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 **History **

Chile is a country of many famous historical events and pasttimes. Before the Spanish conquest, central and southern Chile were inhabited by small numbers of Araucanian Amerindians, who came under the influence of the Incas in the early 15th century (Encyclopedia of the Nations). Along the edge of the Atacama Desert, long before the people arrived in the 1500’s, lived the Atacama, Diaguita, and other small groups (WorldBook). The Inca Indians of Peru then conquered in the 1400’s. Living in the Central Valley were the **Mapuche**, Chile’s largest Indian group (WorldBook). Their warriors defeated the Incas, who tried to push southward into the region (WorldBook). The Mapuche fished, as well as grew crops such as corn, beans, and potatoes (WorldBook). The Ona and Yahgan Indians, who lived in the cold, wet south, hunted and fished (WorldBook). Chile originally depended on Peru, but eventually adopted its own government. Because Chile had important silver or gold deposits to attract the Spanish who were willing to labor, the country developed slowly (emayzine). Chile supplied Peru with food, especially wheat (emayzine.com).

**Ancien ****t Peoples: ** There were many important peoples of Chile who made it the nation that it is today. These people changed Chile for the better, and will always be known throughout the world today. Ferdinand Magellan was Chile’s first known European discoverer (Country Reports). On October 21, 1520, He stopped in Chile during his voyage (Time for Kids). Diego de Almagro was a Spanish conquistador who attempted at colonization in 1535 but he was disappointed at the death of mineral wealth and the native population in Chile (Country Reports). **Pedro de Valdivia**, a Spanish soldier and Chile’s first governor, was the founder of Santiago, the nation’s capital (Country Reports). Pedro de Valdivia found Santiago on February 12, 1541 (Time for Kids). He found that Chile would be primarily an agricultural colony. Also, Most Chileans worked in agriculture (Country Reports). In 1540, a second Spanish expedition was begun from Peru to Chile by Pedro de Valdivia (Country Reports). Diego Portales (1793-1837) was the founder of the Chilean State, and the creator of the Constitution of 1833 (Houghton Mifflin). Another famous historical Chilean was San Martín. In 1818, after he defeated the last large Spanish force in Battle of Maipù, Chile won formal Independence (Country Reports). When Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain in 1807, Chileans began considering independence. Napoleon replaced the Spanish king with his brother, Joseph Bonaparte (Country Reports). Chilean territory was expanded when dictator, Diego Portales (1830-1837) fought a war with Peru from 1836-1839 (infoplease.com). Tenant farmers were known as inquilinos, and many of them worked with dealing land and labor. Small landholders populated the countryside (Country Reports). The townspeople lived by trade (emayzine.com).

**Spanish **** Conquering: **

When the Spanish conquered Chile, many events happened and things were changing. By 1533 the Spaniards defeated the Inca and seized their gold and silver (WorldBook). Diego de Almagro, one of the Spanish conquerors, set out to explore the southern land of Peru in 1535, hoping to find more silver and gold (WorldBook). They traveled as far as present day Santiago, but only found Indian settlements. Pedro de Valdivia, another Spaniard, led a group of men from Peru to Chile’s Central valley in 1540 (WorldBook). Six months after he founded Santiago, the Mapuche destroyed it (WorldBook). The Spaniards rebuilt it, while also finding La Serena, Valparaiso, Concepción, Valdivia, and Villarrica (WorldBook). However, the Mapuche refused to give in to the Spaniards. They killed Valdivia and most of his men in battle in 1553. For more than 300 years, the determined resistance of the Mapuche made southern Chile a battleground (WorldBook). Spanish control of northern Chile ended on February 12, 1817 when a royalist army was defeated at Chacabuco (emayzine.com). One year later, one of the revolutionary leaders named Bernardo O’Higgins proclaimed the absolute independence of Chile (emayzine.com). The royalist forces controlled most of southern Chile until 1818, and finally in 1826 they were completely expelled from the country (emayzine.com). Spain ruled Chile from the early 1500’s to the early 1800’s (WorldBook). Including other parts of Spanish South America, Chile was part of a large Spanish colony called the Viceroyalty of Peru (WorldBook). Spaniards forced the Indians who lived on the land to work as slaves, but many Indians such as the Mapuche fought the Spaniards (WorldBook). Finally, in order to protect settlers from Indian attacks, a frontier army was formed in southern Chile.

**Indep **  **endence: **

Chile won it s independence on September 18, 1818 (Country Reports). However, they began fighting for Independence from Spain in 1810 (CultureGrams). They broke political ties with Spain and joined other Spanish colonies in 1810 (emayzine.com). Chile had one of Latin America’s first independence movements (Encyclopedia of the Nations). In 1810, A cabildo abierto (town meeting) declared independence in response to the French seizure of the Spanish crown (Encyclopedia of the Nations). The French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of Spain in 1808 and removed King Ferdinand VII from the throne by replacing him with his brother, Joseph Bonaparte (WorldBook). Meanwhile, Chile had been in need for a movement for Independence. A group made up of large landowners formed a council on September 18, 1810, declaring that it would serve as an independent government (WorldBook). In 1811, Jose Miguel Carrera, a Chilean aristocrat, became head of the government (WorldBook). He was challenged by the viceroy of Peru, Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme (WorldBook). While they fought, Ferdinand entered Chile from Peru and regained control of the colony in 1814 (WorldBook). O’Higgins and the Argentina general José de San Martín led an army that defeated the Spanish at Chacabuco, near **Santiago** (WorldBook). They won a final victory over the Spanish at the Maipo River on April 5, 1818 (WorldBook). O’Higgins became the new nation’s first leader. The Conservatives in the following years wanted a religious, centralized political system and fought bitterly with the Liberals, who wanted a parliamentary, secular system (Encyclopedia of the Nations). This pushed Chile into civil war until 1830, when conservative Diego J  osé Victor Portales took control (Encyclopedia of the Nations). This lasted until 1861; during the same time that Chile’s territory had been expanded with new claims to southern Argentina (Encyclopedia of the Nations).

**Important/Significant Events **

There are many important and significant events in history that happened in Chile. In 1450, the Incas from Peru conquered northern Chile (Time for Kids). In 1541, the Spanish conq uest of Chile began, and in 1879-1883, Chile goes to war against Peru and Bolivia. Chile wins Antofagasta, Bolivia’s only outlet to the sea, along with mineral-rich areas of Peru (Time for Kids). Finally, in 1879, Chile defeated Bolivia and Peru in the War of the Pacific, and won lands rich in copper and nitrates (WorldBook).

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