V.

History

After 1453, when the Turks completed the conquest of the Byzantine Empire and won control of the eastern Mediterranean, the western nations, chiefly Portugal and Spain, were forced to seek a new route to Asia. The Portuguese, who had made a number of pioneering voyages southward in the Atlantic Ocean, sought the new route by probing the coast of Africa, reaching the Cape of Good Hope in 1486. In 1492 Christopher Columbus attempted to reach India by sailing due west across the Atlantic Ocean; but he landed in the present-day West Indies, opening up a new world to European commerce and civilization. For information concerning the pre-Columbian cultures of South America, see Native Americans of Middle and South America: History; Araucanian; Arawak; Carib; Chibcha; Guaraní; Inca; Pre-Columbian Art and Architecture; Quechua;Tiwanaku; Tupí-Guaraní.

After Columbus returned to Europe, Spain and Portugal became involved in controversy concerning land rights in the New World. The dispute was settled in 1493 by Pope Alexander VI, who allotted to Portugal all new territory east of a line in the Atlantic Ocean running due north and south 100 leagues west of the Azores and to Spain, all territory to the west of the line (see Demarcation, Line of). The demarcation line was later modified, with the result that Portugal obtained suzerainty over the eastern bulge of South America. This region subsequently became Brazil.

On August 1, 1498, during his third voyage, Columbus sailed to a point off the mouth of the Orinoco River and sighted the South American mainland. After cruising along the coast for several days he began to comprehend the continental character of the region.

A.

Post-Columbian Explorers

The next European to reach the continent was Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral. In April 1500 a fleet under his command anchored off the coast of present-day Brazil, which he claimed for Portugal. The Portuguese, who had meanwhile found their way to India by sailing around Africa, paid little attention for three decades to the territory found by Cabral. During this period the Spanish steadily intensified explorational and colonizing activities in the New World, devoting most of their effort during the first 20 years to the West Indies and Central America. Various explorers, chiefly navigators in the service of Spain, visited the northeastern coast of the continent in the early years of the 16th century. Noteworthy among these men were Spanish mariners Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, Alonso de Ojeda, and Pedro Alonso Niño; Spanish navigator and geographer Juan de la Cosa; and Italian-born navigator Amerigo Vespucci. Late in 1519 Portuguese mariner Ferdinand Magellan, then seeking a westward route to the East for the Spanish monarchy, explored the estuary of the Río de la Plata. He resumed his search in the next year, cruising southward. On November 28, 1520, having completed the passage of the strait that now bears his name, he simultaneously accomplished his mission and realized the dream of countless navigators.

B.

Exploration of the Interior

The systematic exploration and conquest of the South American interior were begun, paradoxically, by Germans. In 1529 Bartholomäus Welser received a huge grant of territory in South America from Charles V, Holy Roman emperor and king of Spain, who was in debt to him. Welser immediately dispatched an expedition to the territory, which included present-day Venezuela. About 17 years later Welser's grant was revoked, partly because of extreme brutality inflicted by the German colonists on the Native Americans.

The first European to penetrate the continental interior successfully was Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro. Pushing southward from Panama, he invaded the gold-rich empire of the Inca in 1531. Within five years, by skillful use of arms and treachery, Pizarro acquired control of the Inca Empire, which included all of present-day Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. One of Pizarro's chief associates was Diego de Almagro, who conquered what is now northern Chile. The conquest and colonization of the region bordering the Río de la Plata were begun in 1535 by Spanish soldier Pedro de Mendoza. He founded a settlement at Buenos Aires in 1536. Between 1536 and 1538 Spanish soldier Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada subjugated the Chibcha and founded the Audiencia of New Granada (present-day Colombia). In 1539 Gonzalo Pizarro, brother of Francisco, crossed the Andes and arrived at the upper reaches of the Amazon River. One of his companions, Francisco de Orellana, followed the river down to its mouth, reaching the Atlantic Ocean in 1542. In the previous year conquistador Pedro de Valdivia began the systematic subjugation of the Araucanian, the native people of Chile. Valdivia founded Santiago in 1541. Meanwhile (about 1530) the Portuguese had begun to establish settlements along the coast of the eastern bulge of South America.

Sugar estates were soon established on the eastern coast of Brazil, leading to the importation of millions of African slaves. Exploration westwards extended to the Amazon, and in the 17th century exploring parties (bandeiras) extended Portuguese control west and southward from São Paulo. An important gold strike in 1693 rapidly intensified settlement in what is now Minas Gerais State in Brazil, attracting major immigration from Portugal and promoting the rapid growth of the new port of Rio de Janeiro.

C.

16th to 18th Centuries

By 1600 numerous Spanish settlements had been firmly established in South America. The Viceroyalty of Peru (created in 1542) and the various audiencias, or territorial divisions, into which the remainder of Spanish South America was then divided had every prospect of developing into powerful and wealthy colonies. Besides immensely productive mineral deposits, especially the silver mines of Peru, other natural resources, including timber and cultivable lands, were abundant in the Spanish-held areas. Farming and livestock raising had become flourishing industries, and an increasing number of black and Native American slaves were available to well-to-do settlers. In search of riches, land, or adventure, or impelled by Christian zeal to spread the gospel among the heathen natives, tens of thousands of immigrants had poured into both the Spanish and Portuguese dominions on the continent during the first half of the 16th century. The Spanish and Portuguese governments received extensive help from the church in their efforts to consolidate their respective colonial empires. Roman Catholicism was the sole recognized religion in the colonies, but ecclesiastical policy was determined and controlled by the monarchy. In return for the service of Christianizing, educating, and pacifying the Native Americans, the church and the various Catholic religious orders active here were granted many privileges and enormous tracts of territory.

At the close of the 17th century Spain and Portugal dominated all South America except Guiana, which had been seized by and divided among Great Britain, France, and The Netherlands. Disastrous wars in the course of the century had seriously weakened the naval strength of the Iberian powers, however, and their coastal settlements in the New World, as well as their merchant shipping, were subjected to frequent attacks by English, Dutch, and French raiders. One result of the consequent drain on the royal Spanish and Portuguese treasuries was the imposition of oppressive taxation on the colonies. The royal governments, which had monopolized the trade of the colonies from the beginning, also imposed increasingly stringent restraints on the colonial economies, aggravating the difficulties and discontent of the colonists. During the 18th century, popular unrest in the Spanish colonies flared into revolt on a number of occasions, notably in Paraguay from 1721 to 1735, in Peru from 1780 to 1782, and in New Granada in 1781.

Social inequalities constituted another cause for discontent among both the Spanish and Portuguese colonists. The so-called Peninsulars were born in the mother country and sent to the colonies to hold high offices. They usually were of noble birth, disdainful of other social groups, and desirous only of amassing wealth in the colonies and then returning to Europe. The social group immediately below the Peninsulars was composed of Creoles, native-born persons of European parentage. Although the Creoles were entitled by law to the same political prerogatives as the Peninsulars, in practice these rights were withheld from them, and for the most part the Creoles were excluded from high civil and ecclesiastical positions. Because of their hatred of the Peninsulars, the Creoles generally aligned themselves with the mestizos and mulattoes.

D.

Wars of Independence

After almost three centuries of economic exploitation and political injustice, the South American colonies were swept by a powerful revolutionary movement. The movement, which was led by the Creoles and which was basically liberal in character, was stimulated by the successful revolt of the British colonies in North America (1775-1783) and by the French Revolution (1789-1799).

In general the struggle for political freedom in Spanish South America may be divided into two phases. During the first phase, extending from 1810 to 1816, independence was achieved only in part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (in what are now Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay); during the second phase, from 1816 to 1825, the colonials won complete freedom from Spain. Among the outstanding leaders of the fight for independence were Venezuelans Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Miranda and Argentinian José de San Martín.

On May 25, 1810, the Creoles of Buenos Aires deposed the Spanish viceroy and established a provisional governing body for the provinces of La Plata. Although this body was established in the name of Ferdinand, direct Spanish authority was not again restored. On August 14, 1811, the Paraguayans, who had rejected the help of Buenos Aires, proclaimed their independence from Spain and, in 1813, from the provisional government as well. San Martín began to organize in 1814 a patriot army in western Argentina, with the intention of liberating Chile and then moving by sea against Peru, the chief Spanish stronghold on the continent. In his successful campaign of 1817 to 1818 to liberate Chile, San Martín was greatly aided by Chilean revolutionary leader Bernardo O'Higgins. On February 12, 1817, San Martín defeated a Spanish army at Chacabuco. One year later, on the same date, revolutionary leader Bernardo O'Higgins declared the independence of Chile. San Martín was offered the leadership of the new Chilean government but refused in favor of O'Higgins. With the defeat of a Spanish army at Maipú on April 5, 1818, Chilean independence was assured. San Martín then began to prepare for the attack on Peru.

The next great victory of the Wars of Independence was won in Colombia. At the head of an army of patriots and of soldiers of fortune recruited in England, Bolívar defeated the Royalists on August 7, 1819, at the Battle of Boyacá. While the fighting still continued, a congress meeting at Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela) was organizing the State of Greater Colombia, to comprise the former Audiencia of New Granada, present-day Panama, and, on their liberation, Venezuela and Quito (Ecuador). Bolívar later became president and military dictator. Although Venezuelan independence had been proclaimed on July 7, 1811, the colony had been taken by the Royalists. Bolívar defeated the Royalists at Carabobo on June 24, 1821, ensuring the independence of Venezuela. Under Antonio José de Sucre, one of Bolívar's lieutenants, a patriot army triumphed over the Royalist forces at Pichincha on May 24, 1822, and liberated Ecuador.

Meanwhile, on September 7, 1820, San Martín had landed an army of 6,000 men on the Peruvian coast. He entered Lima, the capital, on July 9, 1821. The independence of Peru was proclaimed on the following July 28, but Royalist forces remained in possession of the greater part of the country. Accordingly, following the Battle of Pichincha, Bolívar and Sucre began to prepare a military expedition in support of the beleaguered patriots in Peru. A spearhead contingent of this expedition was defeated in 1823, but Bolívar and Sucre were victorious on August 6, 1824, at Junín, and on December 9 Sucre won the decisive Battle of Ayacucho. Although the last Royalist forces were not expelled from Peru until January 1826, the Battle of Ayacucho was the final major engagement in the winning of freedom from Spain. Upper Peru was proclaimed independent on January 5, 1825, and on August 25 of that year was named Bolivia in honor of its liberator.

Brazil had achieved independence from Portugal on October 12, 1822, but retained a monarchical form of government until 1889, when a republic was established.

E.

Problems in the 19th Century

At the end of the Wars of Independence the sovereign Spanish states in South America were Great Colombia, Peru, Chile, the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (later Argentina), Paraguay, and Bolivia. Between 1830 and 1832 Great Colombia evolved into the sovereign states of Venezuela, Ecuador, and New Granada. Until 1903 New Granada, which later became Colombia, included Panama. Uruguay, after periods of Portuguese and Brazilian control, became a sovereign state in 1828.

In spite of close cooperation during the revolutionary period, the Spanish colonies did not follow Bolívar's ideal of confederating in a Spanish South American union because of regional jealousies, geographic vastness, inadequate communications, personal ambition and political inexperience of various leaders, and want of democratic traditions. The two last-named conditions also contributed greatly to political instability in the newly formed republics. Wealth and political power were still concentrated in the hands of the church and relatively few families. Conservative and liberal political groups opposed each other as bitterly as had the Creoles and Peninsulars of the colonial period. Revolutions were frequent, and some of the countries were under military dictatorships for long periods. As a consequence, social and economic development in South America was retarded during the 19th century. After 1900 advancement was more rapid, notably in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, the so-called ABC Powers.

Boundary problems often caused bitter disputes among the separate nations, sometimes leading to war. The war between Paraguay and the combined forces of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, between 1864 and 1870, was one of the fiercest ever waged in the Western Hemisphere. The War of the Pacific, another important South American war, was fought from 1879 to 1883 between Chile and the combined forces of Bolivia and Peru (see Tacna-Arica Dispute). The Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia from 1932 to 1935 climaxed a long-standing dispute between the two countries.

The Monroe Doctrine, promulgated by the United States in 1823, played an important role during the 19th century in preventing European intervention in northern South America.

F.

20th Century and U.S. Policy

On occasion, during the second half of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century, the U.S. government itself actively intervened in Latin American affairs. Based on the theory that the United States, as the most powerful nation of the Western Hemisphere, possessed a “manifest right” to regulate the destinies of the turbulent southern republics, U.S. policy during this period aroused considerable antagonism in South and Central America. Various opprobrious epithets, including “dollar diplomacy” and “big-stick policy,” were applied to that phase of U.S. diplomacy. In 1933, after President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that the United States wished to be a “good neighbor” of the other American countries, the U.S. policy of friendship and cooperation became known as the “good-neighbor policy.” In both world wars most South American nations cooperated fully with the United States. During World War II (1939-1945), military as well as economic cooperation developed.

In 1960 six South American nations and Mexico signed a treaty setting up the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA, later renamed the Latin American Integration Association). The following year President John F. Kennedy introduced a new approach to U.S. economic aid for Latin America. His Alliance for Progress program was aimed at encouraging economic and social reforms in the American republics. In April 1967 member nations of the alliance met in Punta del Este, Uruguay, to measure progress and reaffirm their commitment to the alliance. The most significant item agreed on was the goal of establishing a Latin American Common Market, which would supersede LAFTA.

By the 1970s it was clear that these efforts were being stymied by problems ranging from unanticipated population growth, to increased unemployment, to continued inequitable distribution of income and land. In the early 1980s these problems were complicated for most South American nations by a general, international economic recession. A mounting burden of foreign debt continued to sap the economic vitality of the region for the remainder of the 1980s.

Several internal economic measures characterized South America during the 1980s. The privatization of major nationalized industries proceeded rapidly in Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina, resulting in a rise in unemployment. Another key problem was the rapid rise of external debt during the decade. Many countries were forced to spend up to 30 percent of their net income to pay the interest of their foreign debt. Some, such as Peru, refused to pay, or demanded rescheduling of payments. Others, such as Brazil, were able to pay off their debt by “swapping” natural resources. Another problem that resulted from poor economic management and the international recession of the 1980s was the rampant inflation that has plagued several countries. The solution included harsh fiscal austerity measures imposed by international donor agencies such as the World Bank (the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Although they eased the inflationary crisis, these measures also generated unemployment and a higher cost of living, resulting in increased numbers of poor people.

The 1990s brought new and more positive trends to the continent. Military, dictatorial regimes were replaced by democratically elected governments, although there remained concern over human rights violations. With external debt crisis behind them, some countries' privatization programs have helped to improve industrial efficiency and other countries have initiated major infrastructural expansions in their underdeveloped interiors.

Improving trade among South American nations remains an important regional issue. The trade group Mercosur was formed in 1991 to increase such economic cooperation. Mercosur consists of four member countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) and four associate members (Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Venezuela). After years of negotiations an even larger trade alliance, the South American Community of Nations, was created in 2004. This organization added Ecuador and Colombia to the eight countries already affiliated with Mercosur.

G.

Future Challenges

One persistent South American problem that may increase in significance in the 21st century is the marginalized poor, often Native American, citizens who believe they have not benefited from the nation state and who have no faith in the so-called democracy of political parties. Urban-based neighborhood groups are also emerging as a new force on the political scene. Continued urban growth still produces megalopolitan problems, most notably air pollution, water shortages, and infrastructural decline.

For accounts of the political histories of the various South American nations, see the articles on the individual countries. See also Organization of American States; Pan-American Conferences; Pan-American Union.