Precolumbian era
Based on archaeological remains such as El Abra, the current population of the Colombian territory began between the years 11,000 and 20,000 BC The routes of the population were varied as evidenced by the different linguistic families and the diverse cultural development (Paleoindian, archaic, formative). Given its geographical location, the current territory of Colombia constituted a population corridor between Mesoamerica, the Caribbean Sea, the Andes and the Amazon.
The dates given by these last sites correspond to the Paleo Indian period. By the 16th century, the territory was occupied by peoples in various formative states, such as the Arawak, Caribs and Chibchas, the latter with two groups (the Taironas and the Muiscas) that stand out in the upper formative with a high level of civilization..
Spanish colonization
According to Youremailverifier, the Spanish Alonso de Ojeda commanded the explorers who reached the Guajira peninsula in 1499, which constitutes the first contact of Europeans with present-day Colombia.
Eleven years later the Spanish founded Santa María la Antigua del Darién, their first colony on the American continent, and then, after consolidating their dominance in the coastal areas by founding Santa Marta in 1525 and Cartagena de Indias in1533, they began to explore the areas of the interior, where they founded Popayán 1536) and Bogotá 1538.
The Laws of Burgos of 1513 tried in vain to avoid mistreatment of the natives who, after being subjected to slavery by the conquerors, were forced to evangelize. The situation produced numerous indigenous revolts that prevented the pacification of the territory. The repartimiento, the encomienda, and the mining and urban mita were the institutions that forced the indigenous people to pay tribute and forced labor. At the same time, the African slave trade was introduced by the port of Cartagena de Indias in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
During the entire period of the colony, the area was the target of attacks by pirates in the service of the British Crown, which was defeated in 1741, during the Jenkins Ear War, after having perpetrated the siege of Cartagena de Indias. In 1781 the insurrection of the comuneros took place, which was the first manifestation of the Creole identity, when the insurgents marched through the capital to protest against the new taxes of the Spanish and claim their share of the national wealth.
Emancipation and Greater Colombia
Several claims that led to the search for autonomy were raised in important cities of New Granada in 1810, in a movement started by Antonio Nariño who was against Spanish centralism and who promoted the opposition against the viceroyalty. After the independence of Cartagena in November 1811, two independent governments were formed that ended in a civil war, a period that was known as the Boba Homeland. The following year the United Provinces of Nueva Granada were proclaimed, led by Camilo Torres Tenorio. Despite the triumphs of the rebellion, the emergence of two different ideological currents among the emancipators (federalism and centralism) gave rise to an internal confrontation between these two; which contributed to the reconquest of the territory by the Spanish, allowing the restoration of the viceroyalty under the command of Juan de Sámano, whose regime punished those who participated in the uprisings.
This further radicalized the desire for independence among the population, which added to the diminished economic and military situation of Spain, favored the triumph of the Liberation Campaign of New Granada, commanded by Simón Bolívar, who proclaimed definitive independence in 1819. The Realistic resistance was finally defeated in 1822 in the current territory of Colombia and in 1823 throughout the Viceroyalty of the time.
The Congress of Cúcuta in 1821 approved a constitution, whose main objective was to create the Republic of Colombia, today known as Gran Colombia. However, the new republic made up a very unstable union between the current Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama mainly, which culminated in the rupture of Venezuela in 1829, followed by that of Ecuador in 1830.
Twentieth century
Between 1930 and 1946 the Liberal Party took power ruling from a revenge perspective. In 1932, the Colombian-Peruvian War of 1932-1933 was unleashed, the outcome of which guaranteed Colombian participation in the Amazon condominium.
After liberal internal divisions, the conservatives retake the presidential power, but not the majorities in congress. In 1948, with the assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, who had aroused great hopes in the popular sectors, Bogotazo broke out, from which the era of bipartisan violence emerged, a civil war that lasted until the early 1960s.
There were also the self-defense movements of Tolima and the Llanos Orientales, with initiatives such as the Second Law of the Llano, from which the guerrilla leaders who were predominantly liberal preferred to desist. Meanwhile, the government began Colombia’s participation in the Korean War.
The conservatives held the presidency until 1953, when the political class led a coup that gave power to General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla.
Most of the guerrillas, attracted by the government’s peace proposals, surrendered their weapons, but several of their members were later assassinated. An agreement between the liberal and conservative parties ended the dictatorship of Rojas Pinilla, and after a provisional Military Junta the National Front was created as a return to electoral democracy, distributing the alternation of the presidency between these two parties. Although this Front ends bipartisan violence, it closes the doors to other options, which prompts some former liberal guerrillas to create and return to the ELN, M-19 and the FARC.
