In the present work, the categories of “history” and “homeland” – or “history of homeland” – are explored in order to propose a notion of public uses of history that allows us to understand the processes through which the past is constructed, taught and represented in civic and educational practices. This study is focused on the period 1810-1814, due to the fact that the basis of the first reflections and public discussions around the meaning of history and homeland in the State of Cartagena – and in the provinces of New Granada, for sure – were settled during this short stage of political transformations. Political Constitutions, Minutes of Independence and political proclamations published in this period, which keep the records of the first meanings of both categories at the beginning of the 19th century, are studied likewise.