|
|
| (10 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| =History of Venezuela=
| | <center>| [[Venezuela's Economy]] |</center> |
| '''Colonial Economy: | |
| *Spanish expenditionaries arrived in what is present-day Venezuela in 1498, but generally neglated the area because of its apparent lack of mineral wealth
| |
| *Encomienda is a system where the Spanish crown granted rights over Indian labor and tribute to individual colonists, who in turn undertook to maintain order and to propogate Christianity among the Indians
| |
| *The Spanish crown officially ended the encomienda system in 1687, and enslaved Africans replaced the majority of Indian labor
| |
| *This time was dominated by a plantation culture, more closely resembling the systems of the Carribbean Islands than that of a South American territory
| |
| *Colonial authorities organized the local Indians into an encomienda system to grow tobacco, cotten, indigo, and cocoa
| |
|
| |
|
| '''Post Independence:
| | <center>| [[Pre-Chavez Economy]] | [[Chavez Economy]] | [[Petroleum Industry]] |</center> |
| *Cocoa eclipsed tobacco as the most important crop in the 1700's
| |
| *Coffee surpassed cocoa in the 1800's. A coffee boom in the 1830's made Venezuela the world's third largest exporter of coffee
| |
| *Fluctuations in the international coffee market created large swings in the economy throughout the 19th century
| |
|
| |
|
| '''Early 20th Century:
| | ---- |
| *The first commercial drilling of oil occured in 1917 and the oil boom of the 1920's brought to an end the coffee era in Venezuela economic history
| | <center>[[Image:Storia.gif|thumb|Description]]</center> |
| *The oil boom transformed Venezuela from a relatively poor agrarian society into Latin America's wealthiest state
| |
| *By 1928 Venezuela was the world's leading exporter of oil and second in total petroleum production
| |
| *Venezuela remained the world's leading oil exporter until 1970
| |
| *Oil represented over 90 percent of Venezuela's total exports begining in the 1930's
| |
| *The newfound oil let to widespread corruption and deceit by foreign companies and indifferent military dictators flourished which hindered economic developement
| |
|
| |
|
| '''Arrival of Democracy:
| | <center>[[History of Venezuela]] </center> |
