Central America Essay Research Paper CENTRAL AMERICA

Central America Essay, Research Paper

CENTRAL AMERICA At the time of the discovery of Central America by Christopher Columbus in 1502, highly civilized Maya and Nahua Indians inhabited the westernmost part of the isthmus. The impressive ruins of Tikal in Guatemala, Copan in Honduras, and Tazumal in El Salvador are relics of that civilization. Panama and most of Costa Rica were occupied by less civilized societies that shared cultural characteristics with the Indians of northern South America. Within 25 years of the discovery of Central America the Spanish had essentially completed their conquest. Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean in 1513. Exploring along the Pacific coast north and west of Panama in 1522, Gil Gonzalez Davila ventured into Costa Rica and Nicaragua. During 1524 Pedro de Alvarado defeated the Quiche, Cakchiquel, and Mam peoples in battle and seized their respective Guatemalan strongholds of Utatlan, Iximche, and Zacaleu. Shortly thereafter Hernando Cortez marched southeastward from Mexico into Guatemala and Honduras. Following various shifts in administrative borders, in 1570 the Spanish reestablished the Captaincy-General of Guatemala, whose authority extended from the province of Chiapas in southern Mexico eastward to the province of Costa Rica. These borders remained intact until after 1821 when Chiapas and Soconusco were stripped away from Central America and annexed to Mexico. Panama, initially included in the Viceroyalty of Peru, came under the control of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1718 and was ruled from Colombia. As early as the 16th century the Spanish were required to relocate and fortify Caribbean port settlements because of repeated attacks by English, French, and Dutch privateers. The English established holdings along the Caribbean shoreline between the Yucatan and Nicaragua that initially were devoted to the cutting of logwood from which dyes were produced, and later to the lumbering of mahogany. Rebellious Caribs, transported by the English from St. Vincent, in the West Indies, to Caribbean shoreline settlements in 1797, remained a major element of the local population. The only part of the coast over which the English were to maintain control into the 20th century was the colony of British Honduras, which is now the independent nation of Belize. For nearly three centuries Central America was joined under the banner of Spain. The Captaincy-General of Guatemala was governed from Ciudad Vieja until its destruction by an earthquake and flood in 1541. The capital then was transferred to the new city of Santiago de los Caballeros, which is known today as Antigua. An earthquake in 1773 destroyed Antigua and resulted in the relocation of the capital to the site of present-day Guatemala City. Independence from Spain in 1821 was followed by a political union with Mexico under Emperor Agustin Iturbide. In 1823 Central America declared its independence from Mexico and formed the United Provinces of Central America. The province of Chiapas remained with Mexico. The final breakup of the United Provinces of Central America took place in 1838 with the withdrawal of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. During the remainder of the 19th century the history of Central America was dominated by internal conflict between conservatives, who supported the traditions of royal Spain and the Catholic church, and liberals, who favored broad reforms and a federated union of the states of Central America. This was further complicated by the intervention of foreign powers vying for control of passages across the isthmus and by the British attempt to maintain its influence along the Caribbean shoreline. The struggle between conservatives and liberals occurred between the independent nations as well as between cities within the nations. In Guatemala conservative Quezaltenango was pitted against Guatemala City; in Honduras, Comayagua against Tegucigalpa; and in Nicaragua, Granada against Leon. For more than 40 years after independence, the politics of Central America were dominated by the conservative Guatemalan dictator Rafael Carrera. Between 1873 and 1885 Justo Rufino Barrios, an anticlerical liberal, was president of Guatemala and successfully exercised his authority in support of liberal allies in other nations of Central America. During this period, foreign currency, earned from the export of coffee, supported the construction of railroads and the modernization of national economies. President Barrios was fatally wounded during a conflict with El Salvador while attempting to force the political reunification of Central America. After independence, the idea of establishing an interoceanic passage across Central America drew the increasing attention of entrepreneurs from the United States and Europe. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 further fueled competition for exclusive rights to routes across Nicaragua and Panama. The British, in an effort to assure their control of the Caribbean entrance to a proposed canal across Nicaragua, occupied the port of San Juan del Norte between 1848 and 1850, renaming it Greytown. In 1851 Cornelius Vanderbilt established a highly profitable route across Nicaragua by waterway and carriage road. A railroad under the control of the United States was completed across Panama in 1855. A number of treaties and concessions were drawn regarding the construction of a transisthmian canal; however, the only maj