early Settlements in Colombia
Settlement in Colombia on Dipity.
The important events in Colombia’s history have made it the country that it is today. Colombia’s history begins with the first inhabitants and the indigenous people who took advantage of the natural resources to start their settlement. With the natural resources that Colombia had to offer the Spanish began to colonize Colombia. The colonization of Colombia by the Spanish had a significant impact on its history and the Spanish heavily influenced Colombia. In opposition to Spanish rule in South America Simon Bolivar battled against the Spanish to obtain freedom from the Spanish. With Bolivar’s triumph Gran Colombia was formed which comprised of Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama. Bolivar managed to keep Gran Colombia running properly but in 1830 both Ecuador and Venezuela decided to leave Gran Colombia. This created Nueva Granada which consisted of Colombia and Panama. Eventually Nueva Granada also broke up and Colombia was its own entity. Colombia has to form its own identity as a country. While this occurred liberals and conservatives were at war because of ideological differences. This prompted the Thousand Days’ War in which many Colombians died. Several years after the war the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia came into existence and they tainted Colombia’s history with violence, murders, kidnappings and illegal drug trading. Throughout the many struggles Colombia faced they developed a new constitution in 1991 which legalized divorce and gave indigenous people their democratic rights. Although Colombia was trying to make progress as a nation the county was plagued with illegal trade. One of the most powerful drug lords was Pablo Escobar and he supplied cocaine to many parts of the world including the United States. Pablo Escobar died in 1993 and the violence and illegal drug trade within Colombia continues to be a significant problem. In 2011 the U.S. and Colombia agreed on a new free trade agreement which could benefit both countries the outcome is still developing since this event was in Colombia’s recent history.