History and timeline

The earliest evidence of human presence in the Campeche region dates back to around 550 BCE. At this time, the Maya, who lived in the lowlands of what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and parts of Honduras, began migrating to new areas. This migration was likely driven by population growth, which forced people to look for new places to settle.

Migration into the Campeche region occurred from two directions. Groups from the south, coming from the Maya lowlands, moved to the southwest part of Campeche, while groups from the interior of the Yucatan Peninsula moved to the northern coast of Campeche.

On the northern coast of Campeche, many early settlements were small and consisted mainly of shell middens and debris. These settlements indicate that the people lived a subsistence life, relying on the natural resources available to them. In some areas, such as those where salt production was possible, salt mining and trade became key activities.

Although occupation was minimal between 300 BCE and 100 BCE, Campeche has several significant archaeological sites. These include Calakmul, Hormiguero, Rio Bec, El Tigre, Dzibilnocak, Tabasqueño, and Jaina on the north coast.

The region experienced important changes between 300 BCE and 100 BCE. This population growth may have been the driving force behind the development of political organization and armed conflict, as well as the spread of Chicanal-style pottery. By this time, a trading system had been established that allowed communities in the south and north to exchange goods.

After the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, the first missionaries began arriving. Notable figures included the monks Diego de Landa, Juan de la Puerta, Luis de Villalpando, Diego de Bejar, and Melchor de Benavente. They began evangelizing in San Francisco de Campeche, Calquini, Champoton, and Merida. They also acted as educators, teaching the native population how to read, write, and learn numbers.

In 1531, Francisco de Montejo, adelantado (leader) of the Spanish expedition, founded the city of Salamanca de Campeche. He appointed Gonzalo Nieto as mayor of the city but soon left to explore the rest of the Yucatan Peninsula. However, just 4 years later, both the mayor and the military abandoned the city and moved to Tabasco.

In 1540, Francisco de Montejo’s son, also named Francisco de Montejo, arrived in the region. With the help of indigenous groups from other regions of Mesoamerica, he defeated the local Maya and founded the city of San Francisco de Campeche on October 4.

In 1543, the Royal Audiencia of the Borders of Guatemala was created, and a year later, Yucatan became part of this institution. The areas of Campeche, Champotón, Hecelchacan, and Calkini began to see more Spanish settlers, while the Chenes and jungle regions of Campeche remained rural, where the indigenous people were subject to the Spanish encomienda (labor) systems.

In 1564, after pirate attacks on Spanish ships and coastal towns, the Captaincy General of Yucatan was created. The first governor and captain-general was Luis de Céspedes y Oviedo, who recognized the need to fortify the city of San Francisco de Campeche to protect it from further pirate raids.

In 1548, one year after the official end of the conquest of the Yucatan Peninsula, the territory of Yucatan was annexed to the Viceroyalty of New Spain, becoming a province. It was soon divided into four main regions: Mérida, Valladolid, Campeche, and Bacalar. That same year, Campeche was included in the Captaincy General of the Province of Yucatan.

The first pirate attack on San Francisco de Campeche occurred in 1557 when a group of pirates boarded a ship that had entered the port. More pirate attacks occurred in 1561 when pirates of different nationalities landed in Campeche. The city’s inhabitants successfully defended it, recovering the stolen goods and driving out the pirates.

Pirate attacks continued to disrupt the region, and less than 20 years after its founding, San Francisco de Campeche faced constant threats from English pirates, who were primarily interested in exploiting the local dyewood.

English pirates first occupied Treece Island (later called Isla del Carmen) on October 26, 1558. The sheltered waters of the Bay of Campeche, once considered the safest, became the most dangerous due to the presence of pirates.

The most famous pirates were mainly of English origin, such as William Parker, Henry Morgan, and Jacobo Jackson, as well as pirates of other nationalities, including Diego el Mulato (Cuban), Cornelius Jol Pie de Palo (Dutch), Bartolomé (Portuguese) and François L’Olonnois (French).

The pirates established bases in Jamaica (for the British) and the island of Tortuga near Hispaniola (for the French). Their ships were known as carracks, galleons, or frigates, and they were armed with muskets, swords, cannons, and other weapons. They attacked ships and settlements in the Caribbean, the Yucatan Channel, and the Bay of Campeche, often flying a flag with a skull.

One of the most significant victories in the defense of Campeche against pirates occurred in 1717, when Sergeant Alonso Felipe de Andrade expelled the British pirates from Laguna de Terminos, sacrificing his life in the process.

In the 18th century, Campeche requested its own trade consulate, separate from those of Mexico and Veracruz. The role of the consulate was to represent merchants in legal matters and before the Spanish Crown. Despite opposition from these other consulates, Campeche continued to push for this independence, and eventually in 1791 they were granted their own consulate.

On September 16, 1810, the independence movement began in New Spain, led by the insurgent army under Miguel Hidalgo. However, the movement was supported by various sectors of society, each defending different goals and interests. One group sought the expulsion of the French from the Spanish Empire and the return of King Ferdinand VII.

Meanwhile, the Creole bourgeoisie in New Spain saw an opportunity to free themselves from Spanish rule and the restrictions the Crown had placed on trade and industries in its colonies.

The Captaincy General of Yucatán, who had enjoyed certain privileges granted by Spain throughout the Colonial period, did not actively participate in these early uprisings. The region’s powerful economic and political groups maintained close ties with the metropolis. Despite this, liberal ideals, which were gaining ground across Europe, began to resonate in the region’s Intendancy.

The state of Campeche was formed in 1862 as a result of a long political struggle among Yucatecan politicians in the mid-19th century, leading to the split of the state of Yucatán. The geography of Yucatán had originally emerged from the territory of the Captaincy General of Yucatán during the colonial era and became part of the Mexican nation in 1824 after gaining independence from Spanish rule.

In 1862, the state of Campeche came into political existence through the decree issued on February 19 by President Benito Juárez, recognizing the new federal entity. Juárez was able to proceed with this recognition due to the law passed on December 11, 1861, which granted him extensive powers over all branches of public administration.

The definitive decree, which gained approval from the majority of state legislatures during the legislative process, was later ratified and issued on April 29, 1863. The state was formed from one of Yucatán’s districts, the Campeche district, which included the municipalities of Carmen, Champotón, Campeche, Hecelchakán, and Bolonchenticul. The first governor of Campeche was Licenciado Pablo García Montilla.

The region that constitutes present-day Campeche was of great importance due to the precious woods found in its hills, plains, swamps, and along rivers and lagoons. The history of the timber trade is tied to the incursions by privateers, mainly from England and the Netherlands. When the privateers made a significant haul, they would acquire a small boat and a cannon; a successful raid could lead to the acquisition of twenty more ships, and if they had a hundred, they were believed to have a thousand.

It was difficult to escape from them and even harder to follow their movements. They surprised and looted the wealthy cities of Chagra, Maracaibo, Veracruz, Panama, Puerto Rico, San Francisco de Campeche, Santa Catalina, and the suburbs of Cartagena.

However, this situation would change radically due to the political events that shook New Spain in the early 19th century. Spain had been invaded by Napoleon’s French army, which installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as king of the Iberian Peninsula, replacing Ferdinand VII.

Between 1880 and 1883, Campeche was governed by Arturo Schiels, and in the subsequent four-year period, Joaquín Baranda triumphed again in the elections. Baranda accepted the governorship, but in 1885, he requested and obtained indefinite leave from the Campeche Congress, leaving Juan Montalvo as the interim governor. During the remainder of the Porfirian regime (1887–1911), Campeche had fourteen governors, including those on leave or resigned.

During the Porfirian dictatorship, Campeche’s economy continued to rely on the cultivation and trade of corn, rice, sugarcane, and livestock for the internal market, as well as the export of dyewoods, salt, and timber.

However, the salt trade was affected by the federal decree of October 7, 1881, which allowed the free import of salt from abroad. The shipping industry, which had been significant until the 1860s, declined notably by the end of the century.

On the other hand, the extraction and commercialization of dyewoods, which had decreased during the critical years of war due to a lack of labor, recovered quickly. The Carmen region remained one of the two most important districts of the state. The other was Campeche, which also exported dyewoods, timber, and large volumes of salt.

In 1881, Governor Arturo Schiels requested and obtained a federal government concession to open new channels derived from the Candelaria, Palizada, and Champotón rivers to transport dyewoods and other precious timbers. This initiative also aimed to strengthen commercial relations between Campeche and the state of Chiapas and Guatemala.

The export of Campeche’s dyewood increased year by year, reaching 100,000 tons in 1896. However, after that, the activity began to decline, and by 1915, only 17,000 tons were exported. This decline was due to the use of chemical dyes in Europe, which had become widespread in the industry by the end of the century.

During the Porfirian period, Campeche maintained its famous timber trade, and the exploitation of chicle (chewing gum sap) also began, although it wouldn’t become important until the early 20th century.

In Campeche, as in the rest of the country, the early years of the 20th century were characterized by the political and economic dominance of a small group that controlled local power like Porfirio Díaz’s national policies. Perhaps with less use of public force or white guards, but the exploitation system was no less brutal.

The mechanisms of control and worker alienation created conditions where discontent did not lead to significant popular uprisings, except for small rebellious outbreaks in some haciendas and rural estates in Tenabo, such as the “Chilib” estate, or in Champotón, at the San Pablo and Haltunchén estates, where Jamaican and Huastecan laborers were the protagonists. These uprisings were controlled without much issue and without recorded armed confrontations.

The agrarian law continued to be applied, legitimizing the slavery of workers and their families. Despite this, the low colonization of labor lands was considered a problem, which led to efforts to encourage the participation of landowners in experimental immigration projects of Japanese workers, as had been done in neighboring Yucatán.

This measure was unsuccessful. Similarly, the federal government was asked to send Yaqui prisoners to Campeche (with a total of 165 prisoners, including women and children), but their impact was minimal.

The process of land accumulation in the hands of a few landowners accelerated in the first decade of the 20th century. By 1911, 14 landowners controlled 147 estates, which represented one-fifth of the state’s land.

The economy remained predominantly agricultural and forest-based. However, by this time, the dyewood trade was no longer profitable due to the near extinction of the species in the Champotón and Carmen districts and the Russian-Japanese war, which caused the closure of the main market. Henequen, despite an increase in its cultivation, never became dominant in Campeche’s economy. The sugarcane industry stopped being exported and served only the internal market.

Foreign investment was lower than the national average, but it controlled the main economic sectors. Thus, the zapote resin and dyewood trade was monopolized by the Laguna Co. and the International Lumber and Development companies, both U.S.-based, while henequen was controlled by Tebro Bros. and International Harvest Co. Additionally, the S. Pearson and Son Ltd. Company began oil exploration in Campeche’s territory.

In the modern era, the city of Campeche has emerged as a vibrant cultural center, renowned for its historical significance and natural beauty. Its well-preserved colonial architecture, vibrant festivals, and varied cuisine attract visitors from all over the world.

In 1999, UNESCO included the historic walled city of Campeche as a World Heritage Site, recognizing its Outstanding Universal Value and contribution to the cultural heritage of humanity.

Today, Campeche City continues to thrive as a vibrant urban center while maintaining its rich history and heritage. From its ancient Mayan roots to its colonial heritage, the city remains a testament to the resilience and spirit of its people over the centuries.