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Effects of spanish colonization on modern latin america
Spanish conquest in Latin America
Colombia: History, Today, and Tomorrow
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Colombian Independence Movements
A series of independence movements had marked most of South America, or “Nueva Granada” in particular during the vast time period of the early 16th century up until the late 18th century – early 19th century. An introduction of the time period which dates back to the late 15th century, illustrates how the Southern portion of the now Colombia had become a part of the Incan Empire whose central base had been located deep into Peru. Only the enlightened historians and those that have done thorough research of the time period have noted the existence concerning the various Indian tribes that roamed freely throughout portions of the land much before the emergence of the Spaniards into the territory.
Beginning in the early 16th century, we begin to see the arrival of a substantial number of Spaniards throughout several portions of New Granada (Nueva Granada in Spanish). One must also take into account that Colombia was not the only country in New Granada:
• Ecuador
• Panama In addition to Colombia, these three counties formed
• Venezuela what had been referred to then as New Granada.
The first permanent settlement on the European mainland, Darien, had been found and conquered by the Spaniards in 1510. This had marked the surfacing of the Spaniards across South American lines as many more were to follow. An additional notable conquering had occurred when Pascual de Andagoya had reached the San Juan River in 1522. The term New Granada itself had not been instituted until the actual foundation of the colony in 1538; it had remained as New Granada up until 1861 which was when it was called the United States of Granada as a result of the rewriting of the constitution.
Moving ahead in time periods until the early 18th century, Bogotá (the present capital of Colombia), became the capital of the new Spanish Viceroyalty of Nueva (New) Granada, which also ruled over Ecuador and Venezuela.
While studying the independence movements of Colombia, many historians have also noted that the Indians initially tolerated the influx of the Spaniards but rebelled when the colonists tried to enslave them and take possession of their lands. Almost immediately, a large part of what became Colombia had been conquered by the Spanish, and a number of towns, including Cartagena (founded in 1533), were prospering. In 1544, the country was incorporated into the viceroyalty of Peru, where it remained until 1739 when it became a part of New Granada (comprising the territories of what are today Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama, as previously stated).
One question posed by the authors is “How did Columbus’s relationship with the Spanish crown change over time, and why?” In simple terms, Columbus’s relationship with the
C. W. Hackett, ed., Historical Documents relating to New Mexico, Nueva Vizcaya, and Approaches Thereto, to 1773, vol. III (Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1937), 327-35.
The year 1492 is important in many ways. After centuries of fighting the Muslims, Jews, and Moors were finally expelled out of Granada, the last strong hold of other religions in Spain. Christianity once again reigned in Spain. This led monarchy to fortify their homeland and start looking for new land to monopolize and colonize on in Asia. This is why they called the Western part of South America New Granada.
Bartolomé de Las Casas was born in 1484 AD in Seville and died in 1566 in Madrid. In the ending of the 15th century and the beginning of 16th, he came to America and become a “protector of Indian”. In 1542, most based on his effort, Spain has passed the New Law, which prohibit slaving Indians (Foner, p. 7). In 1552, he published the book A Short Account of the Destruction of The Indies.
The Andes had a legacy of resistance that was unseen in other Spanish occupied place during the colonial period. There were rebellions of various kinds as a continued resistance to conquest. In the “Letters of Insurrection”, an anthology of letters written amongst the indigenous Andean people, between January and March 1781 in what is now known as Bolivia, a statement is made about the power of community-based rebellion. The Letters of Insurrection displays effects of colonization and how the “lesser-known” revolutionaries that lived in reducción towns played a role in weakening colonial powers and creating a place of identification for indigenous people.
Two conflicts during this time are seen as significant towards this battle between the interests of the Natives in the Americas. One of which was between two men: Bartolomé Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. Las Casas defends t...
Colombia emerged from the collapse of the Gran Colombia in 1830. Since then the country has struggled with internal threats, illicit drug production, and estranged relations with neighboring nations. In a country slightly less than twice the size of Texas and claiming over 46,000,000 citizens, Colombia faces many challenges in its efforts to resolve internal conflict, reduce narcotics operations, improve the environment, and repair relationships in the region.
Colombia’s history has had many episodes of violence ever since it won its independence from Spain in 1819. After independence, the people of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru, western Guyana, and northwest Brazil united to form a single nation called Gran Colombia. Simon Bolivar became this new republic’s first president. However, Gran Colombia would not last for long. Its leaders would become divided on how the new republic should be governed. Some of its leaders would favor a strong centralized government whereas others would prefer a federal form of government. Liberal and conservative views would divide the country. Finally, in 1831, Gran Colombia would divide into the nations that originally formed it
As we know, Puerto Rico was a colony of Spain "found" by Christopher Columbus on November 19, 1493, and remained a colony of Spain for the next 400 years. But the interesting fact remains that Puerto Rico was not truly settled by the Spaniards until almost fifteen years later! In 1508, Juan Ponce de Leon came to settle the land of Borinken, and founded the town of Caparra. This was the start of a proud people that would eventually become known as Puerto Ricans.
The Spaniards arrived at the Americas prior to the English. The Spanish mainly wanted to explore in the first place because after the Black Death, the population increased, and thus, so did the frequency of commerce. There was a sudden new interest in new products and the new strong monarchs who sponsored the journeys wanted to be more affluent. Therefore, explorers such as Christopher Columbus attempted to go west to target Asia. However, he ended up on Cuba and called the natives Indians. The Spanish soon started to consider the Americas less of a blockage and could now see it as a source of resources. In 1518, Cortes arrived into Mexico with his group of conquistadors, or conquerors, which is a proper name because the men after gold exterminated native areas using their military skills, brutality and greed to turn the Southern America into a vast Spanish empire. The smallpox the Spanish unknowingly carried also helped wipe many people out. When they saw the religious ceremonies of the Aztecs that produced many skulls, they thought of these people as savages and not entirely human. This of coarse was quite hypocritical because the Spanish have killed before during the Inquisition for their faith. It was this contempt that made them think it was all right to slaughter the natives. Spanish colonies were established when conquistadors had gotten a license to finance the expedition from the crown to fixture encomiendas. These encomiendas were basically Indian villages that became a source of labor. The Spanish dreamed of becoming wealthier from South America, but they also wanted a profitable agricultural economy and to spread their Catholic religion (the Pueblo Indians converted to Christianity), which became very important in the 1540s.
Latin American Independence was the drive for independence from Spain and France by the Latin American people. There were many contributing factors that ultimately led to the uprising of Latin American colonies. Europe's strong hold on the economic and political life of Latin America, was creating friction between the Latin Colonies and the European nations. Eventually, this would become enough for the Latin American people and the drive for independence from France and Spain would begin.
Fast track to the 1800’s when we see many problems result from important happenings such as the peninsular war, which occurred from 1807-1814, the Spanish American wars of independence where Spain lost a significant amount of its colonies in the Americas in early 19th century. But lastly three Carlist wars that dated from 1832 all the way to 1876 had effect a new interpretation of Spain’...
Rock, D. (1987). Argentina, 1516-1987: From Spanish Colonization to Alphonsín. Berkley: University of California Press.
The country of Colombia inhabitants have long settled the country long before the Spaniards arrived. In 1510, the Spaniards founded the first permanent European settlement in the American mainland. Latter in the year of 1538 they established the colony of New Grenada that consisted of the following countries: Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. These counties formed this region for the next 300 plus years. During this time, there was a 14-year struggle that led to the independence in the year 1824. At this time, Colombia was part of the Greater Republic of Colombia until 1830. During the following years, the Greater Republic of Colombia saw plenty of conflicts between its political parties that eventually lead to civil war. After the civil war was over, the greater Colombia had different tittles that included United States of New Grenada; the United States of Colombia; and it held the title of the Republic of Colombia until 1903. Prior to this though, there was a brutal civil war that broke out and it was known as...