Unlike several of the more advanced and better known civilizations of pre-Columbian Meso-America (Aztec, Mayan), comparatively little is known regarding the indigenous inhabitants of today’s Costa Rica. But some things are clear. For one, their numbers were relatively small. Further, these peoples tended to cluster in autonomous tribes and, as such, nothing resembling an empire (like that of the Incas or Aztecs) ever emerged. Yet, despite the absence of unification or centralized authority does not mean that Costa Rican natives were unduly primitive. On the contrary, some of these tribes developed agricultural systems, conducted military campaigns, practiced slavery, manufactured jade and ceramic items and even participated in rather sophisticated religious activities—which included ceremonial decapitation and cannibalism.
Columbus was the first known European to visit this area. That was in 1502, on the Atlantic coast side, near Cariari. During his seventeen-day stay gifts were presented to him, some of which contained gold. This so impressed the explorer that he dubbed the region “Rich Coast” or Costa Rica.
Normally, and in keeping with the motivation of most of the European explorers of this era, one might have expected Columbus to remain in the area for a longer period and search for greater quantities of precious metals. This was not the case, however, because his top priority was that of finding a direct water route to the Far East.
But it was not long before fellow fortune seekers heard of Columbus’ gold and in 1506 a small contingent led by Diego de Nicuesa ventured into Costa Rica. Encounters with hostile natives, however, quickly forced this expedition to withdraw, empty-handed. News of the ill-fated Nicuesa episode did not deter others form trying to locate riches and in 1522 a large force under the command of Gil Gonzalez Davila entered the territory. Although a noticeable amount of gold was acquired, the quest had to be prematurely abandoned because of the death of so many participants from Indian attacks and tropical diseases.
Scant additional attention was focused on Costa Rica for over three more decades. Then, in 1559 Spain sent conquistador Juan Vasquez de Coronado to the Region with instructions to pacify the interior and establish a capital in the Cartago Valley. The idea was to promote settlement and expand commercial development within the province. Toward this end, an encomienda (later Repartimiento) system was put into place. Such practices were widely used throughout other parts of Central America and the Caribbean and consisted of granting individuals large tracts of land with the exclusive right to exploit both the resources and the people residing on the property.
Despite the seeming attractiveness of these initiatives, there were few takers primarily because of location and a drastically dwindling native population base (due to death tolls from European diseases and capture by slave traders). The lack of a labor supply means that colonists were forced to practice subsistence farming—a prospect which most potential immigrants found unattractive.
Another factor hampering progress in early Costa Rica concerned its administrative and governance structure. In some ways, Costa Rica found itself similar to a proverbial stepchild during the bulk of its colonial period due to the fact that all of Central America (except Panama) was administratively controlled from Guatemala. Thus, given the long distance between the two areas, difficulty in communications and a relatively unimportant economy, it is no wonder that Costa Rica remained little more than a backward outpost in Spain’s American empire for the next two centuries.
Little change regarding the plight of Costa Rica, even after independence from Spain came in 1821. Independence from Spain did not mean real independence, however. Instead, the Spanish government had freed the entire region of Central America as a unit (understandable, since this had been the way it was administered during Spanish rule).
Although free from Spanish hegemony, the new states of Central America soon faced important additional decisions, the first of which concerned Mexico. The latter, also newly independent of Spain, appealed to the territories in the South to become part of a Mexican empire. Costa Ricans were sharply divided on this question—so much so that a brief civil war erupted, with the anti-Mexican forces prevailing.
This episode was quickly followed by another issue: should Costa Rica maintain its unilateral nationhood or accept a slightly less autonomous role within a newly formed confederation consisting of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The decision to join what became known as the Central American Federation (C.A.F.) came in 1824.
As is so frequently in the case of governmental arrangements based on the principle of loose central authority, problems soon surfaced. The first of these concerned the southwestern portion of Nicaragua whose residents, in effect, decided to secede and become part of Costa Rica (this area was known as Guanacaste).
Costa Rica’s association with the C.A.F. proved less than satisfactory for a host of political and economic reasons, with the end result being permanent separation from that body in 1838. In fact, the entire C.A.F. collapsed the same year.
Once these initial political issues were behind them, Costa Ricans turned their attention to economic matters. The mainstay of the nation’s income seemed inevitably tied to agriculture and ranching. During the late colonial period small amounts of wealth were generated by sell and export of tobacco, cacao, cattle, mules, and wheat. But the country’s future was to be determined by bananas and, most especially, coffee.
Coffee had been introduced around 1808 and quickly began generating a transforming influence on virtually every aspect of national life. Not only did it create wealth, but also this wealth led to sharp class divisions, a large national debt, periodic economic crises and governmental control by wealthy planters.
Interest in monetary matters was temporarily sidetracked in the mid-nineteenth century, however, when an American military adventurer named William Walker entered the country with an eye toward conquering Costa Rica in the hope of having it annexed to the United States. Walker, who had previously and briefly seized control of Nicaragua, marched into Costa Rica in 1856 with a small force of Americans and captured slaves. Costa Rican president Juan Rafael Mora answered the challenge by raising a makeshift force of 9,000 men (mostly peasants armed with only farm tools). Walker and his cohorts were quickly driven out of the country. (a monument commerating the event is found in a San Jose park).
In the perception of today’s world, Costa Rica is frequently referred to as the “Switzerland of Central America.” Why? There is a four-fold explanation: (1) it is a peaceful place (there is no army); (2) it practices democracy and promotes a sense of egalitarianism; (3) its economy is progressing along diversified and modernistic lines; (4) the quality of life (including social, educational and health services) is improving constantly. All these things stand in stark contrast with the rest of Central America where dictators, militarism, poverty, civil wars, hunger, and illiteracy are all too often the norm.
But Costa Rica is by no means a perfect place and there is still much work left to be done. How, then, did it get to where it is today? The path of history provides some clues.
Since the earliest days following independence, Costa Rica had a constitution. While this was indeed the case, governmental power remained largely in the hands of an oligarchical elite—many of whom held high-level military positions or came from the ranks of the wealthy coffee growing crowd. Over the next century a succession of administrations came and went but along the way the general population made advancements, even though these changes (whether social, economic or political) came in uneven and sporadic fashion. Such things were able to occur largely because of a desire by authoritarian leaders to curry favor with masses.
Two things have had monumental significance in changing the course of Costa Rican history. The first was the impact that the Great Depression of the 1930s had upon the country. As the economy sank to greater depths with each passing year, it became clear that economic diversification was necessary (meaning an effort to promote manufacturing) and that the government needed to obtain a far larger role in controlling the nation’s financial affairs (which for a long time were really in the hands of foreign bankers, coffee growers, and the United Fruit Company).
The second event of major proportions was a month long civil war (which killed 2,000 people) in 1948. The aftermath of this conflict saw the national army disbanded and a new constitution implemented, which included female and black suffrage, civil service reform, and controls over foreign corporations, tax reforms, and banking reforms, among other things.