Backpacking South America

A Brief History Of South America

Pre-Columbian Times

While a precise date remains elusive, the first humans arrived in South America around 20,000 BC, having crossed the Bering straits between Asia and the Americas.

The most reliable evidence of a first settlement comes from Monte Verde in Chile. Here, archeologists have dated ruins back to 12,500 BC.

Between 7,500 and 4,500 BC, settlers in the Andes began cultivating crops. There is also evidence that ceramics appeared around 3,000 BC.

By 2,800 BC, societies began to form. The three earliest known societies were the Chavin in northern Peru, the Tiahuanaco south of Lake Titicaca, and the San Agustín tribe in southern Colombia. Amazonian societies also began to appear around this time.

By 2,000 BC, these early societies began mining gold, crafting incredible intricate pieces given their available tools.

The Rise of Empires

As societies grew, so did complex hierarchical structures and a dependency on more land. A fractious co-existence ensued, and societies began to expand by conquering their neighbors. This period gave rise to several notable empires that would control large chunks of the continent.

The Nazca

Around 400 BC, the Nazca became prominent and endured for 1,500 years. The Nazca controlled large chunks of coastal Peru. They are most famous for creating the Nazca Lines, which baffle experts today — some believe them to be an astronomical calendar, others an extraterrestrial landing strip. Beyond the Nazca lines, the Nazca were masters of weaving, creating finer fabrics than we can today, despite having inferior tools.

The Moche

As the Nazca thrived to the south, the Moche rose in the north. The Moche formed around 100 AD and consolidated a sizeable empire before disappearing in 700 AD. During the Empire's 600-year lifespan, the Moche became famed for their military prowess. Among archeologists, they are renowned for intricate ceramic works, their penchant for producing fine works of gold and silver, and the sites they left behind; Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna — Temples of the sun and moon.

The Muisca

Also known as the Muisca confederation, the Muisca were an agricultural society based in and around modern-day Bogotá, Colombia's capital. Alongside the Maya, Aztec, and Inca, the Muisca are considered one of the great civilizations of the Americas. They would make modern-day Colombia their home for over 700 years, becoming renowned for agriculture and mining. They also developed an astronomical calendar, hosted festivals, loved to dance, listen to music, and drink. The Muisca also conceived the legend of El Dorado — The City of Gold – giving them an immortal place in South America's mythology.

The Incan Empire

The Incan Empire, the most famous and largest civilization in pre-colonial South America, came from humble beginnings. The origins of the Inca come from modern-day Cusco, Peru, around the 12th century. However, the Inca would remain a small regional state until the 15th century.

At its peak, the Incan Empire included 14-37 million subjects, spanning modern-day Peru, most of Ecuador, west and south Bolivia, northwest Argentina, most of Chile, and the southern tip of Colombia. It was one of the greatest imperial states in history, despite being built without knowledge of the wheel, a written language, or knowledge of iron and steel.

The Empire would not last, though. The Spanish began annexing the Empire in 1529, executed the ruling Inca in 1533, and conquered the last Incan stronghold in 1572.

Conquest & Colonization

During the 16th century, the Spanish and Portuguese conquered South America. The exception to their conquest was Patagonia.

In 1500, the Portuguese made landfall in Brazil, claiming the land as their own after meeting little resistance. In 1525, Santa Marta, located on Colombia's Caribbean Coast, became the first permanent Spanish settlement in the new world.

In 1532, another Spanish group, led by conquistador Francisco Pizarro, set out to conquer the Incan Empire. The Spanish arrived at a moment of weakness, with the Incans concluding a bloody five-year civil war.

In April 1532, the Spanish marched on Cajamarca to meet with the newly victorious Sapa Inca Atahualpa. The Spanish demanded the Incas embrace Christianity and Spanish rule. When Atahualpa refused, the Spanish opened fire, killing thousands and taking Atahualpa prisoner.

Atahualpa negotiated for his release, promising a room full of gold for his freedom. Ultimately, Atahualpa, the final Inca, was executed for treason. Hearing of his death, an Incan company transporting 750 tons of gold for Atahualpa's release turned tail and ran. They hid the gold deep in the Llanganates mountain range, where it remains lost.

Five years later, the Spanish conquered the Muisca in the north, completing their conquest of Colombia. The final Incan stronghold fell to Spanish rule in 1572.

Within a century of Spanish arrival, the number of indigenous people fell from 14 million to barely 600,000. By the end of the 16th century, all South America, bar Patagonia, existed under Spanish and Portuguese rule.

Independence

At the start of the 19th century, events in Europe would trigger a chain reaction leading to independence in the Americas.

In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte's armies swept across Europe, leading them to the heart of the Spanish Empire. After overthrowing the Spanish crown, Napoleon anointed his brother as the new head of state. Already dissatisfied with Spanish rule, the colonies refused to recognize their new ruler. The uprisings that followed culminated in the Latin American Wars of Independence.

The grip of the Spanish loosened in 1818. Argentinean revolutionary José de San Martín led independence campaigns to the south, driving the Spanish out of Argentina in 1817 and Chile in 1818 before taking the Peruvian capital Lima in 1821. From the north, ''El Libertador," Simon Bolivar secured independence for Venezuela in 1816, Colombia in 1819, and Ecuador in 1822. Bolivar and San Martín met in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to discuss the direction that their newfound independence should take. San Martín believed in installing a single monarch to rule over the conquered territories. Bolivar believed in the formation of a constitutional republic. Ultimately Bolivar won out. However, Bolivar's direction would not bring peace, only decades of bloody violence over territory. Over in Brazil, which the Portuguese ruled, independence was secured peacefully in 1822.

Struggling to Chart a New Course

In 1830, the Gran Republic of Colombia that Bolivar had formed in 1819 collapsed, with modern-day Ecuador and Venezuela breaking away to form independent states. That same year, Bolivar, enduring self-imposed exile in Santa Marta and disillusioned that his dreams of unity had turned to ash, died of Tuberculosis, aged 47.

Between 1864 and 1870, South America bore witness to its bloodiest ever conflict — The War of The Triple Alliance. Paraguay, which achieved independence in 1811, declared war on Brazil. Both Argentina and Uruguay aligned themselves with Brazil. The conflict saw the pre-war Paraguayan population decline from 525,000 to just 221,000. Only 28,000 men were alive in Paraguay by the end of the war.

Between 1879 and 1883, Chile went to war with Peru and Bolivia over the rich lands of the Atacama desert. The conflict, known as the Saltpeter War, saw Bolivia lose its coastline and Peru lose its southernmost region.

Meanwhile, between 1899 and 1902, Colombia's War of a Thousand Days erupted. After the war, modern-day Panama declared independence from Colombia, citing the conflict between Liberals and Democrats.

During this period, slavery was largely abolished. As many as ten million people were sold into the slave trade across South America between the 1500s and 1866. Six million people were sold into slavery in Brazil alone. While most countries banned slavery between 1816 and 1831, it took Brazil until 1888 to bring the vile practice to an end. Once Brazil had abolished slavery, millions immigrated to Brazil from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, and Japan.

20th Century Turmoil

The 20th century wrought political and economic turmoil. Widespread civil unrest following the Great Depression brought increasingly common military intervention, leading to military dictatorships.

In Argentina, this manifested in a military coup directed by pro-fascist forces. The military would retain control of the country for the next decade. Military coups and oppressive regimes also came to prominence in Peru and Chile. There was also a crackdown on freedom in Brazil, where rival political parties were banned, the press muzzled, and detractors imprisoned.

In Colombia, another civil war broke out in 1948, following the assassination of popular liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. The resulting conflict, known as La Violencia, claimed 300,000 lives. The conflict's resolution brought about the formation of armed guerrilla groups that would terrorize the country for decades to come.

In the '60s and '70s, dictatorships became more frequent. Military dictatorships ruled Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Uruguay during this period.

In Chile, Salvador Allende became the world's first elected Marxist president in 1970. General Augusto Pinochet led a military coup three years later and assumed control of Chile, dissolved congress, prohibited opposition, and ruled by decree for the next 16 years. In Argentina, a military junta took control of the country, propelling the country into an eight-year civil war between 1976 and 1983. Throughout the war, 30,000 people ''disappeared.''

This trend continued into the '80s. Colombia teetered on the edge of becoming a failed state. Argentina grappled with hyper-inflation. Peru fell into another dictatorship. Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela grappled with instability and plummeting export prices.

Come the '90s, a glimmer of hope blossomed throughout the continent.

South America Today

During the 1990s, political corruption was still pervasive, and certain economies swayed in and out of recession. However, South America entered the new millennium with its prospects looking brighter than they had for centuries.

Poverty rates declined, wage parity and social justice became hot topics, economies grew, the continent gained its first female leaders, and indigenous leaders gained a voice in the political spectrum. The pitfalls that held the region back for so long started to fade away.

For travelers, there has never been a better time to visit the most diverse continent on Earth. Its Andean peaks, colonial towns, vast rainforests, ancient ruins, glacial wonderlands, and white sandy beaches beg for exploration. Enjoy. You're in for a hell of an adventure.