The Spanish reconquest of New Granada in 1815–1816 was part of the Spanish American wars of independence in South America and Colombian War of Independence. Shortly after the Napoleonic Wars ended, Ferdinand VII, recently restored to the throne in Spain, decided to send military forces to retake most of the northern South American colonies, which had established autonomous juntas and independent states. The Spanish expeditionary army under the command of Lieutenant General Pablo Morillo, with support from loyal colonial troops, completed the reconquest of New Granada by taking Bogotá on 6 May 1816.
Antonio Amador José de Nariño y Álvarez del Casal, was a Colombian ideological precursor of the independence movement in New Granada as well as one of its early political and military leaders.
José Camilo Clemente de Torres Tenorio was a Neogranadine independence leader and lawyer who also served as president of the United Provinces of New Granada. He is credited as being an early founder of the nation due to his role in early struggles for independence from Spain.
The First Republic of New Granada, known despectively as the Foolish Fatherland, is the period in the history of Colombia immediately following the declaration of independence from Spain in 1810 and until the Spanish reconquest in 1816. The period between 1810 and 1816 in the Viceroyalty of New Granada was marked by such intense conflicts over the nature of the new government or governments that it became known as la Patria Boba. Constant fighting between federalists and centralists gave rise to a prolonged period of instability that eventually favored Spanish reconquest. Similar developments can be seen at the same time in the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. Each province, and even some cities, set up its own autonomous junta, which declared themselves sovereign from each other.
Manuel de Bernardo Álvarez del Casal was an influential Criollo figure in New Granada at the time of the independence movement. He occupied several important positions in the rebel government. He was also the uncle of Antonio Nariño, forerunner of independence. He served as president of the rebel State of Cundinamarca in 1814.
José Miguel Pey y García de Andrade was a Colombian statesman and soldier and a leader of the independence movement from Spain. He is considered the first vice president and first president of Colombia. He was a centralist.
The United Provinces of New Granada was a country in South America from 1810 to 1816, a period known in Colombian history as la Patria Boba. It was formed from areas of the New Kingdom of Granada, roughly corresponding to the territory of modern-day Colombia. The government was a federation with a parliamentary system, consisting of a weak executive and strong congress. The country was reconquered by Spain in 1816.
Francisco José de Caldas was a Neogranadine lawyer, military engineer, self-taught naturalist, mathematician, geographer and inventor, who was executed by orders of General Pablo Morillo during the Spanish American Reconquista for being a forerunner of the fight for the independence of New Granada. Arguably the first Colombian scientist, he is often nicknamed "El Sabio".
Juan José Francisco de Sámano y Uribarri de Rebollar y Mazorra, was a Spanish military officer and the last viceroy of New Granada from March 9, 1818 to August 9, 1819, during the Colombian War of Independence.
Antonio Clemente José María Bernabé Ricaurte Lozano was a patriot of the Independence of Colombia and Venezuela and captain of Bolívar's army. He is remembered as the martyr of the Battle of San Mateo, where, in a heroic action, he blasted an enemy stronghold by immolating himself.
The constitutional history of Colombia is the process of formation and evolution of the different constitutions that Colombia has had since its formation.
Antonio Villavicencio y Verástegui was a statesman and soldier of New Granada, born in Quito, and educated in Spain. He served in the Battle of Trafalgar as an officer in the Spanish Navy with the rank of Second Lieutenant. He was sent as a representative of the Spanish Crown to New Granada, where his arrival was used as an excuse in Santafé de Bogotá to start a revolt; this was known as the Florero de Llorente, which culminated in the proclamation of independence from Spain. After this incident he resigned his office and joined the cause of independence. He was later captured and became the first martyr executed during the reign of terror of Pablo Morillo.
Manuel Benito de Castro was a Neogranadine politician. He became President of the State of Cundinamarca in 1812 in place of Antonio Nariño.
Jorge Tadeo Lozano de Peralta, Viscount of Pastrana was a Neogranadine scientist, journalist, and politician who presided over the Constituent College of Cundinamarca and was elected President of Cundinamarca in 1811.
Joaquín París y Ricaurte was a Colombian military officer and politician who fought in the Colombian War of Independence and various civil wars that took place in Colombia during the 19th century. París was later also commander-in-chief of the army and Secretary of War on various occasions.
The Colombian War of Independence began on July 20, 1810 when the Junta de Santa Fe was formed in Santa Fe de Bogota, the capital of the Spanish colonial Viceroyalty of New Granada, to govern the territory autonomously from Spain. The event inspired similar independence movements across Latin America, and triggered an almost decade-long rebellion culminating in the founding of the Republic of Colombia, which spanned present-day Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela, along with parts of northern Peru and northwestern Brazil.
José Acevedo y Gómez was an independence hero of Colombia. With an educational background of grammar and philosophy, he became a highly skillful orator and political figure, attaining the position of the Attorney General. He generated a vast wealth through his trading activities. He was honored with a bust in the patio of the Palacio Liévano.
The New Granada Civil War was a civil war between 1812 and 1814 in New Granada between Federalists and Centralists. The war ended with a victory for the Federalists.
The Nariño Southern Campaign was a series of military actions between December 1813 and May 1814, under command of Antonio Nariño, leader of the Republican State of Cundinamarca, against Spanish forces in the south of New Granada.
It had the objective of dislodging the Royalist presence in the south after the defeat of the first independence movement in the province of Quito (1812), a fact that put the New Granada provinces, that had retained their early independence, at risk. Nariño's army took the city of Popayán and the surroundings of Pasto, but was decisively defeated in the Battle of Ejidos de Pasto, ending the campaign in total failure.
Juan Nepomuceno Niño Muelle y Lago was a philosopher, lawyer, and politician from the Viceroyalty of New Granada. He is known as one of the heroes and martyrs of the independence of Colombia shot on November 29, 1816, during the reconquest of New Granada by order of Pablo Morillo.
