Spanish and Portuguese America, 1492–1826

Timeline

Layers

Mapuche lands (Araucanía) · Other native states (Taíno, Purépecha, Tlaxcala, Muisca, Tairona …) · Maya states (Yucatán, highlands; Itza to 1697) · Aztec Triple Alliance · Inca Empire (Vilcabamba to 1572) · Spain: Crown lands outside a viceroyalty (to 1535/42; Cuba, Puerto Rico from 1821) · Spain: Viceroyalty of New Spain (1535–1821) · Spain: Viceroyalty of Peru (1542–1824) · Spain: Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–23, 1739–1822) · Spain: Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (1776–1814) · Portuguese Brazil · Empire of Brazil (1822) · Dutch (West India Company, Suriname, Curaçao) · France · England → Great Britain · United States · Haiti (1804) · Mexico (insurgents 1810–21; Empire 1821, Republic 1823) · United Provinces of Central America (1821/23) · Venezuelan and New Granadan patriots → Colombia (1819) · Peru (patriots; republic 1821) · Bolivia (1825) · Chile (1810–14, 1817) · United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (1810) · Paraguay (1811) · Line of Tordesillas (1494): Portugal east, Castile west

Events

• 12 Oct 1492, Columbus lands in the Bahamas: Columbus makes landfall on Guanahani, then reaches Cuba and Hispaniola.
• 7 Jun 1494, Treaty of Tordesillas: Castile and Portugal divide the world along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, about 46°W: lands to the east for Portugal, to the west for Castile. Signed in Spain; the line is drawn here.
• 5 Aug 1496, Santo Domingo founded: Bartolomé Columbus founds the town that becomes the Spanish Caribbean capital.
• 25 Sep 1513, Balboa sights the Pacific: Balboa crosses the Isthmus and claims the South Sea for Castile.
• 15 Aug 1519, Panama City founded: Pedrarias founds the Pacific port that becomes the springboard for Peru.
• 13 Aug 1521, Fall of Tenochtitlan: Cortés and Tlaxcalan allies take the Aztec capital after a siege.
• 25 Jul 1524, Alvarado founds Santiago in Guatemala: After defeating the K'iche', Alvarado founds the first capital at Iximché.
• 22 Jan 1532, Captaincies granted; São Vicente founded: Martim Afonso de Sousa founds São Vicente; from 1534 the king grants hereditary captaincies, of which only São Vicente and Pernambuco prosper.
• 16 Nov 1532, Capture of Atahualpa at Cajamarca: Pizarro ambushes and captures the Sapa Inca with about 170 men.
• 15 Nov 1533, Spaniards take Cusco: Pizarro enters the Inca capital and installs Manco Inca as puppet ruler.
• 14 Nov 1535, Viceroyalty of New Spain created: Antonio de Mendoza arrives as first viceroy.
• 1 May 1536, Manco Inca's revolt and siege of Cusco: Manco rebels, besieges Cusco for months, then retreats to Vilcabamba.
• 6 Aug 1538, Bogotá founded: Jiménez de Quesada founds Santa Fe after conquering the Muisca; Federmann and Belalcázar arrive 1539.
• 12 Feb 1541, Santiago de Chile founded: Pedro de Valdivia founds Santiago at the Mapocho; Chile's conquest begins.
• 6 Jan 1542, Mérida founded: Montejo the Younger founds Mérida; Yucatán is conquered by 1546.
• 20 Nov 1542, Viceroyalty of Peru created; the New Laws: Charles V signs the New Laws, which limit the encomienda, and creates a viceroyalty at Lima for all of Spanish South America. The conquerors, fresh from the civil war between Pizarro and Almagro, rebel against the first viceroy.
• 1546, Silver found at Zacatecas: Silver begins the northward mining frontier and the Chichimeca War (1550-90).
• 29 Mar 1549, Salvador founded: Tomé de Sousa founds Salvador as the seat of the first governor-general of Brazil.
• 10 Nov 1555, France Antarctique: Villegagnon plants a French colony on an island in Guanabara Bay.
• 1 Mar 1565, Rio de Janeiro founded; French expelled: Estácio de Sá founds Rio; Mem de Sá drives the French out on 20 January 1567.
• 8 Sep 1565, St Augustine founded: Menéndez de Avilés founds the oldest lasting European town in the USA.
• 24 Sep 1572, Túpac Amaru I executed at Cusco: Toledo has the last Inca beheaded after taking Vilcabamba in June 1572.
• 11 Jun 1580, Buenos Aires refounded: Juan de Garay founds the city permanently from Asunción.
• 23 Dec 1598, Battle of Curalaba: Mapuche kill Governor Loyola; within years seven southern cities are destroyed and the Biobío becomes the frontier.
• 1610, Santa Fe founded: Pedro de Peralta founds the capital of Nuevo México.
• 12 Jan 1616, Belém founded: Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco founds Forte do Presépio, the gateway to the Amazon.
• 10 May 1624, Dutch take Salvador: The Dutch West India Company captures the capital; a Luso-Spanish armada retakes it on 30 April 1625.
• 16 Feb 1630, Dutch conquer Pernambuco: The Dutch take Olinda and Recife and begin to hold the sugar coast for 24 years.
• 21 Jul 1634, Dutch take Curaçao: The West India Company seizes the island from Spain.
• 25 Nov 1641, Dutch Brazil at its largest: With São Luís taken, the Dutch hold the coast from Sergipe to Maranhão.
• 13 Jun 1645, Revolt against the Dutch: Pernambucan planters and Black and Indigenous troops rise against Dutch rule.
• 26 Jan 1654, Dutch surrender in Recife: The Dutch capitulate at Campina do Taborda; Dutch Brazil ends.
• 23 May 1655, England conquers Jamaica: Penn and Venables take Spanish Town, Britain's first great Caribbean prize.
• 22 Jan 1680, Colônia do Sacramento founded: Manuel Lobo plants a Portuguese fort opposite Buenos Aires; Spain takes it in August.
• 10 Aug 1680, Pueblo Revolt: The Pueblos drive the Spaniards out of New Mexico for twelve years.
• 1693, Gold found in Minas Gerais: Paulista prospectors find gold near Sabará; the gold rush shifts Brazil's centre of gravity to the south.
• 13 Mar 1697, Fall of Nojpetén: The last independent Maya kingdom, the Itza, falls to Spain.
• 20 Sep 1697, Treaty of Ryswick: Spain recognises French Saint-Domingue on western Hispaniola.
• 27 May 1717, Viceroyalty of New Granada created: Philip V creates it; suppressed 1723 and re-founded 20 Aug 1739.
• 13 Jan 1750, Treaty of Madrid: Spain and Portugal swap Colônia for the Seven Missions and accept the real occupation of Brazil's interior; the Guarani resist in the war of 1754-56.
• 10 Feb 1763, Treaty of Paris: Florida and Louisiana change owners: Britain gets Florida and the Mississippi east bank; Spain already holds Louisiana west of the river by the secret 1762 cession.
• 27 Feb 1767, Jesuits expelled: Charles III expels the Jesuits; Paraguay, Chiquitos, Moxos, Maynas missions pass to other orders.
• 16 Jul 1769, San Diego mission and presidio: Portolá and Serra open Alta California.
• 1 Aug 1776, Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata created: Cevallos heads it; Cuyo and Upper Peru joined.
• 23 Feb 1777, Spain takes Santa Catarina island: Ceballos' armada occupies the island; the Treaty of San Ildefonso (1 Oct 1777) returns it but gives Colônia and the Seven Missions to Spain.
• 4 Nov 1780, Túpac Amaru II revolt: Rebellion that shakes Peru and Upper Peru until 1783; Túpac Amaru executed in Cusco, 18 May 1781.
• 3 Sep 1783, Peace of Paris: Spain regains Florida: Britain returns Florida to Spain.
• 22 Aug 1791, Bois Caïman: the Haitian Revolution begins: Enslaved people of the northern plain rise in Saint-Domingue, starting the Haitian Revolution.
• 18 Feb 1797, British take Trinidad: A fleet under Abercromby seizes Spain's island; confirmed 1802.
• 20 Dec 1803, Louisiana Purchase handed over: France transfers Louisiana to the United States in New Orleans.
• 1804, Haiti declares independence: Dessalines proclaims independence at Gonaives, the second independent state in the Americas.
• 27 Jun 1806, British invasions of Buenos Aires: A British force takes Buenos Aires and is thrown out by local militia; a second invasion fails in 1807. The city learns it can defend itself without Spain.
• 7 Mar 1808, The Portuguese court arrives in Rio de Janeiro: The Portuguese court, fleeing Napoleon, reaches Rio and makes it the capital of the empire.
• 25 May 1810, May Revolution: Buenos Aires replaces viceroy Cisneros with a junta of its own. The capital of the Río de la Plata is never retaken by Spain.
• 16 Sep 1810, Grito de Dolores: Father Miguel Hidalgo rings the church bell at Dolores and calls for revolt. Within weeks his host takes Guanajuato, Valladolid and Guadalajara: the Mexican War of Independence has begun.
• 5 Jul 1811, Venezuelan Declaration of Independence: The congress in Caracas declares independence: the first Spanish colony to do so. The First Republic lasts a year.
• 6 Aug 1813, Bolívar enters Caracas: The Admirable Campaign ends: in three months Bolívar has marched from New Granada to Caracas, and is named Liberator. The Second Republic falls to Boves's llaneros a year later.
• 2 Oct 1814, Disaster of Rancagua: O'Higgins is beaten by Osorio's royalists; the patriots flee over the Andes to Mendoza and Chile is Spanish again for two and a half years.
• 6 Dec 1815, Fall of Cartagena: Morillo's expedition from Spain starves the city out after a siege of 106 days. New Granada is reconquered within months.
• 9 Jul 1816, Congress of Tucumán: The United Provinces of South America declare independence from Spain, at the moment the revolution is beaten almost everywhere else.
• 12 Aug 1816, Invasion of the Banda Oriental: Lecor's army enters Uruguay; Montevideo falls 20 Jan 1817 and the Cisplatina province is annexed in 1821.
• 12 Feb 1817, Battle of Chacabuco: San Martín's Army of the Andes, 5,000 men over passes of 4,000 metres, defeats the royalists north of Santiago. O'Higgins becomes Supreme Director of Chile.
• 5 Apr 1818, Battle of Maipú: San Martín destroys Osorio's army outside Santiago. Chile's independence is secure; the way to Peru is by sea.
• 7 Aug 1819, Battle of Boyacá: After crossing the flooded llanos and the Andes, Bolívar captures the royalist army of New Granada in two hours. Bogotá falls three days later; in December the Republic of Colombia is proclaimed at Angostura.
• 24 Jun 1821, Battle of Carabobo: Bolívar and Páez break the royalist army of Venezuela. Only Puerto Cabello holds out, until 1823.
• 28 Jul 1821, San Martín proclaims the independence of Peru: The viceroy has withdrawn to the sierra; San Martín enters Lima and becomes Protector. The royalists hold the highlands for three more years.
• 27 Sep 1821, The Army of the Three Guarantees enters Mexico City: Three centuries of New Spain end. Iturbide is crowned emperor the next year.
• 24 May 1822, Battle of Pichincha: Sucre defeats the royalists on the slopes of the volcano above Quito. The old Audiencia of Quito joins Colombia.
• 26 Jul 1822, Bolívar and San Martín meet at Guayaquil: The two liberators confer in private. San Martín leaves Peru to Bolívar and goes into exile.
• 7 Sep 1822, Brazil declares independence: Pedro I proclaims Brazilian independence at the Ipiranga; Portuguese garrisons hold Bahia, Maranhão, Pará, Piauí and Montevideo and are removed 1823-24.
• 2 Jul 1823, Portuguese leave Salvador: After the Bahian siege, Madeira de Melo's troops evacuate; Maranhão falls 28 July and Pará 15 Aug 1823.
• 9 Dec 1824, Battle of Ayacucho: Sucre destroys the last viceregal army; viceroy La Serna is captured and signs the capitulation. Spanish rule on the mainland is over but for a few garrisons.
• 19 Apr 1825, Thirty-Three Orientals land: Lavalleja and 32 exiles land at Agraciada and start the rising against Brazil's Cisplatina; independence is declared at Florida on 25 Aug 1825.
• 6 Aug 1825, Bolivia declares independence: An assembly at Chuquisaca declares Upper Peru independent of both Lima and Buenos Aires and names the new state after Bolívar.
• 23 Jan 1826, Callao surrenders: Rodil yields the Real Felipe fortress after a siege of more than a year: the end of Spanish rule in South America.