This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "History of South America" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(August 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
1892 map of South AmericaEuropean states claimed sovereignty over South America, 1700Contemporary political map of South America
The history of South America is the study of the past, particularly the written record, oral histories, and traditions, passed down from generation to generation on the continent of South America. The continent continues to be home to indigenous peoples, some of whom built high civilizations prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late 1400s and early 1500s. South America has a history that has a wide range of human cultures and forms of civilization. The Caral Supe civilization, also known as the Norte Chico civilization in Peru is the oldest civilization in the Americas and one of the first six independent civilizations in the world; it was contemporaneous with the Egyptian pyramids. It predated the Mesoamerican Olmec by nearly two millennia.[1][2]
Indigenous peoples' thousands of years of independent life were disrupted by European colonization from Spain and Portugal and by demographic collapse. The resulting civilizations, however, were very different from those of their colonizers, both in the mestizos and the indigenous cultures of the continent. Through the trans-Atlantic slave trade, South America (especially Brazil) became the home of millions of people of the African diaspora. The mixing of ethnic groups led to new social structures.
The tensions between Europeans, indigenous peoples, and African slaves and their descendants shaped South America, starting in sixteenth century. Most of Spanish America achieved its independence in the early nineteenth century through hard-fought wars, while Portuguese Brazil first became the seat of the Portuguese empire and then an empire independent of Portugal. With the revolution for independence from the Spanish crown achieved during the 19th century, South America underwent yet more social and political changes. These have included nation building projects, absorbing waves of immigration from Europe in the late 19th and 20th centuries, dealing with increased international trade, colonization of hinterlands, and wars about territory ownership and power balance. During this period there has also been the reorganization of Indigenous rights and duties, subjugation of Indigenous peoples living in the states' frontiers, that lasted until the early 1900s; liberal-conservative conflicts among the ruling classes, and major demographic and environmental changes accompanying the development of sensitive habitats.
^Diehl, Richard A. (2004). The Olmecs : America's First Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 9–25. ISBN 0-500-28503-9.
^Haas, Jonathan; Winifred Creamer; Alvaro Ruiz (23 December 2004). "Dating the Late Archaic occupation of the Norte Chico region in Peru". Nature. 432 (7020): 1020–1023. Bibcode:2004Natur.432.1020H. doi:10.1038/nature03146. PMID 15616561. S2CID 4426545.
and 29 Related for: History of South America information
subregion of the Americas. SouthAmerica is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the...
The historyof human habitation in the Andean region ofSouthAmerica stretches from circa 15,000 BCE to the present day. Stretching for 7,000 km (4,300 mi)...
Independence of Spanish America (Cambridge University Press, 1998) Barclay, Glen. Struggle for a Continent: The Diplomatic HistoryofSouthAmerica, 1917-1945...
The Indigenous peoples ofSouthAmerica or SouthAmerican Indigenous peoples, are the pre-Columbian peoples ofSouthAmerica and their descendants. These...
is provided as an overview of and topical guide to SouthAmerica. SouthAmerica is the southern continent of the two Americas, situated entirely in the...
The SouthAmerican Plate is a major tectonic plate which includes the continent ofSouthAmerica as well as a sizable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed...
machine was one of the first documented cases in the historyof computer science in SouthAmerica. Among the first computers in Latin America was also the...
powers involving the continents of North America and SouthAmerica is more well-known. During this time, the European empires of Spain, Portugal, Britain, France...
The historyof North America encompasses the past developments of people populating the continent of North America. While it was commonly accepted that...
The genetic historyof the Indigenous peoples of the Americas is divided into two distinct periods: the initial peopling of the Americas during about 20...
economy ofSouthAmerica comprises approximately 434 million people living in the 12 sovereign states and three dependent territories ofSouthAmerica, which...
States, the AmericanSouth, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States ofAmerica. It is between...
from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, economics, demographics, and settlement patterns. The term Upper South is a geographic...
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. As commonly conceptualized, the modern...
The historyofSouth Korea begins with the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945. At that time, South Korea and North Korea were divided, despite being...
colonial historyof the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the early 16th century until the incorporation of the...
Frank. South Africa: A Narrative History. Kodansha America. 1 February 1999. 606 pages. ISBN 1-56836-258-7. Worden, Nigel. Making of Modern South Africa:...
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and SouthAmerica. The Americas make up most of the...
Numan V. The New South, 1945–1980 (LSU Press, 1996) online Best, John Hardin. "Education in the Forming of the AmericanSouth". Historyof Education Quarterly...
The historyof the Americas begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an ice age. These groups are generally believed...
The historyof southern India covers a span of over four thousand years during which the region saw the rise and fall of a number of dynasties and empires...
popular sport in almost all SouthAmerican countries. There are a wide range of sports played in the continent ofSouthAmerica. Popular sports include rugby...
ISBN 978-0-7432-8226-0. richest man america 1800. Phillips, Kevin (June 18, 2002). Wealth and Democracy: A Political HistoryofAmerica's Rich. New York, NY: Broadway...
117th governor ofSouth Carolina.[citation needed] Outline ofSouth Carolina African Americans in South Carolina Historyof slavery in South Carolina Black...
grouped by region where they are located (Central America, Northern America, West Indies and SouthAmericas). The longest rivers in each country are included...
Global Information
