Civil War in Colombia (1851)

In 1849, Jose Hilario Lopez, the liberal, defeated the president. He succeeded conservative Thomas Cipriano de Mosquera at his post. The liberals, driven by the ideas of European revolutions , after their defeat in the War of the Higher, were amnestied by Mosquera, and regained their strength.

Liberals began reforms that provoked resistance and discontent among conservative circles. Reforms were mainly directed against the dominance of the church. On May 18, 1850, the Jesuits were expelled from the country. In 1851, the constitution was amended ^[1] : the death penalty was abolished for political crimes, freedom of the press, freedom of movement and the abolition of tithing. A law was also passed on the abolition of church courts in criminal matters, which provoked the protest of the archbishop. On May 21, 1851, the government issued a decree abolishing slavery. This caused a twofold reaction: on the one hand, the lower strata gained the opportunity to enjoy many rights, slaves gained freedom, and on the other, conservatives lost a lot during these reforms: the influence of the church was reduced, slave labor was prohibited.

The revolt of the conservative landowners concentrated in the south and west of New Granada. May 22, 1851, rebels marched in Patia and Timbio ; then there was an unsuccessful attempt to capture Pasto led by Julio Arboleda. After this defeat, Arboleda went on negotiations with the Ecuadorian government over the purchase of arms and ammunition in exchange for the income of the provinces neighboring Ecuador; landowners in the provinces of Cauca , Choco and Antioquia supported this idea because they owned a large number of slaves. Other uprisings occurred in Sogamoso , Marikita , Guatavita and Guamo .

On July 1, an armed uprising of conservatives broke out in the south of the country, especially in Popayan , Pasto and Kali . The government then appointed General José Obando as commander of the southern forces, and General Thomas Herrera as forces in Cauca, who gradually suppressed the rebellions.

In the south, conservative Julio Arboledo Pombo appealed to General Manuel Maria Franco from Buesaco for help and had to flee to Ecuador and later to Peru to sell slaves. In the west, in the province of Antioquia, a federal government was proclaimed independent of the central one. For this, Senator Eisebio Borrero organized a detachment of 800 people and took Medellin . General Thomas Herrera then left for Salamina and encountered the forces of Braulio Henao.

On August 1, 1851, a convoy of national guards clashed with small forces of Mariano Rodriguez, after twenty days of fighting, Rodriguez was captured, other participants in the uprising were also transferred to the central government, and on September 10, General Herrera defeated Borrero in Rionegro . Borrero was exiled to Jamaica . The uprising was crushed.

Liberals in the government have strengthened their positions. Reforms begun in 1850 continued, the adoption of a new Constitution in 1853 . Having lost military operations, the conservatives were forced to bear the losses from liberal reforms.