed, he decided to flee to the United States in order to return with his wife. He was a prominent figure in the American high society, and had contact with the president Jefferson, the State Secretary Madison and the Colonel Stephens Smith.

It's generally agreed that Miranda's experiences during the American Revolution, and later, the French Revolution, shaped his views in the world and made him a fervent wisher of Independence for the Spanish colonies, hoping to create strong, unified Latin American state that at the very least would be formed by the territory of New Granada. His biggest, and we shall say, most improbable dream was an even bigger Republic formed by all the Spanish colonies in America, that is, from the territories the United States took from Mexico to the Patagonia.

Miranda stayed in the United States until he heard about the incident in Santafe. After securing both British and American support, he moved to Cartagena with three ships of the line he bought with the help of his friend Samuel g. Ogden and several soldiers recruited from New York and the Caribbean Islands.

Miranda was a strong and charismatic leader, who managed to bring down the message that independence was needed, and that it could only be achieved if every one of the provinces joined in the struggle. He also presented his vision of a united Latin America, based in the United States. His vision appealed to Criollos all over the Viceroy and the message of democracy and equality brought approbation from the Natives and Mestizos. Also, he already had the support of the two powers and presented a middle ground to every faction. After all, he was Venezuelan but supported a Santafe centered Republic, and his proposed government that satisfied both Centralist and Federalist.

A new Congress was called for session, and this time, it was a total success. The Junta Suprema Nacional took control of Santafe and every province under the control of a Junta and called to elections for every free male of 25 years and with properties of 2000 pesos or more. El Congreso Nacional started its functions in April 8, 1811 and declared the independence of the Viceroy of New Granada from Spain in May 24, 1811. The Colombian Independence War had started.

Note

[1]Actually, there is not a proof that Llorente was a rascist, and when De Rubio went to borrow the flower base he remained calm and said no because it was very old and in a bad state.

[2]In OTL it succeeded, but didn't manage to work properly with the other Juntas, creating the "Patria Boba" (Stupid Homeland). Here, its demise makes other Juntas realize they need to work together to achieve independence. It also prevented Caracas Junta from calling to elections as there appeared fractions that wanted to take retaliation for their execution.

[3]Miranda did meet with her in OTL, and she fell in love with him but he didn't feel anything for her. Perhaps having a wife will make him not as reckless, and secure support from the United States thanks to the time he spent there.

[4]Yes, he met all those people in OTL, but we don't know how close his relation was. When Miranda decided to storm Caracas they helped him, and the attack was a failure. Here, they talk him out of it and he instead goes to Cartagena.

[5]Name of Bogota during the Colony. It was changed after independence, but it will remain the same ITL.