Independence was achieved without bloodshed and with the participation of the most prominent men of the country, who through their financial contributions neutralized the Spanish army that guarded the Isthmus.

Panama's independence movement began on November 10, 1821 with the independence of the Villa de Los Santos [es] led by Segundo Villarreal; eighteen days later, on November 28, after the patriot victory at the Battle of Carabobo, there was emancipation from the Spanish Empire and Panama's decision to voluntarily join Gran Colombia was officially proclaimed.

[1] Several factors influenced the final decision to join Panama to Gran Colombia, instead of Peru, its main trading partner during the Spanish colonial era.

[2] Up until this point, Panama had remained within the Spanish monarchy and had avoided the troubles afflicting the rest of the Viceroyalty of New Granada.

The Isthmus was characterized by a strong tendency towards autonomism, as an early antecedent we have the tenacious opposition of its political class, against the adoption of the Bolivian constitution that was intended to be implemented in Gran Colombia, despite all the efforts of the special envoy of Simón Bolívar and the pressure exerted by the intendant and military chief in the Isthmus.

But the movement was suffocated and its leaders executed on August 29 of that year by orders of General Tomás de Herrera.