History
In 1498, Christopher Columbus became the first European to arrive at Margarita Island. The local natives, named Guaiqueries, received the conquering Spaniards with open arms unaware that they later would become slaves of their own wealth, since the coast of the island abounded in pearls. Pearls represented almost a third of all New World tribute to the Spanish Crown. Margarita Island had to be fortified against the increasing threat of pirate attacks, and several of these fortifications remain today. In 1561, the island was seized by Lope de Aguirre, a notoriously violent and rebellious conquistador who held the islanders in a grip of terror until he returned to the mainland in an attempt to take Panama from the Spanish crown. Around 1675 the island was captured by Red Legs Greaves, a pirate known for his humanity and morality. He captured a fleet of Spanish ships off port, before turning the guns on the forts which he stormed and claimed a large booty of pearls and gold. However, true to his form, he didn't sack the town, or rape and torture the Spaniards, he just took the money and ran.
In 1814, the islanders fought successfully for independence from the Spanish after the collapse of the First Republic of Venezuela. Margarita Island became the first, permanently free territory in Venezuela. That same year, Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi was detained for over three years in a dark dungeon where she was harassed and abused. The authorities were hoping to put pressure on her husband Juan Bautista Arismendi, who was fighting for independence. It was on Margarita Island that Simón Bolívar was confirmed as Commander in Chief of the Venezuelan Republic in 1816. From there he started a nine-year campaign to free Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia from the Spanish Crown.
Read more about this topic: Isla Margarita
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“The principal office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–c. 120)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“The greatest honor history can bestow is that of peacemaker.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)