La consolidación de la Constitución de 1853: debates y consensos

This paper explores and illustrates the multifaceted engagements and deliberations that took place within the political scenery of the Colombian Constitution of 1853, in order to identify the involved agreements which favored for its construction and consolidation. Primary and secondary sources are used, trying to demonstrate three central assumptions: (I) in the territorial order: the Constitution of 1853 represents the beginning of solidification of a federal system in Colombia, seeking to unify, to grant the independence, and to give a political strength to the provinces of the period, (ii) at the institutional level, it intended to consolidate the State paying special attention to the popular will, while limiting the authority to the president to assume other powers; and finally (iii) the Constitution provided guarantees of civil liberties, such as freedom of press, universal suffrage, and freedom of religion