Conflicts Between State and Local Elites over Colombian Education, 1820s-1830s

This article examines the conflictive relationship between the Colombian state and local elites as they negotiated the nationwide implementation of primary schools in the 1820s. The central government wanted to create a new republic of citizens (or citizens to be), but it faced the resistance of local elites as it asserted the centralization of teaching methods (specifically monitorialism), tax collection, and curriculum. In the cases of Nemocón and Zipaquirá, indigenous leaders protested the state’s disposal of resguardo lands to benefit schools that their children would not attend. In the case of Mompox, local elites proposed a private charitable association to support the development of schools and, further, the extension of “Catholic and civic” education to orphans, workers, and prisoners. Such complaints and proposals stemmed from local perceptions of the most pressing need and most advantageous employment of community funds. The central government disagreed and limited severely the ability of local leaders to direct community treasuries beyond the prescriptions of the state.