History of Colombia

Pedro de Heredia,
Spanish Conquistador

The earliest recorded history of Colombia dates back to about 1499 with the first Spanish conquest. Conquistador Alonso de Ojeda landed at Cabo de la Vela where he encountered the Muisca Confederation. A later expedition in 1533 led by Pedro de Heredia founded the first permanent settlement of Cartagena. The Muisca Confederation was a nation of Amerindians located near what is now the city of Bogota. They had an economy largely based on agriculture and salt mining and would trade with other nearby tribes such as the Inca. The capital of the new colony, Colombia, Bogota, was founded in August of 1538 by Conquistador Jimenéz de Quesáda. The colony's main exports were gold and jewels mined through the forced labor of the Muisca people through the Encomienda system, a precursor to African slavery.

In 1739 the Spanish holdings in the New World were reorganized and the Viceroyalty of New Granada

Map of the 
Viceroyalty of New Granada

was formed to include Colombia and Panama as well as Ecuador and Venezuela, which had previously been under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Bogota became one of Spain’s Colonial administrative centers alongside Lima and Mexico City.

In 1503, Queen Isabella formed the Casa de Concentracion, a government agency whose purpose was to administer and control the finances of New World holdings, Colombia, later New Granada. However, the agency was abolished by King Charles IV in 1790 as a result of Spain's failing war-time economy.

Independence was declared in New Granada in 1811 following the capture of King Ferdinand VII by French forces during the Napoleonic wars. However, a lack of unity among leaders brought the province to a civil war, allowing for easy recapture by the Spanish. Remaining forces led by Fransisco de Paula Santander fled to Venezuela where they were joined by the army under Simon Bolivar. In

Simon Bolivar,
President and dictator
of Gran Colombia
1820-1830

1819, the plans for an independent Colombian Government were settled at the Constitutional Convention in Angostura and Simon Bolivar led the army from Venezuela back into Colombia. Spanish forces officially surrendered at Boyacá on August 7^th and the Republic of Gran Colombia was born with Bolivar as President. While Bolivar was officially the president, most of his time was spent on military campaigns in Peru and most power was held by the regional vice presidents, not until 1821 was the republic finally centralized with Bolivar as the sole President and Santander as Vice-President.

Despite a centralized government, Bolivar continued to personally lead military campaigns in Peru, causing discontent in the northern provinces. Following a rebellion in Venezuela, led by General Jose Antonio Paez, Bolivar reorganized Gran Colombia into four provinces led by General who would have complete authority over civil and military affairs. The republic had fallen and was replaced by a military dictatorship under Bolivar. By 1830, a new constitution would pass, but it would only be observed in Colombia and Panama as Venezuela and Ecuador had succeeded.

The modern territory of Colombia was defined in 1903 following a civil war during which a Panamanian resistance succeeded with the help of the United States Government, with the intention of building a canal across the isthmus. The modern country of Colombia is led by President Duque though a lot of influence in smaller villages is still held by local drug cartels.

References

De Castro, Jose. “Simon Bolivar, El Libertado.” Wikimedia Commons, 13 Mar. 2007, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simon_Bolivar.jpg.

“Map of the Viceroyalty of New Granada.” Wikimedia Commons, 9 July 2007, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viceroyalty_of_New_Granada.png.

“Portrait of the Spanish Conquistador Pedro De Heredia in the Museum Palace of Inquisition, Cartagena, Colombia.” Wikimedia Commons, 23 Dec. 2019, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pedro_de_Heredia,_Spanish_explorer_and_conquistador.jpeg.

VCL list:

1. Colombia

2. Cuba

3. Puerto Rico