History of Costa Rica

Costa Rica has a strong history of neutrality and peaceful existence, mainly due to the fact that no aggressive nation ever found Costa Rica to be a strategic military hold, nor a land of wealth.

Pre-Conquest

There is little trace of pre-conquest cultures in Costa Rica. The civilizations of the Mexico region, including the Aztecs, the Mayans and the Olmecs, did not expand as far south as Costa Rica. There were some groups inhabiting the region and the most notable traces of these people are the precious metals (primarily jade and gold) found dated back at least 2000 years. These archeological finds can be found at the Museo de Jade (Jade Museum) and Museo de Oro Precolombino (Pre-Columbian Gold Museum)

Very little is known about the pre-Columbian cultures that mined the precious metals and settled in Costa Rica before the Spanish conquest. The culture left signs of civilizations in pottery, sculptures and stonework. The best archeological site in Costa Rica is found at the Monumento Nacional Guayabo, about 85km east of the capital, San Jose.

Spanish Conquest

Christopher Columbus was the first Spaniard to arrive and the “conquest” was more of an occupation. Columbus landed near present day Puerto Limon on the Caribbean Sea. There was no powerful indigenous culture inhabiting the region to resist the Spanish expansion.

The Spaniards attempted to colonize Costa Rica a number of times. The few indigenous groups that did exist at the time died off for the most part due to conflict with the Spaniards and disease. Therefore there was no huge workforce for the Spanish colonies. The Spaniards also did not intermarry with the indigenous people and therefore the mestizo, or mixed culture never formed in Costa Rica. Lastly, the land was not as rich with precious metals as the conquerors originally thought. Costa Rica was soon forgotten and abandoned by the Spaniards.

Independence

On September 15, 1821, Central America gained its independence from Spain. Costa Rica eventually became aware of this fact about a month later. From there the country was briefly part of Mexico and then was a state of the Central American United Provinces. The first elected head of state for Costa Rica was Juan Mora Fernandez in 1824.

The 19th century was primary a period of economic growth for Costa Rica. The main export was coffee. This economic growth led to some coffee growers becoming wealthier than other citizens, which was the beginning of class structure. The cultural and economic growth of Costa Rica held through the 20th century. The only blip in the county’s development was an unsuccessful attempt by an American named William Walker to conquer the country and take slaves to Nicaragua to build a canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The Costa Rican civilians defeated Walker’s army and chased him out of the country. A young drummer boy named Juan Santamaria died in the heroic battle and has been one of the favorite national heroes ever since.

Democracy

Development at the end of the 19th century was slowed by power struggles among the coffee-growing elite of society. In 1889, the first democratic elections were held with the same voting privileges for rich and poor men. Women and minorities would not be allowed to vote until the constitution was formed in 1949. In that year, voting became mandatory for all citizens 18 and over and remains so to this day.

Democracy has held strong in Costa Rica since the end of the 19th century with a few, short-lived exceptions. There are 30 political parties, but only two have ever been in power since 1949: the National Liberation Party (PLN) and the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC).