Federalism as a problem of political organization in Colombia during the nineteenth century based on the situation of the Sovereign State of Tolima, taking into account the methodological postulates of Gilmore, Borja and Park authors who worked on the subject in their classic texts about history from Colombia. In addition to the methodological determinant, the political and economic situation of the state of Tolima is examined to demonstrate the main failures of the federal political system within the construction and consolidation of a stable territory with a strong economy that would grant fiscal benefits to the grouped territories. the nineteenth century is unsatisfactorily concluded with the end of the period of the federal states and the creation of centralized departments and a new type of nation in the Republic of Colombia.