Ecuador Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Spanish colonization=== [[File:Roof deck (Palacio de Pizarro), Plaza de la Independencia (Quito), pic.aa4.jpg|thumb|The colonial [[Quito]], capital of the [[Real Audiencia of Quito]], today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.]] New infectious diseases such as [[smallpox]], endemic to the Europeans, caused high fatalities among the Amerindian population during the first decades of Spanish rule, as they had no [[immunity (medical)|immunity]]. At the same time, the natives were forced into the ''[[encomienda]]'' labor system for the Spanish. In 1563, [[Quito]] became the seat of a [[Royal Audience of Quito|real audiencia]] (administrative district) of Spain and part of the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] and later the [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]]. The [[1797 Riobamba earthquake]], which caused up to 40,000 casualties, was studied by [[Alexander von Humboldt]], when he visited the area in 1801–1802.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lavilla|first=E.O.|year=2004|title=Under the Southern Cross: Stories around Humboldt and Bonpland's trip to the New Continent|journal=Latin American Applied Research|volume=34|pages=203–208|url=http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/laar/v34n4/v34n4a01.pdf|access-date=22 August 2010|archive-date=19 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719230708/http://www.scielo.org.ar/pdf/laar/v34n4/v34n4a01.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> After nearly 300 years of Spanish rule, Quito still remained small with a population of 10,000 people. On 10 August 1809, the city's ''[[Criollo people|criollos]]'' called for independence from Spain (first among the peoples of Latin America). They were led by Juan Pío Montúfar, Quiroga, Salinas, and Bishop Cuero y Caicedo. Quito's nickname, "''[[Luz de América]]''" ("Light of America"), is based on its leading role in trying to secure an independent, local government. Although the new government lasted no more than two months, it had important repercussions and was an inspiration for the independence movement of the rest of Spanish America. Today, 10 August is celebrated as Independence Day, a [[Public holidays in Ecuador|national holiday]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/editoriales/19/ecuador-en-el-dia-de-la-independencia-nacional |title=Ecuador en el día de la Independencia nacional |date=10 August 2017 |work=El Telégrafo |access-date=8 August 2018 |language=es-es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808202916/https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/editoriales/19/ecuador-en-el-dia-de-la-independencia-nacional |archive-date=8 August 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page