reat historical importance to the Spanish Empire, the differences in social and economic status between the more liberal area of Azuero, and the much more royalist and conservative area of Veraguas displayed contrasting perspectives. It is, in fact, known that when the Grito de la Villa de Los Santos occurred, Veraguas firmly opposed the motion for independence.
In 1821 the isthmus joined the recently formed Republic of Colombia which consisted of Venezuela, New Granada (present day Colombia) and finally Ecuador, which joined in 1822. The Republic of Colombia (1819-1830) or ‘Gran Colombia’ as it began to be called only after 1886, more or less corresponded in territory to the old colonial administrative district called the Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717-1819). While Panama had also been included in that scheme during the colonial period, for all practical purposes her economic and political ties had been much closer to the Viceroyalty of Peru (1542-1821). Nevertheless, Panama voluntarily joined Bolivar's project and became Department of the Isthmus, under a number of successive governors.
In September 1830, under the guidance of General José Domingo Espinar, the local military commander who rebelled against the nation's central government in response to his being transferred to another command, Panama separated from the Republic of Colombia and requested that general Simón Bolívar take direct command of the isthmus department. This was a condition to its reunification with the rest of the country. Bolívar rejected Espinar's actions, and though he did not assume control of the isthmus he desired, he called for Panama to rejoin the central state. Because of the overall political tension, Republic of Colombia's final days were approaching. Bolívar's vision for territorial unity disintegrated finally when General Juan Eligio Alzuru undertook a military coup against Espinar's authority. By early 1831, with order restored, Panama reincorporated itself to what was left of the republic—a territory now slightly larger than present day Panama and Colombia combined—which by then had adopted the name of Republic of New Granada. The alliance of the two nations would last seventy years and prove precarious.
By July 1831, as the new countries of Venezuela and Ecuador were being established, the isthmus would again declare its independence, now under the same General Alzuru as supreme military commander. Abuses committed by Alzuru's shortlived administration were countered by military forces under the command of Colonel Tomás Herrera, resulting in the defeat and execution of Alzuru in August, and the reestablishment of ties with New Granada.
In November 1840, during a civil war that had begun as a religious conflict, the isthmus under the leadership of, now General, Tomás Herrera, who assumed the title of Superior Civil Chief, declared its independence as did multiple other local authorities. In March 1841, the State of Panama adopted the name 'Estado Libre del Istmo', or the Free State of the Isthmus. The new state established external political and economic ties and by March 1841, had drawn up a constitution which included the possibility for Panama to rejoin New Granada, but only as a federal district. Herrera's title was first changed to Superior Chief of State in March 1841 and in June 1841, to President. By the time the civil conflict ended and the government of New Granada along with the government of the Isthmus had negotiated the Isthmus' reincorporation to the union, Panama's First Republic had been free for 13 months. Reunification occurred on December 31, 1841.
In the 1840s, two decades after the Monroe Doctrine declared the Western Hemisphere to be in the United States sphere of influence, North American and French interests became excited about the prospects of constructing railroads and/or canals through Central America to quicken trans-oceanic travel. At the same time, it was clear that New Granada’s control over the isthmus was turning increasingly untenable. In 1846, the United States and New Granada signed the Bidla