Intro
(Hi guys! Happy Colombian independence day. I've been working on this timeline for literally years, so I'm glad to finally post it here! Just FYI, this first chapter deals with Colombia, but the POD is actually in the United States, and a lot earlier. We'll get there in due time! I'll be glad to answer any questions, comments or concerns )
My dear Friend Francisco de Miranda:
I have been proven wrong by you and the glorious lights of the Emperor Bonaparte, as much of a self-centred fool he is. In the greatness of his coronation I saw not only the usual attire of the traditional King, the pleasantries to please the hereditary aristocracy, but also the trappings of a new, Civilised World, one that puts the People over the Old Order, one that establishes the most Noble principles that the Enlightenment has taught us. I saw an Emperor of the French People, not an Emperor of the French Regime.
The people are often easily deceived and convinced by the trappings of popular democracy, I have agreed to that much before. And it’s clear that an indirect republican form of government has its own issues; we have seen that up North with the Jeffersonian folly, and here with the Reign of Terror of Robespierre. No, the best way to protect the Unalienable Rights of All Men is clearly in the way of the Constitutional Empire. The Napoleonic Model is to be emulated as the best protector of stability and republicanism.
I have seen the light your letters had tried to show me in regards to the follies of elected leaders.
-Written by Simón Bolivar, dated 1804, during his stay in Paris.
Francisco de Miranda (left) and Napoleon Bonaparte (right) were two fundamental figures in shaping the thinking of Simón Bolívar, Colombia's first emperor.
I understand how many amongst the Enlightened Classes of the White Creole, born to be free and dignified above this here their American land, might see an Imperial form of government for our free and fair Colombia to be counterproductive, or even treasonous. Santander and the Federalist are amongst those who would rather die in the Perfidious Anarchy of Ochlocracy rather than give up their Freedoms to elect a Head of State. They'd rather have Anarchy than limited Freedom, rather return to the age of the Foolish Fatherland[1] than establish a single pretence of Order.
What Santander and his mob do not understand, what they never have understood, is that Colombia is much like those lands up to the North, only now getting out of their Internecine Conflict. Us Colombians have been subject to a triple yoke of Ignorance, Tyranny and Vice from which the English colonists were spared. The English tried to free their republic in establishment of three Core Beliefs and limit their government to the protection of these Beliefs. They are still trying to uphold that Noble Model that seems most optimistic, but have failed once, and will likely fail again. A Colombia republic in this model would just go the way of Venezuela’s First Republic, and the United Provinces of New Granada. The heterogeneous spirit of the Free Creole will not survive under a Pure Republic, which would just decay into pure mob rule.
All these points were made to me by our brother and Liberator José de San Martín, who met with me in this Fair City. On the face of instability and regionalism, our fair Colombian state needs someone above Politics. To unify our free American Nations into a Perfect and Perpetual Federation, San Martín and I have declared to establish an Empire, and to pool our forces to overthrow the villainous royalists that still reside upon the Upper Perú.
-addressed from Simón Bolívar to Antonio José de Sucre in July 26, 1822-
With Freedom more or less Certain after the end of Canternac’s forces in Junín[2], we must now turn our focus to the Unification of our Federation. the Colombian Empire, despite the monarchy, should be established in the principles of our popular allies in France; Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. There is no doubt that this Free State should be democratic for society.
Despite San Martín’s beliefs, it is clear from experiences in your Free State, which I hope will integrate into Colombia, that no European Prince will want to come to rule over the Continent. It is probably for the best; a switch from an European King to another European King might be too much for the Liberals to handle. It might be better to have a Creole Emperor as Yourself.
Your two Delegates (amongst them your son Agustín Jerónimo) have attended to our Anfictionic Congress[3] and will return to the City of Mexico so that your Congress might ratify our Treaty of Union, Alliance and Perpetual Confederation. I sincerely wish that we Free Creoles band together in front of the threat of the return of our former Tyrants of Spain (which still reside in the unliberated lands of Cuba and Porto Rico) and the attacks from our English Brethren, Brazil and England itself.
-Addressed from Simón Bolívar to Emperor Agustín de Iturbide of Mexico, 1824-
---
[1] The Foolish Fatherland is how the Colombian public adresses the first six years of the country's history, from its independence in 1810 until the Reconquista in 1816, in which the newly-freed Colombian patriots were mired in a civil war that didn't allow them fighting against the Spanish monarchy. Modern historiography, of course, contends that the situation is a lot more complicated. Things will also get a bit more complicated in this TL!
[2] The biggest leap in this timeline, in my opinion, is the butterfly net that allows Latin American independence to go more or less unchanged from OTL history until 1824, when all of America has been freed from Spanish rule. This timeline will once or twice require small suspensions of disbelief, but I don't think they're particularly large.
[3] Bolivar was really big on Greco-Roman imagery and named his Congress of Panamá the Anfictionic Congress, looking to create a new Anfictionic League of American countries mostly joined by common defense. The essential point of this timeline is this essentially being accomplished.
Simón Bolívar’s Letter of Paris
My dear Friend Francisco de Miranda:
I have been proven wrong by you and the glorious lights of the Emperor Bonaparte, as much of a self-centred fool he is. In the greatness of his coronation I saw not only the usual attire of the traditional King, the pleasantries to please the hereditary aristocracy, but also the trappings of a new, Civilised World, one that puts the People over the Old Order, one that establishes the most Noble principles that the Enlightenment has taught us. I saw an Emperor of the French People, not an Emperor of the French Regime.
The people are often easily deceived and convinced by the trappings of popular democracy, I have agreed to that much before. And it’s clear that an indirect republican form of government has its own issues; we have seen that up North with the Jeffersonian folly, and here with the Reign of Terror of Robespierre. No, the best way to protect the Unalienable Rights of All Men is clearly in the way of the Constitutional Empire. The Napoleonic Model is to be emulated as the best protector of stability and republicanism.
I have seen the light your letters had tried to show me in regards to the follies of elected leaders.
-Written by Simón Bolivar, dated 1804, during his stay in Paris.
Francisco de Miranda (left) and Napoleon Bonaparte (right) were two fundamental figures in shaping the thinking of Simón Bolívar, Colombia's first emperor.
Simón Bolívar’s Letter of Guayaquil
I understand how many amongst the Enlightened Classes of the White Creole, born to be free and dignified above this here their American land, might see an Imperial form of government for our free and fair Colombia to be counterproductive, or even treasonous. Santander and the Federalist are amongst those who would rather die in the Perfidious Anarchy of Ochlocracy rather than give up their Freedoms to elect a Head of State. They'd rather have Anarchy than limited Freedom, rather return to the age of the Foolish Fatherland[1] than establish a single pretence of Order.
What Santander and his mob do not understand, what they never have understood, is that Colombia is much like those lands up to the North, only now getting out of their Internecine Conflict. Us Colombians have been subject to a triple yoke of Ignorance, Tyranny and Vice from which the English colonists were spared. The English tried to free their republic in establishment of three Core Beliefs and limit their government to the protection of these Beliefs. They are still trying to uphold that Noble Model that seems most optimistic, but have failed once, and will likely fail again. A Colombia republic in this model would just go the way of Venezuela’s First Republic, and the United Provinces of New Granada. The heterogeneous spirit of the Free Creole will not survive under a Pure Republic, which would just decay into pure mob rule.
All these points were made to me by our brother and Liberator José de San Martín, who met with me in this Fair City. On the face of instability and regionalism, our fair Colombian state needs someone above Politics. To unify our free American Nations into a Perfect and Perpetual Federation, San Martín and I have declared to establish an Empire, and to pool our forces to overthrow the villainous royalists that still reside upon the Upper Perú.
-addressed from Simón Bolívar to Antonio José de Sucre in July 26, 1822-
Simón Bolívar’s Letter of Panama
With Freedom more or less Certain after the end of Canternac’s forces in Junín[2], we must now turn our focus to the Unification of our Federation. the Colombian Empire, despite the monarchy, should be established in the principles of our popular allies in France; Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. There is no doubt that this Free State should be democratic for society.
Despite San Martín’s beliefs, it is clear from experiences in your Free State, which I hope will integrate into Colombia, that no European Prince will want to come to rule over the Continent. It is probably for the best; a switch from an European King to another European King might be too much for the Liberals to handle. It might be better to have a Creole Emperor as Yourself.
Your two Delegates (amongst them your son Agustín Jerónimo) have attended to our Anfictionic Congress[3] and will return to the City of Mexico so that your Congress might ratify our Treaty of Union, Alliance and Perpetual Confederation. I sincerely wish that we Free Creoles band together in front of the threat of the return of our former Tyrants of Spain (which still reside in the unliberated lands of Cuba and Porto Rico) and the attacks from our English Brethren, Brazil and England itself.
-Addressed from Simón Bolívar to Emperor Agustín de Iturbide of Mexico, 1824-
---
[1] The Foolish Fatherland is how the Colombian public adresses the first six years of the country's history, from its independence in 1810 until the Reconquista in 1816, in which the newly-freed Colombian patriots were mired in a civil war that didn't allow them fighting against the Spanish monarchy. Modern historiography, of course, contends that the situation is a lot more complicated. Things will also get a bit more complicated in this TL!
[2] The biggest leap in this timeline, in my opinion, is the butterfly net that allows Latin American independence to go more or less unchanged from OTL history until 1824, when all of America has been freed from Spanish rule. This timeline will once or twice require small suspensions of disbelief, but I don't think they're particularly large.
[3] Bolivar was really big on Greco-Roman imagery and named his Congress of Panamá the Anfictionic Congress, looking to create a new Anfictionic League of American countries mostly joined by common defense. The essential point of this timeline is this essentially being accomplished.