LATIN AMERICAN CHRONOLOGY



711 AD    Morrish incursion into Spain begins

914           Decline of classic Maya culture

1000         Norsemen reach North America

1200s       Moors expelled from Portugal. Moors in Spain restricted to the Emirate of Granada.

1280s       Catalan voyages to north-west Africa, and possibily a Genoese visit to the Canaries

1319-50   Tenochtitlan-Tlatelolco, the Aztec capital, begins to rise.

1393        Castilian exploration of Canaries

1410s       First caravels built in Iberian peninsula

1415        Portuguese capture of Ceuta in North America

1420s      Portuguese settle Madeira

1420s      Formation of the Triple Alliance, the basis of Aztec expansion

1427       Definitive discovery of the Azores by the Portuguese

1440s      Start of Inca imperial expansion

1444        Portuguese Cape Verde, westernmost point of Africa

1460s      Substantial settlement of Azores by Portugal

1469       Marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon

1479       Treaty of Alcácovas: Castile's rights to the Canaries, and Portugal's to the Azores,
               Cape Verdes, and Madeira, mutually accepted

1484       Birth of Bartolomé de la Casas in Seville

1487       Dedication of the Great Temple in Tenochtitlan

1488       Bartolomeu Dias rounds southern Africa, for Portugal

1492       Spanish conquest of Granada; Columbus's first voyage to America

1493       Columbus's second voyage; settlement of Hispaniola

1494       Treaty of Tordesillas: Castile and Portugal partition exploration and exploitation of the
               world (Portugal, east of c.50 degrees west; Castile, west of that meridian)

1496       Foundation of Santo Domingo, as capital of Hispaniola

1497-9   First Portuguese voyage to India around south of Africa, led by Vasco da Gama

1498       Columbus's third voyage; first certain European sighting of a South American coast

1500       World map of Juan de la Cosa. Pedro Alvares Cabral, commanding second Portugese
                fleet bound for India, lands on Brazilian coast

1500-2    East coast of South America surveyed by Amerigo Vespucci. Portuguese exploration
                of Brazilian coast.

1500-38  Rome grants to the Spanish monarchy patronage and other controls over the Church of
                America

1502-4    Columbus's fourth voyage: east coast of Central America surveyed

1502-9    Administration of Nicolás de Ovando, "founding" governor of Hispaniola

1503        Casa de Contratación founded in Seville; First sugar mill built in Hispaniola

1504        Death of Isabella. First French ship on Brazilian coast

1506        Death of Columbus

1507       World map of Martin Waldseemüller, showing "America"

1508       From Hispaniola, Juan Ponce de León take Puerto Rico

1509       From Hispaniola, Juan de Esquivel takes Jamaica, and Alonso de Hojeda leads an
               expedition to the Venezuelan and Colombian coast

1511       First Spanish town on the American mainland: Santa María la Antigua de Darién.
               Conquest of Cuba, from Hispaniola. Audiencia established at Santo Domingo, the first in
               America. Sermon of Antonio de Montesinos,OP, in Santo Domingo, criticizing colonists'
               treatment of the Indians

1512       Arrival of first bishop (of Caparra, Hispaniola) in Americas. Laws of Burgos, regulation
               of Spanish treatment of Indians

1513       Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain. Vasco Núñez de Balboa crosses the
               Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific; See of Darien created

1516       Death of Ferdinand of Aragon. Accession to the Spanish throne of Charles I (from 1519,
               Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor); Bartolomé de las Casas named Protector of the
               Indians. Fortified Portuguese trading post founded at Pernambuco; first indication of sugar
               cultivation in Brazil

1516-18  Spanish reconnaissance from Cuba of eastern Mexican coast

1519       Cities of Panama and Veracruz founded

1518-21  Hernán Cortés conquers the Aztecs for Spain

1518-22  First circumnavigation of globe, by Magellan's expedition

1522       Papal letter Omnimoda entrusts evangelization of natives in Spanish America to
               regular clergy

1523-6   Cortés is official governor of New Spain (i.e. Mexico)

1524       Arrival of first bureaucrats (treasury officials) in Mexico. Foundation of the
               Council of the Indies

1526       See of Tlaxcala, the first in Mexico, created

1527       First audiencia established in Mexico City (refounded with new judges in1530).
               See of Mexico City Created

1528-30  Cortés in Spain. He is named Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca

1529       Treaty of Zaragoza: Tordesillas line projected into the Pacific at c. 145 degrees east. First
               sugar mill built in Mexico

1530       First silver strikes in Mexico

1530s      Treadle looms imported in Mexico

1532       Vasco de Quiroga's first hospital, Santa Fe de los Altos, founded near MexicoCity.
               Settlement at São Vicente by Martim Afonso de Sousa; settlement also inland, at
               Piratininga

1531-6    Francisco Pizarro conquers the Incas for Spain

1530s      Brazil divided into captaincies

1535       Arrival in Mexico of the first, and founding, viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza

1537       First Peruvian see created, at Cuzco

1538       Foundation of Santa Fe de Bogotá. Audiencia placed at City of Panama (established
               1564) . Probable date of first shipment of African slaves to Brazil

1540       First sugar mills built in Peru

1540       Cortés returns to Spain from Mexico

1541       Foundation of Santiago de Chile; permanent Spanish settlement of Chile begins.
               Assassination of Francisco Pizarro in Lima by Almagrists. See of Lima created

1542       Permanent foundation of Guadaljara, in western Mexico. Promulgation of the New Laws,
               reforming Spanish government in America, and controlling the encomienda

1543       Audiencias established in Lima and Guatemala

1544       First viceroy, Blasco Núñez Vela, arrives in Peru. Revolt of Peruvian colonists, under
               Gonzalo Pizarro, begins

1545       Silver ores found at Potosí

1544-64  Council of Trent

1545       Silver ores found at Zacatecas: start of mining in northern Mexico

1546       Death of Cortés in Spain. Audiencia established at Guadalajara. Grammar of Nahuatl the
               first of Mexican language, produced by Andrés de Olmos, OFM

1547       Defeat and execution of Gonzalo Pizarro: end of Peruvian rebellion against royal rule. See
               of Guadalajara created

1548-9    Tomé de Sousa appointed and installed as governor general of Brazil; foundation
               of town of Salvador (Bahia) as capital; arrival of Jesuits; appointment of first ouvidor
              geral

1548-50  Government of Peru by Pedro de la Gasca

1548       Royal ban on servicio personal by Indians (i.e. the use of Indians in encomienda for
               labor)

1550       Debate between Las Casas and Sepúlveda at Valladolid in Spain

1550       Beginning, in Mexico, of state-imposed draft labor by Indians

1555       Beginning of silver refining by amalgamation in Mexico

1555-67  French colony of "Antarctic France" at Rio de Janeiro

1556       Abdication of Charles V (died 1558). Accession to Spanish throne of Philip II

1557-72  Governorship of Mem de Sá

1559       Audiencia established at La Plata. Beginning of royally approved sale of office (notarial
               posts) in Spanish America

1560s      First serious epidemics of Old World diseases in Brazil

1563       Audiencia established atQuito

1565       Northerly return route from east Asia to America found by Andrés de Urdaneta

1566       Death of Las Casas. Beginning of Dutch revolt against Spanish rule

1568       First Jesuits in Spanish America, at Lima

1568-81  Administration of Don Francisco de Toledo, fifth, but "founding," viceroy of Peru

1570       Indians declared free by Sebastião, king of Portugal

1570-1   Tribunals of the Inquisition set up in Lima (1570) and Mexico City (1571)

1571       Silver refining by amalgamation begins at Potosí

1573       Ordinances for New Discovery and Settlement

1574       Ordinance of Patronage (Ordenanza del Patronazgo)

1575-1617  Life of Isabel Flores de Oliva (Santa Rosa de Lima)

1578       Death of King Sebastião at Alcácer Quibir

1580-1640  Portugal and its empire under Spanish rule 1583 Audiencia established at Manila

1588       Defeat of the Spanish Armada sent against England

1590s     Rise of foreign incursions into the Caribbean

Late 1590s  First Dutch settlers on Guiana coast of South Africa

1598       Death of Philip II of Spain. Accession of Philip III

1600       Beginning of slave-raiding bandeiras from São Paulo

1606       Royal decree permitting purchase of almost all local offices. Beginning of Silver boom at
               Oruro (lasting until c.1630). Founding of first Brizillian relacão, at Salvador

1608-21  Truce between Spain and the Dutch

1610       Three-roller sugar mill introduced into Brazil

1610       First Jesuits reductions (missions) among Guaraní in Paraguay

1681       Life of Diego Quispe Tito, prime early painter of the Cuzco school

1615       French finally driven away from Brazil

1621       Death of Philip III of Spain. Accession of Philip IV. Foundation of Dutch West India
               Company. Maranhão declared a separate "state" of Portuguese America.

1624       English seize St Kitt's in Leeward

1628       Piet Heyn captures a Spanish treasure fleet off Cape Matanzas (Cuba)

1630       Dutch capture of Recife: beginning of Dutch occupation of north east Brazil

1633       Beginning of sale of fiscal offices in Spanish America

1634       Dutch seize Curacao

1635       French seize Martinique and Guadeloupe

1636-9   Expedition of Pedro Teixeira from northern Brazil to Quito and back: Brazil's boundary
              extended far westward

1636-44  Brazilian administration of Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen

1640       Portuguese revolt against Spanish rule

1640       Beginning of large-scale sugar planting in non-Spanish Caribbean Islands

1648?-95   Life of Juana Ramírez de Asbaje (Sor Juana Inén de la Cruz

1649       General Brazil Trading Company founded

1649-1700   Large inland movement of cattle

1654       Dutch leave Brazil

1655       English seize Jamaica

1660s      English settlement of mouth of Belize river

1661       Revolt of citizens of São Luís against Jesuits

1665       Death of Philip IV of Spain. Accession of Charles II. France sends official governor to
               Tortuga: beginning of colony of St. Domingue, later Haiti

1669       Fortress built at São José de Rio Negr, at confluence of Negro and Solimões rivers

1677       Sale of corregimientos and alcaldias mayores permitted

1679-93   Revolt of Pueblo Indians in New Mexico

1687       Audiencia offices put up for sale

Mid-1690s   Gold found in Minas Gerais

1700       Death of Charles II, final Habsburg ruler of Spain

1701       Accession of Philip V, first Bourbon king of Spain

1700-14   War of the Spanish Succession

1703       Methuen Treaty

1711-13   Peace of Utrecht

1710       Zacatecas overtakes Potosí in silver production

1714       Ministry of the Indies created by Philip V

1717       Casa de Contratación moved from Seville to Cadiz

1720s      Diamonds found in Minas Gerais

1724       Founding of the Academy of the Forgotten(Academia Brasílica dos Esquecidos) at
               Salvador, first of several Brazilian intellectual academies of the eighteenth century

1728       Caracas (or Guipúzcoa) Company founded in Spain

1730       Mestizo-led rising at Cochabamba

1739       Viceroyalty of New Granada established. Rising at Oruro, opposing tax increases

1739-48   Wars of Jenkins's Ear and of Austrian Succession

1742       Beginning of Juan Santos Atahualpa's rising in Peruvian Andes

1743       New System of Economic Government of America, By José del Campillo y Cossío

1744       Captaincy of Goiás created

1746       Our Lady of Guadalupe proclaimed patroness of New Spain. Death of Philip V.
               Accession of Ferdinand VI.

1748       Last sailing of galeones to Isthmus of Panama. Captaincy of Mato Grosso created

1752       Relacão of Rio de Janeiro created

1755       Lisbon earthquake. Beginning of the reform program of the Marquis of Pombal creation
               of Board of Trade, and of Pará and Maranhão Company

1756-63   Seven Years War

1759       Death of Ferdinand VI. Accession of Charles III. Creation of Pernambuco and Paraíba
               Company. Jesuits expelled from Portuguese territories

1763       Peace of Paris. Capital of Brazil shifted from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro

1764       First American ports opened to single ship trade. First intendant placed in America
               (Cuba)

1765       Rising in Quito against growing fiscal pressure

1765-71   Gálvez's inspection of New Spain

1766       Expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories

1775-83   War of American Independence

1776       Last flota sails to New Spain. Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata established

1777       Arrival in Peru of José Antonio de Areche as general inspector. Fall of Pombal

1778       "Regulations and Royal Tariffs for Free Trade between Spain and America" promulgated.
                Treaty of San Ildefonso, fixing southern boundaries of Brazil. Birth of José de San Martín

1778-9   The Inconfidência Mineira in Brazil (Tiradentes' plot)

1779-81   Revolt led by Túpac Amaru II in Peruvian Andes. Clavijero's Ancient History of
                Mexico

1781       Siege of La Paz (Bolivia) by Túpac Katari. Comunero revolt in New Granada

1783       Birth of Simón Bolívar

1785       Foundation of the Academia de San Carlos (of the fine arts) in Mexico City

1787-8    Audiencia established at Cuzco

1788       Death of Charles III. Accession of Charles IV

1790-1873   Life of José Antonio Páez, caudillo in Venezuela

1791       Slave revolt in Saint Domingue (Haiti)

1792-1877   Life of Juan Manuel de Rosas, caudillo in Río de la Plata

1793-1876   Life of Antonio López de Santa Anna, caudillo in Mexico

1795       Peace of Basle between France and Spain

1797       Spain forced to allow colonies to trade with neutral countries

1798       "Tailors' Plot" in Salvador

1803       Louisiana sold by Napoleon Bonaparte to the United States

1804       Seizure by the crown of the church's obras pias in America

1805       French-Spanish naval defeat at Trafalgar by Britain

1806       Miranda tries, and fails, to start rebellion

1807       Franco-Spanish invasion of Portugal

1808       Abdication of Charles IV. Accession, and exile, of Ferdinand VII. French occupation of
               Spain. Joseph I placed on Spanish throne by Napoleon. British expeditionary force sent to
               Spain. Emergence of Spanish national junta. Viceroy deposed in New Spain by Audiencia
               of Mexico. Arrival of Portuguese royal family in Río de Janeiro

1809       Risings in Buenos Aires and Quito

1809-10   Independence declared in La Paz (Bolivia), but quickly suppressed by Spanish forces

1810       Declaration of self-government in Caracas, Santiago de Chile, and Buenos Aires (effective
               permanent independence of Río de la Plata). Viceroy deposed in New Granada. Return of
               Miranda to Venezuela. In Mexico, the "Grito de Dolores," multiple risings in the north.
               Treaty of Navigation and Commerce between Great Britain and government in Brazil

1809-14   Deliberations of Cortes (Parliament of Cadiz)

1810       Defeat, and execution, of Hidalgo in Mexico. Effective achievement of independence by
               Paraguay. French expelled from Portugal

1811       Constitution of Cadiz

1812       French expelled from Spain. Morelos captures Acapulco

1813       Ferdinand restored to Spanish throne. First Mexican constitution issued, at Apatzingán

1814       Final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. Execution of Morelos. Brazil raised to status of
               kingdom, constitutionally equal with Portugal

1815       Death of Miranda

1816       Battle Chacabuco. Republic of Pernambuco briefly declared in Brazil

1817       Battle of Maipú. Independence of Chile

1818       Battle of Boyacá. Independence of Colombia

1819       San Martín lands on Peruvian coast, at Pisco. Military revolt in Spain, and restoration
               there of liberal constitution of 1812. In Portugal, military revolt, adoption of Spanish
               constitution of 1812, and declaration of constitutional monarchy

1820       Battle of Carabobo. Independence of Venezuela. San Martín named Protector of Peru.
               Plan of Iguala in Mexico, and subsequent independence. Return of John VI from Brazil to
               Portugal

1821       Battle of Pichincha. Independence of Ecuador. Confidential meeting of Bolívar and San
               Martín at Guayaquil, and San Martín's withdrawl from the independence movement. In
               Brazil, proclamation of Peter I as emperor, and independence

1822       Enunciation of Monroe Doctrine

1823       Battles of Junín and Ayacucho. Independence of Peru. Ferderalist constitution in Mexico,
               and beginning of first federalist republic (ended 1836). Centralist, monarchical constitution
               in Brazil. Unsuccessful separatist movement in Pernambuco

1824       Independence of Bolivia

1825       Imperial Academy of Fine Art founded in Río de Janeiro

1827-8   Anglo-Brazilian treaty ending slave imports into Brazil (ineffective until 1851)

1828       Effective independence of Uruguay

1830       Death of Bolívar

1831       Abdication of Peter I in Brazil

1831-3    First modern factory built in Latin America (a powered cotton mill near Puebla in Mexico)

1835       Academy of Painting and Sculpture founded in Caracas

1835-9   Confederation of Bolivia and Peru, under Santa Cruz

1840       Accession of Peter II as emperor of Brazil

1844       Independence of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic), from Haiti

1844-51   First presidency of Ramón Castilla in Peru (second, 1855-62)

1845-8   Mexican -American War, ending with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1850       Death of San Martín

1852       Rosas driven from power in Buenos Aires

1853       Argentine federalist constitution

1855       Final exit of Santa Anna from politics in Mexico

1857       Reform (liberal) constitution of Mexico

1860s     Beginning of boom in Latin America

1863-7   Reign of the Archduke Maximilian as emperor of Mexico

1863-70   War of the Triple Alliance

1870       Rise of Republican party in Brazil

1870s     Beginning of large (especially southern European emigration to Latin America (continuing
              until early twentieth century). Revival of foreign lending to, and investment in, Latin
              America. Start of major railway building, and of industrialization in form of small factories.
              Beginnings of organized labor. Rising influence of positivism

1871       "Free-womb" law in Brazil

1877       Beginning of Porfriato ( the age of Porfirio Díaz) in Mexico

1878-84   War of the Pacific

1886       Abolition of slavery Cuba

1887       Statue of Cuauhtemoc erected in Mexico City

1888       Abolition of slavery in Brazil

1889       Abdication of Peter II in Brazil, under military pressure. Brazil proclaimed a republic

1891       Federal constitution in Brazil

1898       Spanish-American War. Independence of Cuba and Puerto Rico

1903       Separation of Panama from Colombia

1903-14   Panama Canal built

1910       "Plan of San Luis Potosí" issued in Mexico by Francisco Madero

1911       End of Profiriato in Mexico. Madero assumes presidency

1913       Madero removed from Mexican presidency by military coup, and killed. Beginning of
               great violence of Mexican revolution (lasting until 1915)

1917       Mexican constitution, statist and nationalist, replacing that of 1857. Election of Venustiano
               Carranza as president of Mexico

1920       Flight, and death, of Carranza in Mexico. Election of Alvaro Obregón to Mexican
               presidency

1920s     Rising political influence of working class in most of Latin America. United States now the
              dominant financial and economic influence in Latin America.

1929       Crash of stock market in New York. Beginning of economic depression.