Conspiracy as a Political Weapon. The Seditious Plan of August 14, 1833 in Cartagena

Abstract

This article examines the issue of conspiracy in the first half of the nineteenth century in what is now Colombia. In particular, it focuses on the analysis of court records pertaining to the lawsuit against the over fifty persons involved –mostly artisans– in the conspiracy of August 14, 1833 in the city of Cartagena. Although the judicial process highlighted racial motivations, the festive nature of the event, the political affiliation of the defendants and their socio-professional needs inserted the conspiracies within the framework of a factional political struggle, in which the invention or magnification of the conspiracies, based on references shared by the community, were as important as the seditious actions themselves.