Colombia's Independence: July 20, 1810 (Not "Columbia")

First, the spelling: **Colombia** (with an 'o') — the South American nation. **Columbia** is a poetic/historical name for the Americas, a U.S. capital (SC), a university, a river, a space shuttle—but not a country.

Colombia's Independence

Date: **July 20, 1810**
Event: **Cry of Independence** (*Grito de Independencia*) in **Santafé de Bogotá** (then capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada).

What Happened

• Creole leaders (José Acevedo, Camilo Torres, Antonio Nariño) used a pretext—a refused flower vase loan from Spanish merchant José González Llorente—to spark a **cabildo abierto** (open town meeting).
• Declared **autonomy** under Ferdinand VII (not yet full independence).
• Formed **Junta Suprema** — first self-government.

Full Independence: A Decade of War

• 1810–1816: **Patria Boba** ("Foolish Fatherland") — civil war between centralists & federalists.
• 1816–1819: **Reconquista** — Spanish General Morillo brutally reasserts control.
• 1819: **Battle of Boyacá** (Aug 7) — Bolívar's victory; New Granada liberated.
• 1819: **Republic of Colombia (Gran Colombia)** proclaimed (Dec 17) — Venezuela, New Granada, Ecuador.
• 1830: Gran Colombia dissolves → **Republic of New Granada** → **United States of Colombia** (1863) → **Republic of Colombia** (1886).

National Holiday

**July 20** — *Día de la Independencia*. Military parades, *tejo*, *bandeja paisa*, *vallenato*, flags everywhere.

So: **Colombia**, July 20, 1810. The 'o' matters.