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Ecuador - History

Ecuador - History
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 7 to 9
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   9.07

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    assassinations, dollarize, instability, show-off, sucre, weaponry, corruption, investors, ransom, corrupt, protesters, triumph, better, politics, vice, civilian
     content words:    South America, Simón Bolivar, South American, Jamil Mahuad, Many Ecuadorians, Guastavo Noboa

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Ecuador - History
By Ekaterina Zhdanova-Redman 		  
1     Ecuador is a tiny country in South America. While there isn't much known about Ecuador's earliest history, what is known is fascinating. It is a history full of conflict, struggle, and triumph. And it all happened among some of the most beautiful geography on the planet.
 
2     While written Ecuadorian history goes back only to the 11th century AD, it is believed that people have been living in Ecuador for many thousands of years. Scientists believe that nomads traveled from Asia to South America around 12,000 BC. A nomad is a person who spends his or her life traveling. If you look at a map, you'll see that those nomads had a long way to travel to get from Asia to South America! More travelers from Polynesia, a group of islands in the Pacific, arrived later. These people formed different tribes. For thousands of years, they fought and made up over and over again.
 
3     Around 1450 AD, Incas moved to the country. People of Ecuador fought against the Incas, but ultimately lost. The Incas ruled the region for less than 100 years. The Incas lost out to the Spanish, who arrived in Ecuador in 1526.
 
4     A Spanish explorer named Pizarro arrived in Ecuador in 1532. Pizarro and his fellow explorers and soldiers terrorized the people of Ecuador. They tore through Ecuador with their horses, armor, and advanced weaponry. They wanted to take the region from the Incas for Spain. The Inca leader, Atahualpa, was ambushed and held for ransom. He was put on trial and later executed. The Incans preferred to destroy their cities than hand them over, in tact, to the Spanish. So today, there are remains from just one Incan city in Ecuador. Its name is Ingapirca.

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