OUR HISTORY
...CONTINUE

Lot of things happened since the time the conquer begins to the time the pirates and corsairs came to our land, from bloody battles to all kinds of  oppressions to the indians and later with the arrive of the black maroons, vexation  got to the point of slavery where they were marked with a hot iron by their owners.  Some of the corsair's victories had to do with the help of this maroons, ever since they wanted to take revenge of those who made so much  damage and cause so much pain to their  families. 
Not only the maroons were treated  like slaves, our aborigens were oppressed also, and the idea of help the indians in their labors to  get gold for the spanish was the main reason to bring the maroons from Africa.
Indians like Urraca were the rebels and faithful defensors of the sovereignty of our territories, he was a hero of the conquer.  Spanish could not make this Guaymi indian surrender.  His battles with spanish took place for nine years.
Spain dedicated time to found towns and that is how
many places were founded and here we mention a few of them,
Nombre de Dios founded by Diego de Nicuesa in 1510
Santa Maria La Antigua del Darien founded in 1510
Acla founded by Pedrarias Davila in 1515
Panama La Vieja founded by Pedrarias Davila in August 15th, 1519
Fonseca was founded on the Chiriqui Lands by Hernan Ponce and Bartolome Hurtado
Nata de los Caballeros founded by Pedrarias Davila in May 20th, 1522 and rebuilted by Gobernor Antonio de la Gama in 1531
and some others like La Villa de los Santos, Parita, Alanje, Remedios, Penonome, Chepo, Montijo, San Francisco de Veraguas, Santa Fe and others.
It was with the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by Vasco Nuņez de Balboa when our geographical position began to be consider by the spanish as extremely important and strategic for the transit.
From Panama were conducted many expeditions to conquer other lands and
treasures like the Incas.  When the conquer of Peru occured the destiny of Panama as a transit country was accented.
The Colonial period began  in 1510 with the foundation of Santa Maria La Antigua del Darien and the conquer of the Isthmus with the fourth expedition of Cristobal Columbus in 1502 and the foundation of Santa Maria de Belen of short  term lasting and fnished with the government of Pedro Vasquez de Acuņa between 1536 and 1539.  The process of colonization in Panama had different periods: 
Time of the Discovery
Time of the Conquer
Time fo the Colony
and Time of the Independence
The spanish not only brought to the new continent the maroons  and slavery
they also realized the christianization of the indians with their catholic missionaries. They built churches, evangelize indian towns and stick the
Holy Cross in the higher mountains, they distroyed the idols and fetiches, jewels and architecture of the aborigens without even notice that they were destroying the structure of a millenary culture.
With the colonization Spanish brought to the Spanish Main new elements and ground european products like orange trees, lemon trees, rice, watermelons, pomegranate trees, figs, onions and parsley.  They foment the breed of animals with the introductions of  horses,  cattles, swine, hogs, goats and others.
Hispanic blood got mixed with the indian to give origin to a new population that looked forward to find a better ways of overcoming.  Also implanted  legislations that were the base for the next governments.
The slavery system against the indians, the blacks whom were introduced  as slaves, the mulattos, the mestizos and  even the creoles  gave pass to civil wars.   Insurrection of indians and black and even some spanish  were seen everywhere and the most known insurrects were Urraca, Felipillo and Bayano.
Maroons got convinced  that the biggest enemies of the Spanish were the pirates and corsairs,  so they started cooperating with them to assault caravans coming from Panama La Vieja to Nombre de Dios or vice versa and in this way they  obtain some  revenge for all the abuse against their brothers.
All the gold of the Inca Empire, Mayans and Aztecs  made Spain the first european power while England and France were getting bigger, and when they were ready and strong enough they decide to break the Atlantic and Pacific block  stablished by Spain and Portugal.  First came the corsairs and after the bucaneers and pirates whom has no more law of power and no moral code  than  steal and burn.
The first visit of a Pirate in the Isthmus was in July 9th of 1572 by Francis Drake,  he visited Nombre de Dios and began visiting the coasts of San Blas, he obtained information on  the treassures that should pass through the roads from Panama to  Nombre de Dios with final destination to Spain.
Drake wait  and in May 1573 he stoled a big quantity of gold and silver from the Spanish, and was so much that part of it had to be buried because of the continuos spanish attacks.  On January 6th of 1596 Drake took Nombre de Dios on his third visit to the Isthmus.  An army of corsairs with Tomas Baskerville as comander marched to the city of Panama where Spanish were waiting the invaders.  Conquered the corsairs, they fast went back to Nombre de Dios.  Drake, morally destroyed by the defeat and the fevers well common on the region back then, caused his death in February 7th, 1596.
He was buried on a lead casket and thrown on the deep waters of the Portobelo Bay in front of what we know today as Drake Island.
Some other corsairs that came to Panama were John Oxeham,
Francis L'Olonnais and the Old Mansvelt, and Henry Morgan.
In June 1668 Morgan attacked Portobelo and took Santiago de la Gloria Castle
and the Fort of San Jeronimo served as  refugee for the Spanish, but this resistance shortly fell also to the power of this powerfull pirate.
Henry Morgan has resolved take the city of Panama La Vieja at any price  because of its strategical geographical position.
Morgan had 1200 pirates and 37 vessels under  his command.  Before he landed he sent Pirate Captain Joseph Bradley with 400 men to take the San Lorenzo Castle in the mouth of the Chagres River, so they would take control over the river to  then continue through it to Panama La Vieja.
January 6, 1671 the San Lorenzo Castle was attack by Bradley but Spanish Captain Pedro de Ilizalde resisted the attack three times.  At this point Bradley decide to burn all the houses and then is when the chaos made the defense fail to defend the Castle, Spanish were defeated and the pirates took San Lorenzo.
When Morgan arrived the Chagres river was free of defense.
They sailed the Chagres river until they got to Camino de Cruces, then they continue by road until they arrived to Panama La Vieja.  It took nine days to get to Panama La Vieja and after two hours of battles the Spanish began to leave and by the time the City was on fire.
February 24, 1671 Morgan went back to San Lorenzo's Castle taking 165 mules to carry all the gold, precious jewels, silver and other objects.
San Lorenzo's  Castle was destroyed and the town of Chagres burnt by order of Morgan.  By midnight he left with three vessels taking most of the treassures with him.
It was amazing how fast was the growth of Portobelo, easily became the first port of the Atlantic on the Occidental Hemisphere.  It was on Portobelo were most of the biggest commerce of Spain was realized with the American colonies.  Make available the transit between Portobelo and Panama was important and tree road  were made for that purpose but only two were good enough for that,  "Camino Real" and "Camino de Cruces".  Many commercial fairs were taking place in Portobelo where sell european products and buy the american products was a normal program for the Spanish.  The Fairs of Portobelo began in 1606  and last 132 years, the last one was in 1738.
Those were the golden years for Portobelo.
As said before our country was visited for pirates and the robery, murders and assaults in the dark were more frequent.  The big conglomerations in a small population  without sanitary resources made possible the transmission of bad epidemics.  The continuous attacks of pirates forced Spain to suspend the fairs
of Portobelo and soon after Spanish started using the route of Cabo de Hornos instead of Isthmus and the missery began to appear in the area.
At the end of 1671, Captain Antonio Fernandez de Cordoba y Mendoza
was elected as Gobernor of Panama and in charged of re-built or found in a better place the New city of Panama,  he chose the Ancon's Peninsula to found the new city and the act was oficial on January 21 of 1673.
In 1674 came to Panama the engineer Alonso Mercado de Villacorta as a Titulary Gobernor.  People was worried for the constant attacks of corsairs and pirates, so the Gobernor decides to wall the city. The new city was never attack by the pirates due to the situation of  the city on the Ancon's Peninsula.
But  the actions of Spain to wall the city was not enough since pirates were still attacking the population of the interior.  Chepo was menaced by french pirate La Sonda in 1675.  Also french pirate Bournano plundered the same place in 1678.  Portobelo was victim of John Coxon in 1679.  Richard Hawkins took several  ships at Perico's Island to then leave almost inmediately to Taboga.
English Admiral Edward Vernon  attacked Portobelo in 1739 and took San Felipe o Todo Fierro Castle, soon after fell Portobelo and with this all the other castles.  The Admiral made explode all the forts.  In 1740 the coasts of the Pacific were tortured by  Vice Admiral George Anson.  Vernon in the Atlantic and Anson in the Pacific tried to take Panama.  In 1741 Portobelo was visited again  by english Captain William Kinghills, he shoot 500 canon shots over the city but did not landed.
For several reasons we will expose below Panama loose political importance to Spain  at the begining of  XVIII Century.  Frequent scandals of the Real Audience Judges, inestability of of the gobernors, the elimination of the Portobelo fairs,  the attacks of pirates and corsairs, all of this seem to powerfuly  diminish the political value that Spain gave Panama in the beginings of the Colonial life.  Panama has no rents and the only interest left was to use it as a transit place.  Economicaly talking, things were of no difference from the political situation, the most important ways were abandoned, we refer to the chagres river, Camino Real and Camino de Cruces, the same that were used during the conquer of Peru and the fairs of Portobelo.  Panama got immerse in the missery and poverty.  The social situation during the whole colonial period was always well marked.  The difference between the social classes were well known.
The Spanish that came from Spain as autorities, missionaries, merchants, warriors or simple colonists.
The creoles, they were the sons of spanish born in the american territory.
Mestizos, Mulattos and knock-kneeds, this class were the product of the mix of spanish with black or spanish with indians.
The class of the indians or autochthonous  aborigens of the continent.
And last the class of the black, whom were imported from Africa as a requirement of Fray Bartolome de las Casas to replace the indians on the mines work.
Only the spanish had priviledges, so it is well understood why all this things lead to the future independence from Spain.
Cultural situation was not as bad, but was not the best either,  Jesuits stablished a school in Panama since 1715.  Between 1744 and 1750 the same company found The University of San Javier thanks to the effort of the panamanian Francisco Javier de Luna y Castro.  Three subjects served as a base for this University,  in 1758 the careers of  Philosophy, Arts, Physic, Metaphysic and Logic.    In 1768 the Jesuits were kicked out of Spain  and  its American colonies by Carlos III which meant the end of the University of San Javier.
Some Monasteries at the beginning of the XVII Century had elementary schools and some teachers of that time was dedicated to teach how to read and write  but without  any payment.  Community gave this teachers a place to live food.  But this education was destinated only to thus who could economically had it.  Spain did not have time to think in schools for the Isthmus as Panama was only a crossroad to comunicate with its other wealthy colonies  as it was Peru. Ecuador, Chile and others.  Elementary school has not been of worrying for Spaniards not even in Spain.
In 1820 Jose Maria Goitia opened the first printing office and with this appeared  the first two newspapers,
The Miscellaneous and The Miscellaneous of the Isthmus of Panama.  The editorial staff was comformed by juan Jose Argote, Mariano Arosemena, Manuel Maria Ayala and Juan Jose Calvo.  This newspapers were talking about freedom,  independence and the wise examples of the Independence of the United States and the Revolution of France, and  the glory that  Miranda, Bolivar, San Martin, Morelos, Sucre, Santander and all those great messengers of freedom were obtaining.
The Independence of the United States of America and its republican way of government and the contagious example this meant to the Spaniards colonies whom were under an Absolute Monarchy treatment,
The French Revolution and its claim of the Human Rights,
The success of the battles in Boyaca, Carabobo,  Argentina, Chile and Mexico that guaranteed the independences of  Venezuela, Colombia, Provinces of Rio de la Pata, Chile and Mexico; the liberal government of the Spanish  Brigadier General Pedro Ruiz de Porras whom allowed the creation of Political Centers and publication of doctrinary newspapers as it was The Miscelanea;
The circumstance that  Juan de la Cruz Murgeon  whom was the last Spaniard Governor in the Isthmus, took most of the army to the campaigns in the South and left Jose de Fabrega in charge as Supreme Chief of the Ithmian territory.
All the above reasons and the misstreatment that Spaniards were given to the colonist, the big quantity of social classes without any rights and lot of  duties,
all this,   were the causes of the end of the colonial period and the independence from Spain.
In 1820, came to the Isthmus Brigadier General Pedro Ruiz de Porras to replace Gobernor Alejandro Hore.  Ruiz de Porras  was a convinced Liberal.  Before the end of 1820,   Viceroy Juan de Samano arrived to the Isthmus to replace Pedro Ruiz de Porras,  persecusion began and the press was gaged.  All the panamanians that talk about freedom were menaced, some hide and some other kept silence.  August 2nd, 1821 Samano died and the Field Marshal Juan de la Cruz Murgeon replaced him.  It is been promissed to give him the title of Viceroy if he reconquers Nueva Granada.  He took most of the army  to his campaigns of Quito and to attack  Nueva Granada, but before he took off , he decided to leave  panamanian Colonel Jose de Fabrega as his successor. 
The ideas exposed at the Miscelanea Newspaper had an echo on Francisco Gomez Miro,  whom sent a Circular Letter to the Parties in Nata, Santiago de Veraguas and La Villa de los Santos;  the letter was an invitation to break for good with the dominion of Spain in our territory.  The Party of Nata and La Villa de los Santos were the ones that listened to Gomez Miro.




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