Comuneros uprising in New Granada

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The Comuneros uprising in New Granada in South America took place between March and October 1781 .

reasons

In the period from 1740 the population of New Granada, sometimes violently, spoke out against the policy of the Spanish colonial government in the viceroyalty of New Granada. The Bourbon reforms were intended to strengthen the ties between the population of the colonies, which in the meantime exceeded those of the motherland in number, to Spain, to strengthen their dependency, and to increase their tax revenue.

The relatively independent position of the city councils, the Cabildos , should be restricted. This contradicted the development on the North American continent, where the local colonies of England were just gaining independence from the motherland.

Free trade was to be made more difficult by the introduction of export tariffs and punitive tariffs for imports that did not come from the mother country. The beginning industry of New Granada should be hindered by easing the import from Spain. The most effective measure should be to increase sales tax , the alcabala , and to raise taxes on alcohol and tobacco. The levies on a new Armada de Barlovento should also be reintroduced. All of these measures would have diminished the influence and profits of the Creole elite.

Course of the uprising

The uprising began in the city of Socorro on March 16, 1781, led by the merchant Manuela Beltrán and quickly spread throughout the country. There, committees of citizens called El Común were formed at meetings and led the uprisings. Although the uprising was led by the upper class, it was also aimed at the lower classes with the slogans of the unity of the estates. The Creole Juan Francisco Barbero was able to convince between 10,000 and 20,000 rebels to march on the capital of New Granada, Bogotá , in a short time . The insurgents initially defeated the government troops sent against them, but stopped north of the capital. There, in Chía, an agreement was signed with the representatives of the colonial power, but it was declared invalid immediately after the arrival of reinforcements from government troops.

In the following months, the rebellious cities and towns were occupied by troops to enforce the new tax laws. José Antonio Galán continued the resistance with a small group of rebels, but was betrayed and executed in Bogotá in 1782 with some of his colleagues. In 1881, a city in Colombia was renamed Galán in honor of Galán .

The uprising of the Comuneros also hit the cities of Mérida and Timotes , which are now in Venezuela , and was also suppressed there.

literature

  • Mario Aguilera: De los tumultos a la organización des las masas In: Anuario Columbiano de Historia y de la Cultura , No. 1, pp. 89–127, Bogotá 1983.
  • Hans-Joachim König: Little History of Colombia , Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2008 ISBN 978-3-406-56804-6 , pp. 38–43
  • Jane M. Loy: Forgotten Cumuneros: The 1781 Revolt in the Llanos of Casanare , The Hispanic American Historical Review, 61, pp. 235-257
  • Ramona Majka: Die Moderne und die Violencia: On the history of society, conflict and ideology of Colombia , Verlag Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2001 ISBN 3-631-37154-3 : pp. 87-90
  • Carlos E. Muñoz Oraá: Los comuneros de Venezuela , Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela
  • Francisco Posada: El movimiento revolucionario de los Comuneros , Bogotá 1975
  • Franciso J. Trujillo: Galán el Comunero, Camilo el guerillero , Bogotá without year.

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