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History of Ecuador
San Martin and Bolivar met in Guayaquil, Ecuador to decide how they would govern the newly independent Americas.

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History of Ecuador

Pre-Conquest

A number of artifacts have been found on the coast and in the Andean highlands from tribes that live in Ecuador prior to the arrival of the Incas. These indigenous groups include the Cara, Quitu (where Quito gets its name) and Puruhá.

The Incas arrived in the 1400’s and Ecuador was incorporated into the Inca Empire that stretched from Colombia in the north to Chile in the south. The Inca empire weakened substantially around 1526 when the emperor died and left half of his empire (based in Cusco, Peru) to one of his sons, Huascar and the other half (based in Quito) to Atahualpa,his other son. For the first time the Inca Empire was divided in two.

Spanish Conquest

Francisco Pizarro led the Spanish invasion on the Inca Empire in 1532. He organized a meeting with Atahualpa to “negotiate peace” where he took the Inca ruler captive, held him for ransom, tortured him and then executed him after the ransom was paid. The Inca Empire basically collapsed after the Inca ruler’s death. Some Inca fighters, led by General Ruminahi held out for another two years in Quito before being captured and executed.

The indigenous people that survived the Spanish invasion were put to work making the Spanish wealthy. Ecuador became a province of the Spanish empire, with the administration based out of Lima, Peru. Ecuador later became the province of Nueva Grenada in Colombia. There were few uprisings until the fight for independence.

Independence

The first major attempt for independence in 1809 only lasted 24 days before the Spanish army regained control of Quito. Simón Bolívar led the fight for freedom in Venezuela and Colombia before making his way to Ecuador to lead the independence movement in 1820. The two-year battle ended on May 24, 1822 when Bolívar’s army defeated the Spanish army at the Battle of Pinchincha and took Quito.

Gran Columbia

After Independence Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca, were incorporated into Gran Colombia in 1822. Bolívar assumed the Presidency of this new nation that included Venezuela and Nueva Granada (present day Colombia). Gran Colombia was divided into the departments: Venezuela, Cundinamarca and Quito. Gran Colombia lasted only eight years and Ecuador became an independent nation in 1830.

Modern Times

Ecuador is split politically with the conservatives mainly in Quito and the liberals in Guayaquil on the coast. Democracy has prevailed continually in Ecuador except for brief periodic military intervention. The current president of Ecuador is Lucio Gutierrez.

For more information about the history of Ecuador: www.ecuador.us/history.htm