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Welcome, you are in Marca País
Welcome, you are in Marca País
This is how Colombia's Independence was
A vase was the trigger that unleashed Colombia's cry for independence on July 20, 1810.
After more than three centuries of conquest and colonization by the Spanish Empire, the independence movement began to spread across the Americas. In what was then known as the New Kingdom of Granada, discontent manifested with the Comuneros Rebellion and was preceded by Antonio Nariño’s translation and dissemination of the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
Summary of the Events of July 20, 1810
But it was a symbolic act surrounding the borrowing of a flower vase that triggered the uprising of the people of Santafé and sparked the liberation campaign. The Creoles sought independence from the Spanish Crown and on July 20, 1810, they planned to provoke a popular revolt in which the citizens would express their grievances against Spanish rule.
It was a Friday, market day, and the main square was full of people. At noon, Luis de Rubio went to the house of the Spaniard José González Llorente to borrow a vase to decorate Antonio Villavicencio’s table. Llorente’s expected refusal allowed Francisco José de Caldas and Antonio Morales to step in and immediately alert the people about the Spaniard’s (or “chapetón” as they were called) insult to the American people.
Although Llorente denied the incident and didn’t truly offend anyone, the diverse crowd in the main square turned against the viceregal authorities, sparking a revolution that led to the signing of the Act of Independence of Santafé, led by the newly formed Governing Board.
Although it was neither the only nor the most decisive revolution, it is considered the official date of independence because it marked the beginning of intense struggles for freedom from Spanish rule.
It was the declaration of complete independence that would ultimately be achieved under the leadership of Simón Bolívar through a campaign that began in May 1818 in Venezuela and ended with the Battle of Boyacá on August 7, 1819. This led to the Angostura Congress and the birth of the Republic of Colombia.
Where to Relive Colombia's Independence History?
Casa del Florero Museum – Colombia's Independence
Located on the corner of Bogotá’s Plaza de Bolívar (Carrera 7 No. 11 - 28), the Museum of Independence – Casa del Florero is the epicenter of Colombian emancipation history. There, visitors can see the base of the original flower vase that sparked the events of July 20.
The National Museum in Bogotá houses a number of important permanent, temporary, and traveling exhibitions that portray the independence era. It is located at Carrera 7 No. 28 - 66.
The Puente de Boyacá, located in the historic Campo de Boyacá complex near the city of Tunja, is a monument declared a Cultural Heritage Site at the very place where the battle that secured Colombia's independence took place.
Learn more about Colombia’s path to independence and relive countless stories of freedom in the Colombian museums.
When Was Colombia’s Independence?
A flower vase was the spark that ignited Colombia’s cry for independence on July 20, 1810. After more than three centuries under the rule of the Spanish Empire, the movement for freedom spread throughout the Americas.
What Is the Independence of Colombia?
The Independence of Colombia was the process that marked the end of the Spanish Empire’s rule over what is now Colombian territory. This process unfolded through a conflict between 1810 and 1819 to liberate the lands that were then part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
In What Year Was Colombia’s Independence?
It has been 211 years since the signing of the Act of the Revolution in 1810. July 20 is celebrated as Colombia’s Independence Day, a date officially declared by the Congress of the United States of Colombia as the anniversary of the national proclamation of independence.
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