The history of Campeche, State of Mexico, begins with the settlement of the Mayan tribes of the Yucatecans, Chontales, and Quecheches. The town of Can-Pech was founded around the 3rd century BC. C.
For reasons that are unknown, when the Spaniards arrived in Campeche at the beginning of the 15th century, the territory had far fewer inhabitants than centuries ago. It is estimated that it could have been because of an epidemic or war.
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, San Francisco de Campeche became a prosperous and busy commercial port on the Yucatan Peninsula.
You may also be interested in the typical traditions of Campeche or its history.
Colonial period
The first two explorers to reach the Yucatán Peninsula in 1511 were Jerónimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero. They were the survivors of a shipwreck and were rescued by the Mayan settlers.
Guerrero married the daughter of an Indian chief from Chetumal. They had a son who is the first officially recognized mestizo. For his part, Jerónimo de Aguilar later joined the conqueror Hernán Cortés.
Although Campeche was not densely populated, its natives were numerous enough to repel the attacks of the Spanish.
In 1537, after several failed attempts, Francisco de Montejo established the city of San Francisco de Campeche in 1540.
In the attempt to convert the indigenous people to the Catholic faith, more than 30 Franciscan monasteries were established in the region.
Despite these achievements on the part of the conquerors, the natives never gave up and earned the reputation of being the most resistant to Spanish domination, given their constant revolts.
During the seventeenth century, an 8 meter high wall was built that surrounded the entire city of Campeche. Its great commercial activity brought great wealth to the city, which greatly attracted pirates.
Independence era
During the three hundred years of the Colony, the government of Yucatán depended directly on the Spanish Crown and not on the viceroys.
For this reason, the first steps to declare the independence of Mexico did not affect Campeche.
However, barely aware of the declaration of Mexico's independence, Campeche also declared its emancipation from Spain and came out in favor of the Iguala Plan.
On October 14, 1821, the Yucatan region that included Campeche became a Mexican state.
After independence there were frequent rebellions in which Yucatán declared itself an independent republic. Already in 1848 the region joined Mexico for good.
In August 1857 Campeche declared itself independent from Yucatán. The citizens wrote their Constitution and in 1862 the Mexican Congress recognized Campeche as a state.
Campeche in the 20th century
In 1902, President Porfirio Díaz ordered Campeche to hand over a part of its territory to create the province of Quintana Roo.
That territory was later returned to Campeche during the presidency of Ortiz Rubio (1930-1932). But President Lázaro Cárdenas (1934-1940) restored independence to Quintana Roo.
In the 1970s, oil fields were discovered off the coast of Campeche. This fact transformed the economy of the region and increased the need for federal intervention to maintain order.
References
- Iñigo Fernández (2004) History of Mexico, Pearson Education, Mexico.
- Justo Sierra, Carlos. (2006) Brief history of Campeche. The college of Mexico. Mexico
- Editor (2017) Campeche. 11/27/2017. History.com. history.com
- Editor (2017) Historic Fortified Town of Campeche. 11/27/2017. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. whc.unesco.org
- Editor (2016) Campeche. 11/27/2017. Nations Encyclopedia. nationsencyclopedia.com