Ecuador

Ecuador The first Spaniards landed in northern Ecuador in 1526. Pizarro reached the country in 1532, and spread terror among the Indians thanks to his conquistadors' horses, armor and weapons. The Inca leader, Atahualpa, was ambushed, held for ransom, 'tried' and executed, and the Inca Empire was effectively demolished. Quito held out for two years but was eventually destroyed by Atahualpa's general: Ruminahui, rather than be lost intact to the invading Spaniards. Quito was refounded in December 1534. Today there is only one intact Inca site in Ecuador - Ingapirca, to the north of Cuenca. After the Incas were defeated, the Spanish became the new rulers of Ecuador. A creole middle class began to emerge and made several attempts to free Ecuador of Spanish rule. This would finally happen on May 24, 1822; thanks to Simon Bolivar. The first years of the Republic were marked by instability and power struggles. History evolved around the figure of the first President, Venezuelan born General Juan José Flores. During this government the first constitution was written. Quito was chosen as the capital of Ecuador and Catholicism was the official religion of the State. By 1860, Gabriel Garcia Moreno consolidated the country and an era of conservatism began with support from the Catholic Church, which lasted until 1895. During the last part of the 19th Century, the country flourished economically, mainly ecuador, president, during, elected, peruvian, government, due, until, spanish, presidency, power, peru, history, first, country, began, 1998, years, tropical, succeeded, quito, population, peace, pact, pachacutec, one, million, mahauad, lost, jamil, interim, instability, general, free, foreign