The Europeans Arrive
Amongst the first Europeans to set eyes opon what today is known
as Honduras was none other than Christopher Columbus. As part of their fourth
voyage to the new world they had (unknowingly) discovered ten years earlier,
Columbus's fleet landed at the island of Guanaja, today part of the
Honduran Bay Islands, in July 1502. At this point in the voyage,
Columbus was looking for a straight that would allow him access to what he
believed would be the Indian Ocean.
Columbus's 4th voyage to the Americas
Artist's rendition of the "Niña", the "Pinta" and the
"Santa María" - Columbus's original fleet.
Near Guanaja, they came across a group of seafearing Mayan traders in a large
canoe. They attracted Columbus's attention for several reasons, but more
importantly because they said the came from land (not from another island) and
that this was directly south from Guanaja.Columbus immediately set course due south and shortly after his crew landed at a place he named Punta Caxinas (today called Puerto Castilla) on the northern coast of Honduras on July 30th, 1502. As Columbus's crew was not without a priest, the very first catholic mass on the New World was celebrated there that same day. (To conmmemorate the 500th aniversary of this event, a new church was built in the city of Trujillo in 1992 and a special mass was held.)
At the mouth of a river which he called Río de la Posesión, Columbus claimed the Honduran territory in the name of Fernando de Aragón and Isabel de Castilla, the King and Queen of Spain.
A man, a country, and a name
In Spanish, the word "honduras" means "depths". It is a
peculiar name for a country, but there is also a peculiar story behind how our
country got this name.
It has been traditionally accepted that Columbus's himself named the country.
According to the story, the Spanish fleet sailed east from Trujillo
and encountered rough seas off our north-eastern coast, in deep waters that
made the sailors very uneasy. The weather was so bad that it took the fleet 28
days to reach shallower and calmer waters off the east coast of Nicaragua. At
this point Columbus reportedly said "Gracias a Dios que hemos dejado estas
honduras.", which translates to "Thank God we have left these
dephts.". And so, for decades Honduran schoolchildren have been taught that
this is why the territory on the northeastern part of our country (and the cape
just north of it) is called Gracias a Dios ("Thank God") and our country itself
is called Honduras. However, historians now know that Columbus never actually named our country, only a portion of our northern coast as "Punta Caxinas" and the cape that gave him such difficulty as "Cabo de Honduras" (Cape of the Depths). The name Honduras was invented by two rival explorers of Columbus and were retracing his steps and "rediscovering" and renaming places that the Italian sailor had already discovered and named. The name used for the Honduran territory in early maps was "Guaymuras", but later mapmakers arbitrarily started using the name "Honduras" on their charts. The name stuck.
The adminastrive region were Trujillo is today is named (in Spansh) after him: "Colón"... but we got the name right.
Enter the Conquistadores
Hernán Cortés
The conquest of the territory of Honduras began with the arrival of two Spanish captains: Gil González de Ávila in 1523 and Cristóbal de Olid a year later. Olid headed a regiment of soldiers sent from México by none other than Hernán Cortés, the man who had conquered the Aztecs Empire in México.
At first, there were power struggles between Cortés and Olid, who tried to take the Honduran territory for himself. To regain control of the new colony, Cortés sent a second captain, Francisco de las Casas, but he was captured by Olid. In the end, Cortés himself had to come to Honduras to set things straight. He dealt with Olid, established his government in Trujillo in 1526 and then returned to México. Today, one of 18 departamentos (departments) which make up the country bears the name of the Spanish conquistador.
Pedro de Alvarado
The Natives Resist
With time, the Spaniards made their way south into the mountainous areas in the central part of the country. They found that the native tribes were not organized as a single force that could present any significant resistance. The native tribes often warred amongst themselves and very few of the native caciques managed to mount a respectable opposition to the European invaders. Caciques Pizacura and Mazatl tried to repell Cortés in the northern coastal area in 1526, failed and were executed. In western Honduras, Copán Galel, a cacique of the Chortí, tried to hold the Spaniards back, with the same result. Cicumba would have the same fate in the northern valley of Sula in 1536, against Pedro de Alvarado. Under Alvarado's instructions, the city of Gracias a Dios was founded, to begin exploitation of the gold mines in the interior of the country.The most famous of these chieftains was called Lempira (possibly"Enpira" in the original native tounge), a cacique sanctioned by the Lenca tribes to lead them in battle against the Spanish invaders. Lempira managed to amass a force of over 3,000 Lenca warriors from 200 tribes and used his knowledge of the rugged terrain to mount an effective defense against the Spanish.
The invading force was led by Captain Alonso de Cáceres, under orders from Governor Francisco de Montejo. In a place known as Cerquín, in the mountains of southwestern Honduras, Lempira and his warriors built fortifications and engaged Cáceres and his troops. Depite Cáceres having recruited fierce native warriors from Guatemala and México to support his professional Spanish soldiers, Lempira and his warriors managed to repell their attacks for six months and were even able to conduct raids on nearby Spanish towns, forcing the settlers to relocate elsewhere.
Lempira (artist's rendition)
1499? -1539
1499? -1539
Lempira has passed onto history as the first Honduran hero, outshining Cicumba, Copán Galel, Pizacura, and Mazatl (who deserve no less recognition). Our national currency is the Lempira. One of our departmentos bears the name "Lempira" and the capital of coastal departmento Gracias a Dios is Puerto Lempira.
By 1542, all native resistance had been smashed and the conquest of the Central American territories was complete.
With the benefit of peace in their newly conquered lands, the Spanish founded the towns of Comayagua and Tegucigalpa, which started as small mining communities in central Honduras. These two communities would eventually become important cities with starring roles in the country's history.
Spanish Colony
After native resistance was controlled, the territory was left
under the jurisdiction of the Capitanía General de Guatemala (General
Captainship of Guatemala)
The Spanish established a system called "reparto" by which a Spanish
citizen would be granted ownership of vast extensions of land. Parallel to
this, they established the "encomienda" whereby the Spanish would be
assigned the care and supervision of any natives found in his lands and was
allowed to use them as labour in mines and/or farms. Needless to say, the
natives generally recieved brutal treatment from their masters, despite noble
attempts by some Spanish priests to improve their living and working
conditions.Natives from Honduras and the rest of Central America were transported to other areas of the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean area to make up for shortage of labour and soon the population of the coastal areas grew thin. The native peoples living in the central parts of the country, were the topography was more challenging, where relatively (but not completely) safe from this.
Nobody knows exactly what the population of the Honduran territory was by the end of the 15th century. Some anthropologists estimate that there were as few as 300,000, while others calculate over a 1,000,000 native inhabitants. Regardless of the exact figure, it is almost certain that most of the territory was already populated when the Spanish arrived. We do know that by the end of the XVI century the native population of Honduras had fallen to approximately 5% of what it was before the conquest began. This was due to the combined effect of the conquest wars, slave trade, forced labour, and diseases such as smallpox and measles, which the European newcomers carried and the natives had no defenses againsts.
The two main economical activities in the Central American territories were mining and cattle farming. The original Spanish settlers and their descendants attempted mining at first, but eventually turned to cattle farming, as this was less taxing on the nativelabour force and demanded lower financial investments.
Even during the XX century cattle farming remained one of the main areas of the Honduran agricultural sector.
Fight for Independence
During the three centuries that the colonnial domination of
Central America lasted, the system needed to maintain social and political order
in the colonies became a problem for itself: native handlabour was so grossly
underused (despite its less favourable treatement) that despite the natural
resources available, the colonies's productivity was low and the economies were
so weak that the Central American provinces need to borrow money from their
Mexican neighbours. The social hierarchy, with a minority of European-born
whites at the very top, made the majority of the inhabitants unhappy, even those
who were descendant of Europeans, as they were also considered inferior simply
for having been born in the Americas.
At the beginning of the XIX century, after having fought Napoleon Bonaparte
for years, Spain was politically and militarily weak. There was a revolutionary
movement sweeping across the colonies in the American continent, fuelled by the
powerful example of the independence of the British Colonies from the rest of
the British Empire in 1776 ideologies borne of the French Revolution of
1783.Declaration of independece
There had been at least five uprisings in Central America during the early 19th century, two of them based in Honduras. The provinces of Central America declared and gained independence from Spain in September 15th, 1821.Annexation to the Mexican Empire
Agustín de Iturbide
Emperor of México
Emperor of México
The Central American Federation
With time, Iturbide's rule in México weakened. The Central American nations declared independance from the Méxican Empire in 1823 and formed a federation named Provincias Unidas de Centro América (United Provinces of Central America). Iturbide's reign in México would end shortly after.Civil Wars
Francisco Morazán
1792 - 1842
1792 - 1842
Francisco Morazán was a Honduran-born army officer who had served as representative to the assembly from which the Federation was formed. In 1824 he was elected General Secretary of the Government of the State of Honduras and assembled troops to defend the Honduran territory from Milla. On November 11th, 1827 Morazan's force engaged Milla's at a place known as La Trinidad, to the south of Tegucigalpa. Proving to be an astute military commander, Morazán defeated Milla. His triumph at La Trinidad and a second victory to control a revolt in El Salvador made him famous throught the Federation.
Morazán's victory at La Trinidad appears on the back of
the current 5.00 Lempira bill.
(Morazán is the figure on horseback, on the left)
In 1830 Morazán was elected President of Central America. He was a
progressive ruler who enacted reforms that introduced freedom of speech, press
and religion, equality of all peoples before the law and trial by jury. But it
was this forward thinking that earned Morazán some of his most powerful enemies:
the Catholic Church did not approve his ideas on separating church from state
and of introducing secular marriage and divorce.(Morazán is the figure on horseback, on the left)
Rafael Carrera
Two years later, Morazán returned to Central America, this time to the aid of opponents of dictator Braulio Carrillo, who had taken control of Costa Rica. Morazán planned to use Costa Rica as a base from which to direct his effort to reunite the Centralamerican provinces. But the Costa Ricans did not wish to be involved in conflicts beyond their borders, and so turned against Morazán, jailed him and condemned him to death by firing squad, without the benefit of a fair trial... despite his success in ridding them of Carrillo.
Francisco Morazán, the man who had oppossed the annexation to México and then fought so hard to keep the provinces united, was executed in San José de Costa Rica in 1842. As if to add a touch of irony to the story, it happened on September 15th of that year - the very 21st annivesary of the original declaration of independence. In an unusual demostration of courage, Morazán himself commanded the firing squad that ended his life.
The Modern Honduran State
Honduras became an independent republic in 1839, after the
definitive fall of the Centralamerican federation. During the later half of the
19th century and most of the first half of the 20th, the economy and politics of
the country were dominated by the power of influence of American companies that
established vast banana plantations on the northern coast of Honduras. It was
for this reason that Honduras earned the unglamorous nickname of "Banana
Republic".
Quest for Democracy
During most of the 20th century, Honduras was governed my its military. For several decades, power was passed on through the coup d'etat mechanism, sadly stereotypical of Latinamerican countries for years.Finally, an assembly was setup in 1980 to draft a new constitution and elections were held two years later, resulting in rise to power of the first democratically elected president in several decades. Since then, Hondurans have freely elected a new president every four years and military coup d'etats are a thing of the past. With some modifications, the Constitution that was approved in 1980 is still the cornestone of all Honduran law.
To learn more about the succesion of Honduran presidents during the XX century, click here.
An Incident with the Neighbours
In July of 1969, whilst most of the world was amazed by the technological achievements of NASA's Apollo project, Honduras and El Salvador went to war against each other.Relations between Honduras and El Salvador had been tense for some time for several reasons: disatisfaction over trade relations in the Centralamerican Common Market; a high rate of immigration of Salvadorians to Honduras; El Salvador's need for land and Honduras's having land; and the opportunity created by an ill-defined borderline between the two countries.
In mid June of 1969, Honduras and El Salvador were disputing the right to participate in the upcoming World Cup, which would be held in México the following year. A riot ensued after a football match in El Salvador, in which the home team beat the Honduran counterpart, and as a result, many Hondurans attending the game were injured, even as they tried to return to Honduras. Tensions escalated and Salvadorians in Honduras began to flee en masse back to El Salvador. Tensions escalated even more. This situation was used by El Salvador as an excuse to initiate military action against Honduras and so, on the 14th of July of 1969, Salvadorian troops crossed the Honduran border. Foreign news correspondants quickly and creatively dubbed the conflict as "The Football War" (or "The Soccer War"). And so, Honduras and El Salvador have sadly gone down in history as countries that went to war over a football game.
Fortunately, the war lasted for only 100 hours. The Organisation of American States, (OAS) intervened and a cease fire was declared. But before this happened aproximately 4000 lives were lost, split approximately between both sides, and 130,000 Salvadorians were displaced from Honduras back to El Salvador. Diplomatic and commercial relations between the two countries would be complicated for the next ten years. Finally, a peace treaty was signed between Honduras and El Salvador in October of 1980.
The Cold War
The 1980's were the one of the darkest and bloodiest periods in Centralamerican history, as the region found itself a reluctant participant in the Cold War.In 1979 th a Soviet-backed communist goverment took over neighbouring Nicaragua in a bloody coup and seemed to be gearing up to invade Honduras. In El Salvador, a strong left-wing guerrilla managed to tip the country into a civil war. Guatemala had similar troubles. Thanks to its central geographical location and comparatively stable political climate, Honduras became the stronghold from which the United States would attempt to stabilize the region. A large American/Honduran airbase was established at the heart of Honduran territory and the country was flooded with American military advisors. Clandestine airbases and training camps dotted southwestern Honduras, from which the U.S./backed Nicaraguan Contras waged war against the communits government of Managua.
For nearly a decade, the Americans and the Soviets waged war in Centralamerica. Tensions were high in several occasions and many thought that Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador would become another Vietnam. (Trivia: In the film "2010", which was released in the late 1980's, a ficticious incident between the Honduran and Nicaraguan naval forces was used in the script to set the stage for possible start of WWIII.)
Peace at Last
Eventually, peace returned to Centralamerica, not because of what happened there, but because the Cold War itself came to an end. The Nicaraguan people would have democratic elections again in 1990 and the civil war in El Salvador ended with a cease fire between the army and the guerrillas in 1991. Honduras came out of all this relatively unscathed, but the people of El Salvador and Nicaragua suffered greatly.Honduras and the rest of Central America have enjoyed peace and relative political stability for more than 25 years. These conditions have allowed most of the Centralamerican economies to grow, some with more success than others.
Today, the Honduran people's greatest challenge is that of participating as a small and poor country in a highly competitive global economy.
