At the time of the Discovery, this land was inhabited by the Arawacos, Ajaguas, Cumanagotos, Ayamanes, Jirajaras, Caquetios and other Caribbean tribes, which were dedicated to agriculture and fishing, and were all zealous defenders of their ancestral territory. The Guajiros inhabited what today is the Zulia State,. The Timotocuicas in the Andes and the Southern plateau. The present day Falcon State was home to the cultural apogee of the Caquetios, who had formed the Naurhuaca Confederation, of which some caciques (indian chiefs) such as Manaure, reached notoriety for their high sense of justice and wisdom.
The Discovery
Between July 31st and August 5th 1498, during his third voyage, Christopher Columbus saw for the first time the Paria Peninsula and the "Land of Grace", afterwards he discovered the island of Margarita. He proceeded to sail the coast till he reached a place where the sailors found villages of palafitte, which they associated with the city of Venice and possibly this is where the idea was introduced to name these villages Venezuela (Small Venice).
The Conquest
Began in this land with the island of Cubagua, at the beginning of the 1500’s. A town was established for the exploitation of pearl fishery and which later was named Nueva Cádiz. Later on, Gonzalo de Ocampo headed an expedition to the continental coast founding the first settlement, Cumaná, in 1521. La Asunción in the island of Margarita was founded years later. Captain Juan de Ampíes founded Santa Ana of Coro in 1527. Diego de Ordaz began the exploration of the Orinoco river in 1532. The capital of Venezuela, Caracas, was founded by Diego de Losada on July 25th 1567, in the territory of the Caribe tribe.
The Colony
DFrom the beginning, the administration of the colony was dependent on the Santo Domingo High Courts, but when the Viceroyalty of Santa Fe was constituted, a large part of the occidental territory came under its jurisdiction. As the coastal cities prospered they became the subject of constant attacks by the French, Dutch and English pirates. In 1718 the Indian commissions were abolished. In 1721, the University of Caracas was founded. In 1728, the Spanish king granted the Guipuzcoana Company the commercial monopoly of all the Venezuelan territory. In 1777, the Captaincy General of Venezuela was established, and was formed by Caracas, Guayana, Maracaibo, Margarita and Trinidad. Twenty years later the English seized the island of Trinidad. The first popular uprising was the one of Juan Francisco de León in 1749, then in Táchira in 1781 the country’s uprising began with the "the Rebellion of the Comuneros" (comuneros were the members of the party that rose against Charles I. Sp. hist.) In 1784 the Crown eliminated the commercial monopoly of the Guipuzcoana Company. In 1787 the Royal High Court of Caracas was established. In 1804 the Archbishopric of Caracas was erected.
The Independence
The first attempt for the emancipation of Venezuela was the rebellion of Manuel Gual and José María España on July 13th of 1797, an aborted attempt. The second attempt was carried out by Francisco de Miranda wholed a small squadron that landed on the beaches of Coro, after failing to take over Ocumare from lack of support. On April 19th of 1810 the third attempt for emancipation took place. An open town council meeting in Caracas destituted the Captain General Vicente Emparan, constituting afterwards a governmental council that disavowed the Cadiz courts. The council, in search of support, sent Simón Bolívar, Luis López, and Andrés Bello to London. The following year the first Constituent Congress that prescribed a Constitution of the Federal type which proclaimed absolute independence was signed on July 5th 1811. General Francisco Miranda was appointed Chief of the patriot army, but was able to achieve very little as he faced the superiority of the Royal Army under the command of Domingo Monteverde. Miranda, unjustly accused of "treason", was delivered to the Spanish on July 30th of 1812. In irons and shackled, he was sent to the Carraca prison in Cádiz, Spain, where he eventually died on the 14th of July of 1816.
Pulling himself together after the defeat inflicted by Monteverde, Simón Bolívar accomplished an admirable campaign in the lower Magdalena (Colombia). And in May of 1813 started the Venezuelan liberation war.
Triumphantly he entered the city of Mérida the 18th of June of that same year, proclaiming in the city of Trujillo, "war to death" against the Spaniards. He received the title of "Libertador" in Caracas, the capital. But by June of 1814, the royalist José Tomás Boves, also known as the "sanguinario" (bloodthirsty), triumphed at La Puerta and proceeded to enter Caracas. Bolívar withdraws to the eastern part of the country and then sails towards Cartagena. In Tunja the Congress had granted him ample powers for the Nueva Granada campaign, but in order to prevent a civil war he embarks for the island of Jamaica in order to organize a new military campaign in Venezuela. In 1815 he disembarks on the island of Margarita, prepares an expedition and heads for Carúpano and then to Ocumare de la Costa. He then sails for Haiti, where he had already been once before returning to Venezuela in 1816. On May 6th of that same year he was recognized as Chief Supreme of the Republic in an Assembly of notables that gathered in the town of Santa Ana, in the island of Margarita.
From Guiana, Bolívar entered the town of Calabozo in 1818 overthrowing General Pablo Morillo. He occupied the valleys of Aragua but was defeated once more at la Puerta. Not losing his strength, he returns to Angostura where he reorganizes the army and starts the patriotic newspaper known as the "Correo del Orinoco" (Orinoco Courier). In the year of 1819 he summons the Venezuelan Congress and in his famous speech he establishes the foundations for the Gran Colombia (Great Colombia: Venezuela, Nueva Granada and Ecuador).
Once the army was reorganized, Bolívar crosses the Andes to liberate Colombia. During the battle of Boyacá, August 7th of 1819 his military genius is evident. The Colombian Congress in return names Bolívar President of the Republic.
The decisive battle for the Independence of Venezuela was fought on June 24th 1821 at the Carabobo Camp, with the help of the llaneros of the Páez army and the British Legions He then seals the consolidation of the Venezuelan Independence from the Spanish domain during the battle of Maracaibo the 24th of July 1823.
Pulling himself together after the defeat inflicted by Monteverde, Simón Bolívar accomplished an admirable campaign in the lower Magdalena (Colombia). And in May of 1813 started the Venezuelan liberation war.