Gran Columbia is a name used for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and Central America from 1819 to 1831. The short-lived republic was comprised of what is known today as Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, Northern Peru, and Northwest Brazil. It came about as a result of breaking free from the Spanish colonial empire.
On this day September 7th, in 1821, The Republic of Gran Colombia was established, electing Simon Bolivar as President and Francisco de Paula Santander as Vice President.
At this time, voting rights were given to persons who owned 100 Pesos in land property or had an equivalent income from a profession. All elections were held indirectly, meaning that voters do not choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make decisions for them. This is similar to Greek’s republic, where the citizen only chooses who will make the choices. A democratic republic, like the U.S., is a mixture of the two with votes going to the people – democratic, yet also having many laws and decisions made by the republic – senate & congress.