History of Costa Rica
Posted by admin on Nov 10, 2008There is archaeological evidence that allow the experts to place the arrival of the first humans to Costa Rica between 10,000 and 7000 A. C. In the valley of Turrialba sites have been found in areas where quarry and workshop tools were manufactured typical of that era. The residents of this time were nomadic band of about 20 to 30 members of hunter-gatherers. From the development of Mesoamerican cultures, the northwestern part of the country gradually fell under the influence of those, while the rest became part, gradually under what is called Area Intermedia, which had influences from the Chibchas.
In 1502, in his fourth voyage to the New World, the Genovese navigator Christopher Columbus became the first European contact in the area, specifically in what is now known as Isla Uvita, Limon.
During this period, in the sixteenth century, the natives of the country were conquered by the Spaniards. Thus, Costa Rica became then in the southern province of Spanish territory, now called New Spain. The capital of the province was located in the newly founded city of Cartago.
For nearly three centuries, Spain administered the region as part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala under a military governor. With optimism, the Spaniards called the area “Costa Rica” because it had found deposits of gold and other minerals in value in the territory.
In 1821, Costa Rica joined other Central American provinces in the declaration of independence from Spain on Sept. 15. After a brief period, during which joined the Mexican Empire of Agustin de Iturbide, Costa Rica became a state in the United Provinces of Central America between 1823 and 1839. In 1824 the country’s capital was changed to San Jose, but followed a period of rivalry with Carthage or Cartago A few years later the Central American Federation ceased their functions in practice (1838). Costa Rica formally declared, on August 31, 1848, as a Sovereign and Independent Republic, under the command of José María Castro Madriz.
In 1856, under the command of Juan Rafael Mora Porras, the country was threatened by an American adventurer William Walker, who wanted to make the country and the rest of Central America a U.S. colony. However, the country rebelled and defeated the filibusters in a series of battles, including Santa Rosa on March 20, 1856 and Rivas on April 11, 1856, in which the soldier, Juan Santamaria, today national hero, managed to burn the Meson de Guerra, the headquarter of the filibusters.
Since the last years of the nineteenth century, only two periods of violence have marked on its democratic development. In 1917, Federico Tinoco Granados ruled as a dictator two years after a little revolution. In 1948, José Figueres Ferrer led an armed uprising in the due to a fraudulent presidential election. Following this, a board was created founding the Second Republic. The following year, the same Figueres abolished the army, and since then, Costa Rica has been one of the few countries operate under the democratic system without the help of an army.
During this conflict around 2000 people died in the 44 days of the civil war produced for this uprising, the bloodiest in the country’s history in the twentieth century, but the board funded by Figueres established a constitution, guaranteeing free elections with universal suffrage and the end of the armed army. Figueres became a national hero, winning the first election under the new constitution in 1953. Since then, the country has conducted twelve elections, most recently in 2006.
