The South American Republics, Part 2 of 2Dawson, Thomas Cleland
History
The South American Republics, Part 2 of 2
Dawson, Thomas Cleland
South America -- History
Peace was followed by a general amnesty, because the victorious
liberals dared not proceed to extremities against their adversaries.
Trujillo was installed as president without opposition, and the harried
country recovered somewhat from the exertions and disasters of the
terrible year of 1876. The finances were, however, in horrible disorder;
expenses amounted to enormous figures; the deficits became greater than
the total revenues; interest on the public debt, which had been
regularly kept up since 1873, was indefinitely suspended. Disturbances
soon began to break out again, and the national guard deposed the
governors of Cauca and Magdalena. The president showed an inclination
toward centralisation; he formed alliances with state governors,
encouraged them to prolong their terms, and systematically fostered
divisions in the liberal party. Trujillo was succeeded by Nunez,
nominally a liberal, but who at heart had also sickened of the
federalistic system and was looking for an opportunity to strengthen
presidential prerogatives. The Constitution stood during his first term
and those of his two successors, but when he was re-elected in 1884 the
policy which he followed soon caused him to be denounced by the liberals
as a traitor to the Constitution.
The failure of a liberal insurrection in 1885 was followed by a complete
unitarian and clerical reaction. In 1886 a new Constitution was adopted
which substituted a consolidated republic for the loose confederation.
The country's name was changed from the "United States of Colombia" to
"Republic of Colombia" in order to express the dominating principle of
the new regime. The sovereignty of the individual states was expressly
denied in the document, and the two most refractory ones--Panama and
Cundinamarca--temporarily reduced to territorial dependencies. The
governors were named from Bogota instead of being elected and the right
of federal intervention re-affirmed. Suffrage was limited by an
educational and property qualification; the clergy were admitted to
participation in politics; the Roman Catholic was declared to be the
national religion, although individual freedom of worship was permitted;
the presidential term was extended to six years; and an attempt was made
to insure judicial independence by a life tenure.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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