Costa Rica Independence - September 15th

The history of Costa Rica is unique in that the people in the country did not have to fights arduously as the people in other countries to gain its freedom. Costa Rica won its independence from Spain on September 15th, 1821. It came as a message from the Virreinato of Guatemala, so unlike independence in other countries, it wasn't a very significant event at the time. The country had functioned apart from the Capitanía General of Guatemala for a long time and Costa Rica was a far away "town".

In other words, even though the official date of independence is 1821, Costa Rica, since its origins, possessed an autonomous sense of being that became definite in that particular year. The country had functioned independently because of Spain's lack of economical, political and even religious interest in the poor region.

After the Declaration of Independence, the four main cities of the country: Cartago, Heredia, San José and Alajuela, also felt autonomous from each other, and disagreed on several issues. The Cartago and Heredia conservative leaders were in favor of joining Mexico, while the two latter cities and their Republican leaders disagreed. After a small battle in the Ochomogo Hills in Cartago, the Republicans were victorious, thus rejecting the accession with Mexico. Afterwards, Guanacaste, which belonged to Nicaragua, decided to join Costa Rica.

From that time on, Costa Rica has been a small country which desicions has kept it away from big wars and conflicts. Later, Costa Rica eliminated the army, which also helped to its culture as a peaceful country like no other in the world.

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