History

Colombia has an interesting history, dating back hundreds of years and going through many wars and battles. The story starts with the Pre-Conquest period, with the indigenous groups living on the land. These included a profusion of advanced groups living primarily in the western mountainous parts of Colombia, the most prominent group known as the Chibcha. European exploration began in the early 1500’s with Francisco Pizarro, who started the conquest, beginning in 1525. The Colonial period was opened in 1549 when the Audiencia of Santafé de Bogotá was established. This lasted from 1549-1740. Right after the initial colonization, the population of Colombia decreased significantly with the spread of European diseases. Shortly, the Viceroyalty of New Granada began. New Granada was the colony that included present day Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panama (after 1751). In the following years, the New Granadian Crown introduced new political and economic measures to strengthen and reorganize the empire. Due to this, population and trade increased. Additionally, multiple freedom and trade movements began in 1808. These began the Revolution and Independence period. It began with the French Invasion of Spain. With the French came King Ferdinand VII, who sought to rule Gran Colombia. He led declarations of independence from Spain, and began a war. Eventually, the Colombians won on July 20th 1810. This is now known as the independence day in Colombia, though they didn’t formally declare independence until 1811. The independence led to United Provinces, established by Spanish reconquest in 1814. It lasted until 1816, when a Venezuelan activist named Símon Bolivar came along. He wanted to help free Colombia from the remaining French and Spanish colonies On August 7, 1819, he successfully defeated the Spanish forces. The defeat constituted The Congress of Angostura. Since Colombia wasn't under any French or Spanish influence anymore, new foundations were established and the Republic of Colombia was born. Venezuela and Ecuador seceded from Colombia in 1835. Colombia ended its significant relationship with the Catholic Church, and by 1863 there was freedom to practice any religion. Shortly after, in 1899, a huge civil war broke out. This lasted until 1903, and was named the War of a Thousand Days. Unfortunately, this also led to the loss of Panama. Thankfully, this was not only unproductive. The war led to a surge of coffee production, and by 1905, internal development was up tremendously, with coffee exports going up almost 10%. Colombia’s economy only continued to grow, leading into the current century. In 2000, the United States signed a (quite controversial) aid program with Colombia. They mainly supplied military assistance to help reduce cocaine trade into the US. Fortunately, this substantially reduced drug trafficking, as well as kidnapping and manslaughter. Unfortunately, Colombia’s new alliance with the US also led to a “war” with Venezuela. This went on for a while, until in August 2015 when Venezuela closed its borders with Colombia. This all has led up to the country of Colombia that we now know, a country with tangled and interesting history, and much more to come.