HISTORY OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN ANDEAN REGION: CHARACTERISTICS - HISTORY - 2025

The history of the South American Andean region can be divided into four stages: the Inca Empire, Spanish rule, anti-colonialism and independence.

The South American Andean region is understood to be the current territories of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

The data currently available on it arise mostly from archaeological reconstructions, since there are no written accounts that are prior to the time of the conquest.

The 4 stages of the history of the Andean region

1- The Inca Empire

Despite the short time it lasted and the documentary destruction inflicted by the Spanish, the Inca Empire was a very good trial of Andean integration.

The Inca organization obeyed the needs of a political model of development, governed from the High Andean region.

From the south, agriculture, technology, dairy farms, the Quechua language and roads spread. Many of those elements are still valid.

The Incas promoted integration, in order to achieve greater productivity and promote the proper management of the different Andean ecologies, often through domination.

Several historians define the Incas as a colonizing and conquering people. They brought together numerous ethnically diverse regions in the same political, cultural and economic scheme. This was interrupted by the European conquest.

2- The period of Spanish rule

When you look at this stage in perspective, you see a period of disintegration. The road network of the Incas is abandoned.

The redistributive model of the state is destroyed. The different ethnic groups that the Incas had integrated within the same state, disintegrate.

The strengthening of large urban and productive centers was the colonial strategy, controlled and organized from Spain.

In this way, the various Andean spaces were at the service of European demand. In these centers mercantile prosperity was achieved, because of the population that surrounded them.

But these centers were always at the service of the mechanism for extracting precious metals to send to Europe.

The system of viceroyalties, governorships, captaincies or audiences became more and more complex. The aim was to divide the different regions in order to install more effective governments.

Domination also had integrative tools, such as language, religion, technologies, and animals.

3- Anti-colonialism

Upon becoming aware of what it meant to be under Spanish dependence, discontent begins.

This stage is also the beginning of the mythification of the Inca past, and leaders descended from the Incas begin to appear.

Due to this, in the 18th century the indigenous rebellions against Spanish rule appeared.

Tupac Amarú II is an example of these rebellions, who fought with the support of the most marginalized sectors: blacks, mestizos and indigenous people. The indigenous project was defeated and colonial rule continued.

4- Independence

Throughout South America the independence era began almost at the same time. The liberating armies left from Caracas and Buenos Aires, and this stage concluded with the defeat of the Spanish troops in Peru.

At first, the Bolivarian idea of ​​a large territory had its effect. But the dependence on the new republican spaces of the European capitalist economies made the great American dream fail.

Little by little, the Andean region was fragmented into republican models, pitted against each other.

The new republics were embroiled in border wars and increasingly dependent on foreign powers.

References

1. "Andean Region (Colombia)" in Wikipedia. Retrieved in October 2017 from Wikipedia at: wikipedia.org
2. "Andean Civilizations" in Wikipedia. Retrieved in October 2017 from Wikipedia at: wikipedia.org
3. «Indigenous people in the Andean Region of Colombia» in All Colombia. Recovered in October 2017 from Todo Colombia at: todacolombia.com
4. "The Andean Region" in Flacsoandes. Recovered in October 2017 from Flacsoandes at: flacsoandes.edu.ec
5. "Chronology of the history of the Andean Region" in Cram. Recovered in October 2017 from Cram at: cram.com
6. «Home Andean Region» in Calameo. Recovered in October 2017 from Calameo at: es.calameo.com