Part one of term paper
At the time of the discovery of Central America by Christopher Columbus in 1502, highly civilized Maya and Nahua Indians inhabited the westernmost part of the isthmus. The impressive ruins of Tikal in Guatemala, Copan in Honduras, and Tazumal in El Salvador are relics of that civilization. Panama and most of Costa Rica were occupied by l ...

Part two of term paper
... west of Panama in 1522, Gil Gonzalez Davila ventured into Costa Rica and Nicaragua. During 1524 Pedro de Alvarado defeated the Quich, Cakchiquel, and Man peoples in battle and seized their respective Guatemalan strongholds of Utatlan, Ozimche, and Zancalue. Shortly thereafter Hernando Cortez marched southeastward from Mexico into Guatemala and Hinduras. Following variors shifts in administrative borders, in 1507 the Spanish reestablished the Captaincy-General of Guatemala, whose authority exten ...