“La teoría i la realidad": The Democratic Society of Artisans of Bogotá, 1847-1854

Abstract

I N late 1851, the artisan Cruz Ballesteros bitterly criticized members of the Colombian Liberal party in a scathing leaflet entitled La teoria i la realidad. Ballesteros complained that the Democratic Society of Artisans had been manipulated by Liberals to secure that party's rise to power. The society had temporarily set aside its objective of working for the common interests of Bogota's skilled laborers in order to pursue Liberal political victories, for which Liberals had pledged to reward the society by advancing its causes. Ballesteros, a carpenter, alleged that rather than fostering artisan industry and democratic government, Liberals had exploited the artisans' organizational strength, ignored their pleas for tariff protection, and denied them legitimate political participation.' In his outburst, Ballesteros echoed the sentiments of Ambrosio Lopez, who earlier in the year had charged that artisans had lost control of the society to the red serpents of the Liberal party, leaving craftsmen no choice but to leave the organization to struggle for their own interests.2 These sentiments are at odds with some later scholarly interpretations on the Democratic Society and seem, on the surface, to support conclusions reached by Conservatives in the 185os. Writers such as Venancio Ortiz had then argued that red liberals had misled loyal artisans with