Essay/Term paper: Chile

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Political Science

Chile


In this project we are going to summarize the main points concerning the
history of CHILE , its independance, and bring the country to present day
CHILE. We are also going to mention some important facts about CHILE"S economy.

I. COLONIZATION PERIOD

CHILE is a country located in the wester coast of South America, on the
Pacific Ocean. It is known for the famous Andes Mountain Range that covers all
of Peru and part of Chile

CHILE was first discovered in 1520 by a Portuguese navigator named
Ferdinand Magellan, who sailed under the flag of Spain. It was not until 1536
that CHILE was explored by a Spaniard named Diego de Almagro. Almagro was an
associate of Francisco Pizarro in the conquest of Peru. In 1540 a conquistador
named Pedro de Valdivia made a second expedition into CHILE He arrived in
CHILE in 1541 and claimed the land under the crown of Spain. He founded the
city of Santiago in February of that year, and appointed a Cabildo (Council)
of Conquistadores to control local affairs.

II. COLONIAL RULE

In December of 1553, Valdivia set out for the fort of Concepcion to avenge
the death of three soldiers, after word had reached him that the Indians had
murdered them. He did not know the Indians had an ambush prepared for him.
Valdivia was captured and executed, his entire army was also killed.

The Spaniards eventually dominated CHILE During this period CHILE was a
Captaincy General of Spain and supposedly governed from Peru, where Spain had a
more important government because Peru was rich in Inca gold. In reality,
because CHILE was farther away geographically, local affairs were controlled by
a governor who commanded the army and each town had its own Cabildo (Council).

CHILE had plenty of wars. The Indians refused to stay quiet. Until the
mid 1700"s, these wars against the Indians were payed for by Peru, which
provided money to CHILE to maintain CHILE"S government in Santiago and an army
on the frontier. CHILE was poor and dependent on its richer neighbor for wealth
and security.

III. INDEPENDENCE

One of the most important reasons for CHILE"S independence as well as other
Latin American countries, was the emergence of a class of CRIOLLOS (Creoles).
Creoles were American born Spaniards, who were different from the Iberians.
They developed a desire for a self-government. The Criollos, then, began and
supported a movement in order to gain independence from Spain. The Criollos had
a lot of influence in the merchant class as well as in the upper class of CHILE.
They resented Spain's trading system. For tax reasons, all trade with Spain had
to pass through Panama by land to the Caribbean and Havana, Cuba, instead of
directly by ship from the port of Valparaiso. This system was definitely one of
the reasons Spain lost its American colonies.

Spain was also facing problems in providing its colonies with a good variety
of manufactured goods. The Spanish economy was not doing well. The colonies
began buying manufactured goods from other countries, especially Britain. The
British in turn, supported Criollo political demands.

There were many other factors which also contributed to the fever of
independence. Among them was the independence of the United States from Britain,
in 1776, the overthrow of the Frnch Monarchy, Napoleon's invasion of Spain,
and many new intellectual ideas of the times.

In the 1820's independence movements in America united against Spain. Simon
Bolivar and an army of Criollos marched south from Venezuela, while Jose de San
Martin and his Army of the Andes marched over the cordillera from Argentina into
CHILE. Bernardo O'Higgins became supreme director of the new Chilean Republic.
Formal independence of CHILE came in 1818.

IV. 20th CENTURY CHILE

During the 20th century, Chile has been throgh a few types of government,
dictatorship and currently democracy.

In 1973, the military took control of president Salvador Allende's goverment.
Allende was the elected president of Chile during this period. The U.S. did not
wanted Allende as president of Chile for many reason, so they killed him in a
millitary coup. This coup was led by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte,who, at
this point, became dictator of the nation. For many years, Pinochet and the
military ruled Chile. Before Pinochet was the dictator of Chile, he was the
chief of the army. Then he overthrowed the president, and became dictator. The
U.S wanted Pinochet better than Allende, because Pinochet was someone that the
U.S army could control. (Talk more about Pinochet in the oral presentation) One
of the things Pinochet is mostly remembered for, was the killing of thousands of
people during a protest.

Many attempts were made to overthrough Pinochet's government. Most of them
failed, however. In the late 1980's, Pinochet resigned fron office because of
world pressure.

After his resignation, Patricio Aylwin became president. Chile's current
president is Eduardo Frei.

Today Chile is the country in Latin America that has had the greatest
economic growth for the last five years.

Based on our research, we predict that Chile will continue to have a
democratic government.We also think that the economy will get beter, as the
democratic government is put into action. I also think that democracy will be in
Chile for a long period of time