History of Colombia

History of Colombia Colombia was inhabited by indigenous societies during what was known as the pre-Columbian period (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012). These indigenous societies consisted of hunters and nomadic farmers, as well as the Chibchas (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012). The Chibchas are known to be one of the most developed indigenous groups in all of South America (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012). Santa Marta was founded in 1525, which was the first permanent Spanish settlement (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012).Santa Fe de Bogota was founded in 1538, and in 1717 it became the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012). The capital of New Granada is what is now Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012). In 1808 Napoleon made his brother the new king of Spain and people in the Spanish colonies were not happy with it (Lambert, 2 011). Citizens of Bogota created the first representative council against Spanish authority on July 20, 1810 (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012). In 1813 they got complete independence from Spain (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012).In 1819 Simon Bolivar defeated the Spanish in the war of Boyaca (Lambert, 2011). In 1819 the Republic of Greater Colombia was created and it included everything of the previous Viceroyalty of New Granada (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012). Simon Bolivar was the first president and Francisco de Paula Santander was elected as vice president (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012). The creation of the two main political parties, Liberal and Conservative, were led by conflicts going on between the followers of Bolivar and Santander (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012).Bolivar's supporters formed the Conservative Party, and Santander's followers created the Liberal party (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia, † 2012). Colombia's history is known to be filled with violent conflict (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012). Two civil wars were the cause of rivalry between the Conservative and Liberal parties: The War of a Thousand Days which took place from 1899 to 1903 and killed about 100,000 people, and â€Å"La Violencia† (the Violence) which took place from 1946 to 1957 and caused about 300,000 deaths (â€Å"Background Note: Colombia,† 2012).From the 1960s to 1980s the guerillas and cocaine production in Colombia started to increase (Lambert, 2011). The drug trade also caused a lot of violence (Lambert, 2011). However, at the start of the 21st century the situation in Colombia had improved after suffering a great depression in the 1980s (Lambert, 2011). Violence in Colombia also decreased after 2002 (Lambert, 2011). Works Cited Lambert, Tim. â€Å"Brief History of Colombia. † Local Histories. 2011. Web. 18 Apr 2012. United States. U. S. Department of S tate. Background Note: Colombia. 2012. Web. ;http://www. state. gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35754. htm;.