History of Costa Rica :: Culture Cultural History Essays

History of costa RicaHuman habitation can be traced back more than 10,000 years but it appears Costa Rica was sparsely dwell and a relative backwater in the pre-Columbian era. There is little sign up of major communities and none of the impressive stone architecture that characterized the more advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica to the north and the Andes to the south. When Columbus arrived near Limn on September 18, 1502 on his third and last voyage to the Americas, there were probably no more than 20,000 indigenous inhabitants They lived in several autonomous tribes, all with distinct cultures and customs. Costa Ricas only major archaeological site is at Guayabo, 30 miles eastern hemisphere of San Jos, where an ancient city, dating back to 1000 B.C. and though to have contained 10,000 pile at its peak, is currently being excavated. Many interesting gold, jade and pottery artefacts have been found throughout the region and are on demonstrate in several museums in San Jose . The Indians gave Columbus gold and he returned to europium with reports of a plentiful supply of the yellow metal. But the adventurers who arrived to cash in found only hostile Indians, swamps and disease for their trouble. Several early attempts to annex the Atlantic coast failed for the same reasons and for almost half a degree Celsius Costa Rica was passed over while colonization gathered pace in countries to the north and south. In 1562, the Spanish mains administrative center in Guatemala direct Juan Vasquez de Coronado to Costa Rica as governor and Cartago was established as the capital the by-line year. With no Indian slaves to work the land, the colonists were forced to work the land themselves, touch out a meagre subsistence by tilling small plots. The devoid colony grew slowly and was virtually ignored by the Spanish rulers in Guatemala. By the late 18th century, the settlements that would buela had been founded and exports of wheat and tobacco were making sparin g conditions somewhat better. Central America gained independence from Spain on September 15, 1821. The news program reached Costa Rica a month after the event. The question of whether Costa Rica should sum newly independent Mexico or join a new coalition of Central American states resulted in a bitter quarrel in the midst of the leaders of San Jose and their counterparts in Cartago and Heredia. A brief civil war in 1823 was won by San Jose and Costa Rica joined the confederation.