South American History Sampler Quiz

Answer: Venezuela

It was during his third voyage that Christopher Columbus wrote of sighting the Orinoco delta, and the shore of what would later become Venezuela whilst sailing in the Gulf of Paria. It would be almost a quarter of a century before Spain colonised that area, beginning in 1522, and almost 300 years before independence was declared in 1811. Bloody wars and destructive earthquakes combined to delay full independence until the 1820s, with the help of Simon Bolivar and his associates.

Answer: Peru

The Inca emperor, Atahualpa, was ambushed at Cajamarca in November 1532, by the forces of Francisco Pizarro, effectively ending the Inca leader's rule of the land that later emerged as Peru. Although fighting was to continue for many years, his empire never regained the upper hand over the Spanish.

Answer: Chile

During his circumnavigation of the earth, between 1577 and 1580, one of Drake's exploits was to raid Valparaiso and other Spanish ports on the Pacific coast of South America. The bay of Valparaiso had likely been used as a fishing base by the indigenous population, even before the arrival of the Spanish in the 1530s, and while the settlement remained small until the nineteenth century, it then became a major base for the Chilean navy which came into being in 1817.

Answer: Uruguay

Montevideo was founded as a base from which the Spanish (on the other side of the river) could deal with Portuguese advances from Brazil, into what was perceived as Spanish territory. In 1828 it became the capital of a newly independent Uruguay, though there were turbulent times to come, including a nine year siege from 1843-51, during a civil war. Montevideo emerged from that as a rather prosperous port city.

International attention came to the city in 1939, when the German pocket battleship Graf Spee took refuge in the harbour after the Battle of the River Plate, and was scuttled rather than leave port and re-engage the British ships awaiting her outside the harbour.

Answer: Colombia

Many people in the Spanish-controlled colonies of South America had become unhappy with Spanish rule during the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, especially after Napoleon had installed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain. A revolt in Quito (now in Ecuador) had been put down, other cities had declared independence and the patriots of New Granada hoped to do the same.

A riot was incited in the main city, Bogota, and eventually the Viceroy was obliged to sign a document which led eventually to independence. Though 20 July is still celebrated as Independence Day in Colombia, it would be another nine years before Simon Bolivar won the Battle of Boyaca, and cemented independence.

Answer: Paraguay

Francia had studied theology and law, and became involved in the events that led to Paraguay becoming independent of Argentina, which was itself in the process of achieving independence from Spain. A democratically elected congress met in September 1813 and set up Francia as 'first consul' of a newly established Paraguayan republic.

He became dictator the next year, and dictator for life in 1816.

Answer: Brazil

The Napoleonic Wars played a part in the history of Brazil, making the city of Rio de Janeiro the de facto centre of the Portuguese Empire, when the royal family fled there from Napoleon's armies. By 1821, when Joao VI left his son Dom Pedro in charge of Brazil, there was no desire to return to colonial status.

In September 1822 Dom Pedro proclaimed independence, and a period of empire followed, lasting until 1889 under Pedro I and his son Pedro II. The First Brazilian Republic was proclaimed in November 1889.

Answer: Argentina

Esperanza, which is Spanish for "hope", was founded in September 1856 by families from Switzerland, Italy, Germany and other European countries, who had arrived there several months earlier to claim land promised to them under an agricultural contract drawn up a few years earlier. The Swiss-Argentine community became the largest community of Swiss descent outside Switzerland.

Answer: Ecuador

Garcia Moreno had already been elected to a third term as Ecuador's president, when he was literally cut down on 6 August 1875 by a group of opponents, including one armed with a machete. His years in office were marked by conservatism and religious zeal, but he did manage to stabilize the economy and encourage foreign investment in the country.

Although the Liberals had hoped to take over after his death, it took another twenty years, a number of presidents and a period of compromise called Progressivism before that end was achieved.

Answer: Bolivia

The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Chile and Bolivia was signed in 1904, but the reasons for it stretched back to the War of the Pacific of 1879-83 during which Bolivia and Peru fought against Chile over the Atacama Desert, guano (a source of fertilizer) and other parcels of land. Chile managed to emerge victorious, and claimed (amongst other things) the Bolivian Litoral department, which gave access to the Pacific.

The 1904 Treaty upheld this claim, which has continued to be felt by landlocked Bolivia into the 21st century.