page_title: Regeneration (Colombia)
section_title: Colombian Constitution of 1886
hierarchical_section_title: Regeneration (Colombia) / Colombian Constitution of 1886
caption_attribution_description: Colombian constitution of 1886 cover
context_page_description: The Regeneration was a political movement that emerged in Colombia in the late second half of the 19th century, led by Rafael Núñez. Its goal was to reverse the social and legal implications of the Radical Olympus era of the 1863 Constitution of Rionegro which established the United States of Colombia, made the country a federal republic and enforced the separation of church and state. The motto of Regeneration was "one nation, one goal, one god".
  The movement was mainly constituted by members of the Conservative Party and the moderate faction of the Liberal Party and opposed the then in office, Radical Liberals. After the civil war of 1876, President Aquileo Parra was the last leader of the so-called "Olimpo Radical era". Parra was followed by General Julián Trujillo, who in 1878 had won the support of the moderate faction of the liberal party. At the moment, Núñez was the leader of the majority of congress in his address in the inauguration of Trujillo on April 1, 1878, he stated: «We have arrived at the point in which we are confronting this very dilemma: a fundamental administrative Regeneration or catastrophe».
context_section_description: Signed on August 5, 1886, the Constitution of 1886 was the greatest achievement of Regneration. But because its final written document did not reflect the democratic leanings of Núñez but instead the more authoritarian thesis of vice president Miguel Antonio Caro, Núñez retreated from the presidency in April, so he would not have to sign it. Instead, José María Campo Serrano had to put it into effect.
  Regeneration established the basis for the return of a protectionist state, in which the central government, was again endowed with the powers enumerated within the 1863 Constitution of Rionegro. The government became responsible for import and export policy as well as monetary policy with the creation of the National Bank in 1880 (A precursor of the Bank of the Republic) and the fixation of tariffs and revenue. With the National Bank, the financial bourgeoisie loss control of borrowing and usury and many were at a financial loss with the change from the Gold Standard to paper money fiat currency based system.
  Administratively, in the new Constitution, States (Estados) were renamed Departments (Departamentos) and less developed units were renamed Intendencias and Comisarías, all ruled from the capital, Bogotá, with governors, mayors and Intendentes appointed by the President, turning the federal system into a centralist unitary regime. The Presidential term became six years and the power of the executive was increased making the president an almost absolutist monarch. The death penalty was reinstated and sustained until the Constitutional Reform of 1910.
caption: Cover of the Constitution of 1886
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