El Salvador History

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The Conquest The history of El Salvador begins with the time period in which indigenous people resided in the country. According to Roy Boland, in Culture and Customs of El Salvador, The Spanish conquered El Salvador in 1524; the spanish found the country was divided into three states (13). The spaniards hegemonic influence finally converted El Salvador into a Spanish colony after twenty six years of indigenous resistance(Boland 14). Such conquest brought violence, diseases, and poverty to the indigenous people. The colonial period lasted until 1821(Boland 14). El Salvador finally became independent from Spain in 1821 and joined the United Provinces of Central America in 1823; however, in 1840 El Salvador gained full independence (Eileen …show more content…
On December 31,1991, a peace treaty was finally signed; this peace treaty was intermediated by UN secretary Javier Perez de Cuellar who was trusted by both the military and the FMLN(McKinney 12). Years of political violence had terminated; however, El Salvador’s civil war and years of corruption continued to affect its population.
United States Involvement in Salvadoran
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Ironically, the United States was involved in the Salvadoran civil war. The United States feared the rise of communism and guerillas, so the U.S. government proceeded to fund the Salvadoran government for about thirteen years(McKinney 7). The United States government funded years of political violence, poverty, hardships, and massacres. Funding of such violent actions was for the own benefit of the United States. In 1981,the FMLN attempted to gain control of various towns; however, this attempt failed because the FMLN did not have adequate weapons to fight the military. This failed attempt led the Ronald Reagan administration to fund more than 4.5 billion dollars in military training to defeat the guerillas(McKinney 12). Essentially, the FMLN was fighting against U.S. supported and trained military. Intervention by the U.S. in El Salvador is a prime example of the U.S. exceptionalism theory. American exceptionalism roots itself on the beliefs that America is unique, U.S. intervention and power is benevolent, and it prides itself in the idea that its interest are based on peace, liberty, and the rule of law(Lecture 9/28/16).The United States was one of the reasons as to why the war caused extreme destruction, death, terror, and poverty throughout El Salvador. The country that was founded on principles of “life, liberty, and happiness”, funded the extortion of countless

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