Towards the end of the century large areas of land were distributed to private owners, very often through corruption or use of violence. In 1850, publicly owned land constituted 75 per cent of the land area. The fight for land has been a common thread through the whole of Colombia’s conflict-ridden history. For the Conservatives, the State and the Church were guarantors for keeping the social order and status quo, and they were strongly against the Liberal’s wishes of modernisation. The liberals wanted a greater degree of federalism, and had the greatest support within trade and crafts. The Conservatives had their foundation in the landowning classes, wanted stronger centralism and was closely linked to the Catholic Church. This reflected a major axis of conflict – the relationship between the periphery and the centre. The traditionally dominating political parties, the Conservative and the Liberal parties, were formed already in the 1840s, long before there were any national political projects from the elite. The elite in Colombia ensured a regional division of power in the country, while the state apparatus remained weak – a rather unfortunate combination and a hallmark for the further development in Colombia. Bolívar’s dream of a federal Latin America quickly crumbled, and Gran Colombia, consisting of Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador was dissolved after Bolívar’s death.
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