Monagas, José Gregorio (1791–1858)

José Gregorio Monagas (b. 1791; d. 15 July 1858), president of Venezuela (1851–1855). Monagas owed his presidency to his brother, José Tadeo Monagas. In 1848 the latter, a military chief, or caudillo, from eastern Venezuela, seized power from the Conservative coalition headed by José Antonio Páez and put the Liberal Party in power. In 1851, José Gregorio succeeded his brother and ran a basic caretaker government, which, like his brother's, was characterized by widespread corruption.

On 25 March 1854, José Gregorio Monagas achieved a permanent place in Venezuelan history when he emancipated the nation's slaves by a presidential proclamation. That act, like most of his decisions, owed as much to political expediency as anything.

See alsoSlavery: Abolition .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Francisco González Guinán, Historia contemporánea de Venezuela, vols. 5-6 (1954).

John V. Lombardi, Venezuela: The Search for Order, the Dream of Progress (1982).

William D. Marsland and Amy L. Marsland, Venezuela Through Its History (1954).

Guillermo Morón, A History of Venezuela, edited and translated by John Street (1964).

Additional Bibliography

Banko, Catalina. Las luchas federalistas en Venezuela. Caracas, Venezuela: Monte Avila, 1996.

Ferrer, Dilian. Maracaibo durante el gobierno de los Monagas: Relaciones de poder y autonomía, 1848–1858. Maracaibo, Venezuela: Gobernación del Estado Zulia, Secretaría de Gobierno, Acervo Histórico del Estado Zulia: Comisión V Centenario del Lago de Maracaibo, 2000.

Moreno Molina, Agustín. Entre la pobreza y el desorden: El funcionamiento del gobierno en la presidencia de José Gregorio Monagas. Caracas, Venezuela: Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, 2004.

                                         Winthrop R. Wright