The Discovery: Colombia

The initial conquest of modern-day Colombia began when various Spanish explorers embarked on the search for “El Dorado” or “the treasure”. [1,3]  The vast land was plentiful in gold, emerald, and tobacco. [1]  The opportunity looked appealing to them because Spain, as well as other conquerors, strove for Gold, God, and Glory.   As the Spanish came in, they began founding cities.  In 1525, Rodrigo de Bastidas founded Santa Marta and later in 1533, Pedro de Heredia founded Cartegena. [2]  Once they realized the extremity of their success and their power, the Spanish decided to go for the whole territory. This sparked the interest of the Spanish conqueror, Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada, who conquerered Colombia in 1536. [1] Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada founded today's capital, Bogota by defeating and conquering the Chibcha Indians, an agricultural tribe on the eastern chain of the Andes Mountains. [1, 3] Once he completed the conquering, Spain gave him the military title of Marshal.[1]  Spain went on to conquer modern-day Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, and parts of Peru and Brazil; they named this new, immense plot of land, Nueva Granada [1]