History of america

The history of America refers to the set of events related to the American continent, including the Antilles and other nearby islands, from when it was inhabited by the first human beings to the present day.

American history does not match the historical periods used for the history of Africa, Eurasia, and Oceania. Humans most likely entered the continent through the Bering Strait and populated its entire length. For several millennia, the original peoples of the Americas evolved independently and without any contact with the rest of human cultures, creating original civilizations, technologies, languages, and political, economic, cultural, religious, and artistic structures. Starting in 1492, America was incorporated into the rest of the world as a colonial annex of Europe, which established slaveholding societies on the continent that radically modified the ethnic composition of the population, in a process parallel to the demographic catastrophe that eliminated a large part of its population. original. At the beginning of the 19th century, the process of decolonization and creation of the current American nation-states began, none of which emerged as a continuity of the original peoples, a situation that does not occur on any other continent.

Periodization of American history

Due to their originality, the historical periodizations used in Europe do not correspond to the history of the human being in America, which is why American historiography and anthropology created periodizations appropriate to the American reality. This article is based on the periodization created by archaeologists Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips, which is the one that has reached the greatest consensus in the scientific community and divides the history of America into the following periods:

• Paleo-American
• Arcaic Journal
• Training period
• Classical period
• Posclassic period
• European colonization. Modern era
• Independence and constitution of the American states
• News.

Prehistory

Cave of the Hands, Río Paintings, Santa Cruz, Argentina

The superior chronology "corresponds to Migration"

The Prehistory of the Americas is the period of time from the settlement of the continent to the formation of the great American civilizations. It is a time of great interest and research given that the American continent was the only piece of land on the planet that had an isolated human development until its direct encounter with the cultures of Europe, Africa and the rest of the world. This does not mean that there was not in one way or another a minimal or significant interaction with the rest, but the American peoples did not participate in the historical events and achievements that united the other continents until 1492.

The Prehistory of the Americas is the object of permanent study given the many questions that remain without conclusive answers, such as the theories of population and the history and development of many aboriginal American peoples. The fascination for prehistoric and pre-Columbian America not infrequently stimulates the imagination, myths and suppositions. True or not, they represent a challenge for science in a continent yet to be discovered. In American Prehistory, the Clovis Culture (approximately 13,500 years ago), is the one that leaves the most archaeological remains and the one that gives an idea of the intense activity of the hunter-gatherer peoples that populated the continent.

Formative Period

Olmeca Culture (1500 BC-900), in Mesoamerica was the first large civilization on the continent. Olmeca Head, La Venta

During the archaic period (8000 BC - 1500 BC), American man discovered agriculture, along with other peoples on other continents. This would result in sedentarization, the creation of more complex societies and the construction of cities. Caral-Supe located in present-day Peru, corresponds to that period with dates from 2627 a. C., that is, almost on a par with the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Indian and Chinese cities. This was the prelude that marked the end of the Prehistory of America and that would give rise to the Olmec Culture around 1500 BC. C., the first great civilization of the continent whose splendor would go until 900 when San Lorenzo, its main ceremonial center, was looted. The Olmec Culture is then located in the so-called Formative Period of America (also called Preclassic Period or Agricultural Period) and developed in Mesoamerica. 5,000 were the main centers of this first civilization: San Lorenzo (dating from 1500 BC), Tres Zapotes and La Venta (the largest urban center that could accommodate up to 18,000 inhabitants).

In South America, the main protagonists would be the peoples of the Chavín Culture, who came to dominate extensive territories and build important urban centers around sanctuaries dedicated to the god Jaguar. For its part, in present-day Colombia the so-called San Agustín and Calima Culture flourished. Other noteworthy cultures are those of the Anasazi and their similars (Arizona), as well as the Mound Builders of North America. The development of these cultures on the continent was generally isolated from one another, but the complexity of their creations already denotes a great maturity that would prepare the Classic Period.

Maya hieroglyphic for zero. The Mayas developed a very advanced mathematics. Among other things they invented thezero» around the year 36 a. C. It is the first documented use of autonomous zero as it is known today.

Classic Period

With the Classic Period we entered the height of the American civilizations. The emergence of the Mayan Culture in 292 and of its city-states, especially Tikal, Palenque and Copán, mark the historical beginning of the Classic, which ended with the sacking of the Olmec city of San Lorenzo and the Maya abandonment of the central part of Mexico and Central America to be located in the Yucatan Peninsula in 900. Mesoamerica then has two cultures (Olmecs and Mayas), trade, urbanism, administration, religion, war, astronomy, mathematics, writing and politics. Among the great legacies to humanity from this period are the Mayan Calendar, the most accurate ever invented, and the Mayan Script.

The great civilizations

Stone of the Sun

The Postclassic, High Classic or Pre-Columbian Period comprises the formation of the peoples in America as they were found by the Spanish in 1492. For many observers, in reality the distinction "classic" - "postclassic" It does not hold a great distinction, and to do so would imply saying that the pre-Columbian cultures of the Postclassic were inferior to those of the Classic and there is no proof of this.

On the other hand, especially cultural activity in Mesoamerica. The American peoples developed original autonomous cultures to the point of producing two separate Neolithic revolutions, in Mesoamerica and the South American Andes that gave rise to dozens of agroceramic civilizations, including:

The American agro-pottery civilizations developed original systems of social organization based fundamentally on the cultivation of corn and complex ecosystem management techniques, as well as the breeding of some (very few) domestic animals such as the turkey in South America Norte and the acure or llama in the Andes Mountains. The most important crops in the case of Mesoamerica were corn, beans (also called beans, beans, etc., in some Latin American countries) and auyama or squash. In South America, the predominant role of maize was complemented by that of tubers (potato in the highlands of the Andes, sweet potato in the lower altitudes) and roots, such as cassava. The Andean civilizations also developed a refined textile technology that allowed fabrics of up to 500 threads per inch structured in successive layers. Other crops developed by the American civilizations were cotton, tomato, chocolate, vanilla, pepper, etc.

North American pottery cultures also organized around maize and ecological management of prairies. The hunting peoples were organized around the hunting of bison (improperly called buffalo) or the fishing and hunting of marine mammals, in the case of the Eskimos and indigenous people of the extreme north of the continent. Common elements of the pre-Columbian cultures that reached a high degree of development were the construction of temples and monumental religious sites, with advanced anti-seismic systems, being a clear example the archaeological zones of Cuzco, Machu Pichu, Teotihuacán, Templo Mayor in Mexico City, Nazca, Palenque, Tulum and Tikal among others. Pre-Columbian science reached its highest points with the discovery of zero by the Mayan civilization, and the calendars. They had advanced writing systems in Mesoamerica and a mysterious system of records (quipus) in the South American Andes, as well as refined metallurgy. Virtually all American cultures had complex knowledge and practices of environmental management.

Inca Empire

The first inca: Manco Cápac.

The Inca Empire was the largest in pre-Columbian America. It arose at the end of the 12th century; and came to cover from present-day Ecuador and southern Colombia, passing through the Andes and the highlands of Peru and Bolivia, to Chile and northern Argentina. These territories were the cradle of various pre-Inca cultures that were conquered and annexed to the imperial territory. For a better political organization, the Inca Empire also called Tahuantinsuyo (which comes from the Quechua phrase Tawantin Suyu "the four regions -as a whole-"), was made up of four suyukuna (from Quechua: suyu 'territory, region, province, region, state') or regions:

• ChinchaysuyoChinchaysuyulocated at the septhion;
• CollasuyoQullasuyu), located at noon;
• Antisuyo (Antisuyu), tied to the up; and
• Contisuyo (Contisuyo)Kuntisuyu), seated to the west.

The capital of the empire was the city of Cuzco, the navel of the world. After a period of expansion and great apogee, the empire entered a succession crisis and consequently a great decline, which culminated in its gradual disappearance as a result of the Spanish conquest at the beginning of the 16th century. The imperial territory was annexed to what would be the Viceroyalty of Peru. Through archaeological and anthropological data, the true process of the occupation of Cuzco has been studied. The consensus points to the fact that the collapse of the Taypiqala kingdom led to the migration of its people. This group of about 500 men would have gradually established themselves in the valley of the Huatanay River, a process that would culminate in the founding of Cuzco. Subsequently, the Cusco kings were making alliances and conquering other kingdoms. Towards the end of the 15th century, they ruled over the upper and middle areas of the Vilcanota Valley and lived in constant friction with the neighboring States.

Manco Cápac founded the Inca Empire, approximately the year 1200 AD. C. and was its first ruler. During the government of Pachacútec the greatest growth of the empire took place. He inaugurated the imperial period, because the Incas became emperors by annexing numerous kingdoms. Pachacútec improved the organization of the state, dividing the empire into four regions or suyus. To the north, he subdued the Huancas and Tarmas , until he reached the area of the Cajamarcas and Cañaris (Ecuador). To the south he subdued the collas and lupacas , who occupied the highland plateau. He organized the chasquis and instituted the obligation of tributes. He is considered the last great emperor of the Incas. Huayna Cápac, considered the last monarch, continued the policy of his father, Túpac Inca Yupanqui , regarding the organization and strengthening of the state. In order to preserve the conquered territories, he had to put down continuous uprisings in a bloody way. He defeated the chachapoyas and annexed the region of the gulf of Guayaquil, reaching the Ancasmayo river (Colombia). While in Quito, he became seriously ill and died in 1525. With his death the decline of the empire began. Before he died, he designated his son Ninan Cuyuch as his successor. But the prince died suddenly and in his place his brother Huáscar was crowned (1525). He had to face his half brother Atahualpa, who also considered himself the legitimate heir to the throne.

Very soon, important regions of the empire were shaken by bloody battles between troops from Cusco and Quito, which ended with the final victory of the latter. Huáscar was taken prisoner and later killed by order of Atahualpa. The latter was the son of Huayna Cápac with a princess from Quito. After the death of his father, he rebelled against Huáscar, supported by the Quito nobility. His troops, led by Calcuchímac and Quizquiz , defeated the Cusco army in the battle of Cotabamba (Apurímac) and triumphantly entered Cuzco. Aware of the victory, Atahualpa marched to Cajamarca to be crowned Inca. On the way he was acclaimed by the northern peoples. However, upon reaching Cajamarca, he was taken prisoner by the Spanish. It was the year 1532. This event marked the end of the Inca Empire. Contrary to what was thought, Atahualpa (who ruled de facto between 1532 - 1533), is not part of the capaccuna by never fitting the mascapaicha. Therefore it is improper to call it Sapa Inca, as it is sometimes called.

Mexican Empire

Mexico's current official shield illustrates the legend of eagle and snake

The Mexicas were a dominant people in northern Mesoamerica during the late postclassic period (1320-1521). In 1325 they founded their city, Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City. Already seated in their city, the Mexicas were for several decades under the domination of the powerful lordship of Azcapotzalco, to which they served as paid soldiers. By 1430, the Mexica had assimilated the culture of the advanced towns of the valley and had become an efficient military power. They then attacked and defeated Azcapotzalco and became one of the strongest lordships in the region. Thus they began a war feat, which in just 70 years would make them owners of the largest empire that had existed in Mesoamerica.

The empire would be forged primarily by Tlacaelel, who convinced the Mexica to attack the lord of Azcapotzalco rather than surrender. Tlacaelel also reformed Mexica history and religion. He ordered the burning of the Mexica books and rewrote his history. He elevated Huitzilopochtli, the Mexica demigod, to the level of the ancient Nahua gods (Quetzalcóatl, Tláloc and Tezcatlipoca). He identified Huitzilopochtli with the sun and created the need for constant human sacrifice, he also created flowery wars in order to have an efficient military force even in peacetime. He gave the Mexica a historical awareness and the responsibility of maintaining the existence of the universe through human sacrifices, most of those sacrificed were the slaves that were captured during the wars. This mystical-warrior vision was in contrast to the ancient Toltec vision of Quetzalcóatl that the other Nahua peoples had.

In Nahuatl poetry you can appreciate the conflict between these two visions of the world. Tlacaelel refused to become tlatoani (king), but was the power behind the throne through three reigns. The Mexicas formed an alliance with the lordships of Texcoco and Tlacopan thus creating what became known as the Triple Alliance. Under the command of notable military chiefs, such as Moctezuma I lhuicamina and Ahuízotl, the Mexicas conquered central Mexico, Veracruz, the coast of Guerrero, part of Oaxaca, and dominated the territory of Soconusco, on the border with Guatemala. Only a few towns managed to resist the Mexica push: the Purépechas (also known as Purhépechas), the Tlaxcaltecas, and some Mixtec señoríos.

Colonization by Europe

Christopher Columbus arriving in America. The arrival of Europeans will mark a new stage on the continent.

The Vikings were the first Europeans to reach America, which they called Vinland, establishing at least one town on the island of Newfoundland (Canada), at L'Anse aux Meadows. There are theories about other "discoveries" before and after the one on the east coast (or the west by the Chinese), but none of these have been proven with firm evidence.

The demographic collapse

The arrival of the Europeans caused the entry into America of a series of dangerous diseases (smallpox, typhus, yellow fever, etc.) for which the original peoples did not have adequate biological defenses.

The American researcher H. F. Dobyns has calculated that 95% of the total population of America died in the first 130 years after the arrival of Columbus. For their part, Cook and Borak, from the University of Berkeley, established after decades of research, that the population in Mexico decreased from 18.2 million in 1518 to 700,000 people in 1623, less than 3% of the original population. In 1492 Spain and Portugal together did not exceed 10 million people.

There is no doubt that the demographic collapse of the original population of the Americas was the essential cause of the military defeat of many of the civilizations conquered by the Europeans, such as Mexico and

It is probably the greatest demographic disaster in history: the depopulation of the New World, with all its terror, with all its death.

American historian Charles Mann says that Cortés:

...I would not have defeated the Empire (Azteca) if, while Cortes built the vessels, Tenochtitlán would not have been dragged by the smallpox in the same pandemic that later devastated the Tahuantinsuyu... The large city lost at least one third of the population following the epidemic, including Cuitláhuac.

Something similar happened with the Inca Empire, defeated by the hosts of Francisco Pizarro in 1531. The first smallpox epidemic was in 1529 and killed the Emperor Huayna Cápac, father of Atahualpa, among others. New epidemics of smallpox broke out in 1533, 1535, 1558, and 1565, as well as typhus in 1546, influenza in 1558, diphtheria in 1614, and measles in 1618. Dobyns estimated that 90% of the population of the Inca Empire died in those epidemics.

European conquest and colonization

Territorial developments in North America by non-nation states from 1750 to 2008. ---- More animated maps:
Territorial sovereignty in Central America and the Caribbean 1700-present.
Territorial sovereignty in South America 1700-present.

In 1492 Christopher Columbus made the first documented voyage from Europe to the Americas which led to extensive European colonization of the continent.

Each of the European powers that conquered and colonized the continent they had just discovered used different mechanisms to dominate the inhabitants of America. In general, Spanish historians hold that British colonization was barbaric and genocidal, while British historians hold that Spanish colonization exploited indigenous labor to extermination, only to replace it with slaves kidnapped from Africa. These visions are known respectively as the pink legend and the black legend of the colonization of America by Europe.

Location of New France in North America.

The general result was an enormous mortality of indigenous people that has been estimated at 95% (Dobyns, 1983).

To respond to the massive death of American Indians, beginning in the 17th century the Portuguese, Anglo-Saxons, French, and The Dutch kidnapped about 60 million Africans, of whom about 12 million made it to America alive where they were reduced to slavery.

There was a great flow of goods and tools between both continents, as well as cultural exchanges and customs. On both continents new species of food, plants and animals were introduced. Also negatively, new types of diseases were introduced that particularly decimated some indigenous communities.

Political map of America, in 1794

The America not conquered by Europe

It should also be noted that the European conquest was rejected in most of the continent. Several indigenous peoples successfully resisted European invasions over vast territories, and maintained dominance over them until the end of the XIX century: Patagonia, the Araucanía, the Pampean plain, Mato Grosso, the Amazon Region, the Darién region, and the great prairies of the North American West, remained under the domination of nations such as the Mapuche, Het, Ranquel, Wichí, Qom, Amazon, Algonquin, Hopi, Comanche, etc.

Afro-American Free Republics

In South America, some republics were also created for Afro-Americans who managed to escape the slavery to which they had been reduced by the Portuguese, such as the Quilombo de los Palmares or the Quilombo de Macaco or the simarrones in Colombia such as the Palenque.

Independence

The Hispanic American Revolution
The realistic reactionunder independence controlunder independence controlSpain during the French invasionSpain during the Liberal Revolution

The direct control of Europe began to wane on July 4, 1776 with the declaration of Independence of the United States before the British crown, although there were always insurrections and non-conformity on the part of the natives, this event would be one more incentive for the emancipation of the remaining colonies of the continent.

The process of independence in Latin America began at the beginning of the XIX century, although in the mid-18th century the first revolutions "Comuneras" against Spanish power. Notable among them are the Comuneros del Paraguay, 1735 and the Insurrection of the comuneros in the Viceroyalty of New Granada. The name of "comuneros" is due to the motto of José de Antequera y Castro: "The will of the community is superior to that of the king himself". Although the comuneros were originally defeated (for example the of Paraguay in the Battle of Tavapy) little by little the different countries under Spanish rule obtained their independence.

On May 25, 1809, with the Chuquisaca Revolution, the Spanish-American War of Independence began, which would end in 1824 with the Battle of Ayacucho. At the end of it, Spain had lost practically all of its colonies in America, with the exception of the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico.

The independent territories would give rise after complex processes to 15 new independent nations. Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. In 1844 and 1898 the process would be completed with the independence of the Dominican Republic and Cuba, respectively.

In the first years after independence there were several attempts to form large national states in Latin America. In 1819, a large independent South American state was formed, called Gran Colombia, which included the territories of present-day Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. The Republic was dissolved in 1830. In 1816 the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata were formed as a great South American state, including a large part of Upper Peru that later became part of Bolivia, and the Banda Oriental that later became independent as the Eastern Republic of Uruguay. Between 1837 the Peru-Bolivian Confederation was formed, which was dissolved two years later. In 1823 the United Provinces of Central America were formed, which were dissolved in 1839 to form Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

One state that achieved independence peacefully in this period was Brazil. As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, the capital was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, thereby implying the assignment of the category of kingdom to Brazil, a kingdom within the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve (1807-1821). Upon the peaceful dissolution of that kingdom, the Empire of Brazil arose. Independence was proclaimed on September 7, 1822 by the son of the King of Portugal, Pedro I, who established a constitutional monarchy, with an economy based on slave labor. During the century, slave labor was gradually replaced by European immigrants, mainly Germans and Italians. Another country that achieved independence peacefully was Paraguay.

The great protagonists of this period in America were George Washington, Simón Bolívar, José de San Martín, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Agustín de Iturbide and others who are considered the fathers of contemporary American homelands for their struggles against colonial rule. Most of the Caribbean countries and Canada became independent during the 20th century.

Independent America

In 1868 the Spanish fleet attacked the coasts of Chile and Peru due to a colonial conflict. It also briefly reestablished its dominance in Santo Domingo, between 1861 and 1865, and maintained control over Puerto Rico and Cuba until 1898. In 1888-1889 Brazil abolished slavery and then the monarchy to establish itself as a republic.

The border disputes caused constant wars between the new republics of America throughout the following decades. The most prominent were the War of the Pacific (1879-1884, Chile against Bolivia-Peru) and the War of the Triple Alliance (1865-1870, Argentina-Brazil-Uruguay against Paraguay). The latter ended with a total defeat for Paraguay, which even led to a demographic disaster: the country's population, approximately 525,000 before the war, was reduced to about 221,000 in 1871, of whom only about 28,000 were men. The consolidation of the new republics was not peaceful on the other hand. Not only border fights, but civil wars shook the foundations of the new states. The expansionism of countries like the United States that cut off the territory of Mexico; Brazil that imposed its sovereignty in the Amazonian territories even at the cost of crossing the borders of its neighbors, the territorial conflicts between Peru, Bolivia and Chile; the creation of Uruguay, the disintegration of Gran Colombia that would create three new states: Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, are proof of a troubled era caused by the disappearance of the colonies. This time of great changes for the continent that brought the XIX century between independence and consolidation would still end with the construction of the Panama Canal, an interoceanic canal that split the continent in two, at the cost of cutting off Colombian territory and creating a new state, Panama (1903), under the growing influence of a new power: the United States.

Chicago, Illinois, United States. View of the city during a sunset.

20th century

The 20th century in America represented a time of great change and interaction. The continent that had been isolated from the rest of the planet for centuries, was now one of the most famous, the most visited, the most mentioned. It was still the "New World" and the territory of opportunities. The United States especially would have a central role in the development of science and technology: Hollywood cinema would conquer the world, jazz, Elvis Presley, the king of Rock'N Roll, the inventions, Broadway, monopolies, space travel and many other factors. Mexican, Argentine and Brazilian cinema would be the counterpart, Carlos Gardel, the king of tango, the boom in Spanish-American literature with authors at the height of the great universal classics such as Gabriela Mistral, Pablo Neruda, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and others, renowned artists such as Fernando Botero, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Reverón, Torres García, and hundreds of names in painting, sculpture, performing arts, and cinema. The continent of races and cultures would make the XX century American in one way or another.

Towards the rich north and the poor south

The 20th century was characterized by two contradictory phenomena, on the one hand the United States and Canada firmly established stable free democracies, while the rest of the continent suffered in many of its countries various types of dictatorships and fearsome men of all kinds. While it should be noted that elections in the United States between the late XIX and XX centuries were highly fraudulent, and in Mexico the system demographic led to an authoritarian regime without democratic alternation in the presidency. Some sources^{[citation needed]} explain that this division is not accidental, and that this political instability is the consequence of an economic and political process of US interference allied to the ruling classes of each Latin American country. By the end of the century, most of the continent managed to secure democratically elected rulers, although not in all circumstances lasting institutions have been established. The economic development of the United States would make that country a mecca for immigration since the beginning of the century, especially from Europe and Asia, together with the River Plate countries of Argentina and Uruguay.

To a lesser extent, the rest of the American countries were no strangers to this new wave of peoples who colonized the New World in their own way. The industrial development of the north of the continent, which would make the United States a world power, would create a gap in the face of an impoverished south. The emigration of Latin Americans to this country would increase over the decades until they became the second "minority" in their territory. The Panama Canal, inaugurated in 1914, with its location at the narrowest point between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, had an effect of wide projections by shortening the distance and times of maritime communication, producing economic and commercial advances that would especially benefit To united states. Economic liberalism would open the field in Latin America, especially after the economic crisis of 1929, but in many countries the upper classes and leaders would be the beneficiaries before a poor and marginal peasantry. Latin American natural resources would be in the hands of US multinationals, but also European ones. The Massacre of the Santa María de Iquique School in 1907 in Chile and the "Masacre de las Bananeras", carried out by the United Fruit Company in 1928 in Colombia, are two of the many examples of how the policies of the economic development in Latin America. The Chaco War (1932 - 1935) between Bolivia and Paraguay for control of the Paraguay River ended in Paraguayan victory and left both as the poorest in this subcontinent towards the end of the century XX.

On April 9, 1948, popular leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán was assassinated in Bogotá, which would plunge Colombia into a political conflict for the rest of the century. On November 22, 1963, other assassinations would attempt against the intentions of changing an outdated political reality on the continent, the lack of rights for Afro-Americans in the United States: US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and political leader Martin Luther King are assassinated. Towards the end of the century, America had several of the poorest countries in the world such as Haiti, Bolivia and El Salvador, among others, or countries where the first world and the third world coexisted such as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, all this reality in the same continent as the richest country in the world. The idea of seeing "Latin America as the backyard of the United States" according to US President Ronald Reagan, it became the summary of the history of the continent during the XX century and the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Liberator Simón Bolívar:

"The United States seems to be destined for providence to plague America of misery in the name of Freedom".

Bolivarian Thoughts

Fireworks on July 4, Washington D.C. (LOC).

America during the world wars

During the First and Second World Wars, the continent remained safe from the destructive wave that swept through Europe, Asia and Africa and once again became a natural recipient of hundreds of refugees. With the end of the conflict, on April 30, 1948, the Organization of American States was founded. On April 25, 1945, the first conference of the United Nations Organization to guarantee world peace was held in San Francisco, which would have New York City as its final venue. The Organization of American States would be founded on April 30, 1948 in Bogotá as the culmination of a long ideal begun in 1890 with the First International American Conference, held in the city of Washington D.C., which would become the Pan American Union in 1910. The OAS Charter confirmed support for common goals and respect for the sovereignty of each of the countries of the continent.

Commander Neil Armstrong was the first human being to set foot on the moon's surface on July 20, 1969 south of the Sea of Tranquility, (Mare Tranquilitatis). Armstrong, born in Ohio in 1930, traveled with two other companions on the Apollo 11 mission.

But the so-called cold war would have dire consequences on American soil. In the first five years of the 1960s, the regime established in Cuba by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, among others, oriented its country's policy towards the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), of which it became an unconditional ally. to the detriment of the geostrategic interests of the United States. The situation had its most dramatic point in the "Cuban Missile Crisis" that brought humanity closer than ever to a third world war, but that could be avoided thanks to the will of Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy. As a consequence, the armed conflict broke out in Colombia in 1964, there were more series of violent dictatorial regimes in various Latin American countries: Brazil (1964), Argentina (1968 and 1976), Chile (1973), Uruguay (1973), Bolivia (1980), in addition to the outbreak of the armed conflict in Peru in 1980.

On April 4, 1968, another assassination shook the continent: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, one of the great activists of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States for African-Americans, laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize. He organized and carried out marches for the right to vote, non-discrimination, and other basic civil rights. Most of these rights were enacted into the laws of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. He is perhaps most famous for his speech & # 34; I Have a Dream (I have a dream) & # 34; given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for jobs and freedom in 1963. King is remembered as one of the greatest leaders and heroes in American history, and in the modern history of nonviolence.

Berlinermauer This image of the Berlin Wall was taken in 1986 by Thierry Noir at Bethaniendamm in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

End of the century

After the end of the cold war with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the continent saw the advance of Neoliberalism, a set of political-economic proposals with an emphasis on the free movement of capital, the privatization of public companies and the dismantling of the Welfare State. The fathers of these processes were the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Said policies that obey a more complex network of the international market, although it put an end to de facto governments such as the Latin American dictatorships, generated, for example, the Argentine financial crisis from 1998 that would create a continental economic alarm

Another characteristic of the end of the century, especially in the 80s, would be the financial strengthening of the drug mafias whose epicenter was Colombia, Mexico and the United States, especially. The mafia, linked to drugs, acquired enormous economic power that even became a true power parallel to the State. One of the key names of the time, which reached mythical proportions, was that of Pablo Escobar, who, apart from his illicit enrichment, and according to the 1985 edition of Forbes Magazine, became the fifth richest man in the world, with the ability to jeopardize Colombian politics and create an international conflict that involved other American countries in the so-called "war against drug trafficking".

A new millennium

2001 marked the beginning of a new millennium and a new century. If the XX century was not the century of peace and continental prosperity, the way in which the new chronological data burst did not augur better times. On September 11, 2001, the suicide attacks would take place, involving the hijacking of four passenger planes, which were used as aerial bombs, leaving around 3,000 deaths. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (WTC) were destroyed and the Pentagon was damaged. History would precipitate for the entire world: President George W. Bush would launch the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and East and West would find themselves at odds in a conflict that stirred up old disputes, opened the perspective to new ambitions, and created new historical situations.

Regionalization

The following are the major economic blocs on the continent, although there are numerous bilateral treaties:

• The Andean Community consists of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia.
• Mercosur: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.
• Unasur: All South American countries.
• Association of Caribbean States: Caribbean and island countries.
• North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, Mexico and the United States.
• The Central American Integration System (SICA), made up of Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama.
• Caricom (Caribbean Community), made up of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
• The Pacific Alliance made up of Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia.