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Teaching writing in the Republic of Colombia, 1800–1850

This article examines the enduring importance of handwriting in the early republic of Colombia. Colonial practice informed writing instruction but Colombians re‐established it in national terms from the 1820s onward. Teaching writing became a critical tool of state formation: an ideal republic of virtuous functionaries depended on uniform handwriting. “Colombian penmanship” measured teacher effectiveness and student performance. Annual public school examinations enforced new political authority and social continuity. Writing samples expressed gender values, imagining boys as faithful citizens and hard workers, girls as graceful wives and dutiful daughters. Yet Colombian schools expected both boys and girls to perfect their penmanship to best express the virtues of good marriage, true friendship and lasting loyalty. Research in the Archivo General de la Nación (Bogotá, Colombia) Fondo de Ministerio de la Instrucción Pública forms the basis of this study.