Colombia Timeline By nathaniel leman 1535 Spanish conquest of Colombia begins and the first permanent settlement in South America was founded at Santa Marta 1538 Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada founds Bogota as the capital of the 'New Kingdom of Granada' 1550 African slaves are sent to Colombia to work on plantations Jul 20, 1810 Date of Independence Aug 7, 1819 General Simon Bolivar defeats royalist forces in the Battle of Boyaca 1830 Ecuador and Venezuela became independent from Gran Colombia 1853 Colombia Adopts a Constitution 1899 Civil War: The War of the Thousand Days 1939 Colombia helps the USA by keeping the Panama Canal open during World War 2 1989 USA begins to supply Colombia with military equipment to help get ride of drug dealers