Alejandro Galvis Galvis and the Liberal Party in Santander, 1915-1931 A

409 Pages·2014·3.19 MB·English

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

Becoming a Patrician: Alejandro Galvis Galvis and the Liberal Party in Santander, 1915-1931

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Faculty of the
Department of History
School of Arts and Sciences
Of The Catholic University of America
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy

©
Copyright
All Rights Reserved

By

Javier A. Castro

Washington, D.C.

2014
Becoming a Patrician: Alejandro Galvis Galvis and the Liberal Party in Santander, 1915-1931

Javier A. Castro, Ph.D.

Director: Julia Young, Ph.D.

This dissertation examines the early career and intellectual formation of the liberal
Colombian politician Alejandro Galvis Galvis (1891-1981). To do so, it situates his biography
within the context of the long history of economic modernization in the department of Santander.
At the end of the colonial period, Santander was an agricultural society of small farmers and
artisans; over the nineteenth century, the state transitioned to a coffee-growing region dominated
by elite landowners and merchant families who facilitated export-led growth. By the early
twentieth century, increasing industrialization and cyclical collapse of the export market had
created new openings for social and political change.
During the first two decades of his political career, Alejandro Galvis Galvis helped to
transform Santander into a laboratory of reformist ideas. Indeed, Santander was one of the first
regions of Colombia to witness worker movements during the second decade of the twentieth
century. Although he is often portrayed as a privileged and distant oligarch, this study suggests
that Galvis Galvis in fact had a populist approach to politics. As the leader of the liberal party, he
was in close contact with the peasants, workers, and artisans that formed the base of the party in
Santander. This approach would be implemented on a national scale after the Liberal Party took
power in Colombia in 1930, particularly under President Alfonzo Lopez Pumarejo between 1934
and 1938.
The historiography of early twentieth-century Colombian politics has typically focused
on national figures living in Bogotá. By investigating how changing economic circumstances in
the department of Santander forged the ideology and politics of Alejandro Galvis Galvis, this
study demonstrates that regional politics and economics were essential to the national rise of the
Liberal Party in Colombia.
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Dedico este trabajo a la memoria de Alicia Contreras.
Mami, sé que vives en mi. Gracias por seguir amándome….
To Calvin and Diego for making me laugh even when I wanted to cry.

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Tabla de Contenidos

Agradecimientos…………………………………………………………………………………v
Lista de Tablas…………………………………………………………………………………..vii
Lista de
Mapas…………………………………………………………………………………………...viii
Lista de Fotografías………………………………………………………………………………ix
Introducción……………………………………………………………………………………….1
Capitulo 1: Los artesanos de Santander, 1780-1850…………………………………………….45
Capitulo 2: Los comerciantes exportadores de la provincia de Soto,1865-1920………………..96
Capitulo 3: El Club del Comercio y la unificación cultural de la elite de Bucaramanga…….. 159
Capitulo 4: Alejandro Galvis Galvis, 1909-1915: Los años formativos………………………..212
Capitulo 5:El convivialista,1915-1919…………………………………………………………253
Capitulo 6:Los experimentos del liberalismo oligárquico en Santander, 1917-1924…………..292
Anexos………………………………………………………………………………………….359
Bibliografía…………………………………………………………………………………….373

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Acknowledgements

To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us- and He has given
us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace,
for it brings with it immense graces from Him
Thomas Merton

My years in Washington D.C have been an extraordinary journey and for that I am
profoundly grateful. I am aware that I was able to reach this moment only because of the hard
work and love of many. First I must express my gratitude to Dr. James Riley, my mentor and
professor. Thanks Dr. Riley for helping me to mature intellectually and expand my horizons. I
have been very fortunate also to be assisted and guided in the last year by Dr. Julia Young.
Without Dr. Young’s methodical and assertive advice, this would not have been possible. !Dios
los bendiga siempre!
I’ve been especially fortunate to teach at St. Anselm’s Abbey School in Washington D.C.
The monks, fellow teachers, students and parents are in many ways part of my life. I am
particularly indebted to the support and friendship of my colleagues, Dr. Larry Joseph and
Hajnalka Enzel, chair of the modern languages department at St. Anselm’s. Thank you all for the
moments we have shared over the past years. Your friendship is truly an undeserved gift.
Every day of the past seven years I have work at St Anselm’s has been a blessing. Some
of the people that I loved the most and look after for guidance lived in the Abbey. Many thanks
to Fr. Peter, Fr Michael, Abbot Aidan, Br. Matthew and Br. Ignacio. I must acknowledge Fr.
Peter’s determination to support me from the very beginning. It is because of his decision to trust
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and support me when I came to St Anselm’s that I was able to continue my Studies at Catholic
University.
To Mauricio Garcia, Luis Alfonso Segura, Cesar Avellaneda , Alberto Trevissiol , Dora
Tovar, Dominique Van der Mensbruggue my friends in Colombia, Brazil and Italy many thanks.
To my friends, the sisters of Notre Dame of Namur and Ines Bustillo, many thanks.
I have been especially blessed to know Ludy Grandas. Ludy, to you many thanks. But as
much I look to the past with gratitude, I am very grateful for my present. A special thanks to
Calvin Stover for everything he has made possible over the past years, in the words of Aloe
Blacc, “you are the man”.
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Lista de Tablas

Capitulo 1

Cuadro 1. Crecimiento demográfico de Santander en la primera mitad del siglo XIX………….53
Cuadro 2. Cambios demográficos de Santander 1851-1896…………………………..................62
Cuadro 3. Empleo en actividades artesanales y manufactureras, 1870……………….................88

Capítulo 2
Cuadro 1. Compañías comerciales de Bucaramanga 1857-1885……………………………….108
Cuadro 2. Alianzas matrimoniales de los Harker…………………….………………...............112
Cuadro 3. Estructura de la propiedad rural en la provincia de Soto (Bucaramanga, Lebrija y
Matanza) entre 1880-1912……………………………………………………………………...117
Cuadro 4. Producción de café en Colombia según departamentos, en 1874, 1913 y 1943
(en sacos de 60 kilogramos)…………………………………………………………………….134
Cuadro 5. Cotización del café de Colombia en los mercados internacionales 1880-
1882……………………………………………………………………………………………..137
Cuadro 6. Precios del café colombiano en el mercado de Nueva York 1913-1939……………138
Cuadro 7. Costos del transporte del café desde el interior de Colombia a los puertos de
exportación, 1874-1943………………………………………………………………...............139
Cuadro 8. Producción de café en las fincas de Eliseo Serrano-Lebrija, 1916………………….145
Cuadro 9. Dueños de fábricas de cigarros y cigarrillos de Bucaramanga……………………...149
Cuadro 10. Producción de cigarros y cigarrillos de Bucaramanga, 1922-1929………………..150
Cuadro 11. Empleo en actividades artesanales y manufactureras, 1918……………….............152

Capítulo 3

Cuadro 1. Negocios comunes de los principales exportadores de Bucaramanga 1892-
1898……………………………………………………………………………………………..176
Cuadro 2. Alcaldes de Bucaramanga, 1801-1930………………………………………………177
Cuadro 3. Alcaldes de Bucaramanga 1901-1935……………………………………….............183
Cuadro 4. Socios Club del Comercio 1873-1874………………………………………............192
Cuadro 5. Presidencias del Club del Comercio, 1873-1930…………………………………....198
Cuadro 6. Presidentes del Club del Comercio 1910-1930, según partidos, profesión y
cargos…………………………………………………………………………………………...202
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Capítulo 4
Cuadro 1. Escuelas y materias de la Universidad Republicana ………………………………..234

Capitulo 5
Cuadro 1.Padrinos, aliados y cargos de Galvis entre 1913 y 1921……………………………..266
Cuadro 2.Los miembros de la sociedad Jurídica de Santander…………………………………288

Capítulo 6.

Cuadro 1. La confrontación bipartidista en los editoriales de El Debate ……………………...300
Cuadro 2. Resultados Elecciones Santander y Bucaramanga…………………………………..306
Cuadro 3. Listas de candidatos liberales a las elecciones de Asamblea, Concejo y Cámara de
Representantes, 1919…………………………………………………………………………...313
Cuadro 4. Visitantes y viajeros en Vanguardia Liberal, 1922…………………………………318
Cuadro 5. Cifras del censo de 1938 sobre la población urbana y rural…………………….......323
Cuadro 6. Temas en los editoriales de Vanguardia Liberal, septiembre 1919 a septiembre
1920…………………………………………………………………………………………….334
Cuadro 7. Obreros y artesanos en los editoriales de Vanguardia Liberal, 1919……………….338
Cuadro 8. Obreros y artesanos en los editoriales de Vanguardia Liberal, 1920……………….344
Cuadro 9. Obreros y artesanos en los editoriales de Vanguardia Liberal, 1921…………………350
Cuadro 10. Obreros y artesanos en los editoriales de Vanguardia Liberal, 1922……………...351

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