Colombia for the new Republic. Simón Bolívar became the first President of Colombia, and Francisco de Paula Santander was made Vice President. However, the new republic was unstable and three countries emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (New Granada, Ecuador and Venezuela). Colombia was the first constitutional government in South America, and the Liberal and Conservative parties, founded in 1848 and 1849 respectively, are two of the oldest surviving political parties in the Americas. Slavery was abolished in the country in 1851. Internal political and territorial divisions led to the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830. The so-called
Constitutional history of Colombia with enough distrust that in November 1829 they decided to separate from Colombia. They let this be known at the convention of January 1829. Bolivar finally resigned his position during the constitutional convention in January 1830 held in Bogotá (also called "the Admirable Congress"); his health was starting to fail. The Inhabitants of Quito, knowing that Venezuela had separated and that Bolivar was retired, decided to separate as well. Thus The Gran Colombia vanished after 11 years of existence. The displeasure of military and liberal groups was accentuated and General Rafael Urdaneta's dictatorship ensued. Finally in December 1830 Simón Bolivar