Chile: Colonial Period

Spanish forces began raiding the region of present-day Chile in the 1530s, and the conquistador Pedro de Valdivia founded Santiago in 1541, establishing the base from which Spain organized its rule. Chile remained a colony of the Spanish Empire from this period until the early nineteenth century. Unlike the silver-rich territories of Peru and Mexico, Chile yielded only modest mineral wealth, so its economy came to rely primarily on agriculture and livestock.

Spanish expansion southward met sustained resistance from the Mapuche people, whose long conflict with colonial forces became known as the Arauco War and included the killing of Valdivia himself in battle. Because Chile generated little direct revenue for the crown, it depended on an annual subsidy from the Viceroyalty of Peru, and administrative authority rested with a captain-general who held broad powers over the colony.

Over the colonial centuries, a large mestizo population emerged from the mixing of Spanish settlers and Indigenous peoples, shaping Chile's later social character. Political instability in Spain following Napoleon's invasion in 1808 opened the way for a Chilean independence movement, which began in 1810 and culminated in full independence in 1818.