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| 5. Costa Rica |
| 1830 |
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| Costa Rica became the first Central American country to export coffee. An oligarchy dominated the commercial and financial aspects of the coffee economy, and through them they controlled smaller coffee growers. No forced labor system arose in the coffee areas, so peons and wage laborers enjoyed relatively decent living standards. | 1 |
| Braulio Carrillo Colina (1835, 1838–42) led Costa Rica's secession from the Central American Confederation in 1838 and proclaimed himself dictator in 1841. His enemies allied with Morazán, who deposed him and attempted to return Costa Rica to the confederation. | 2 |
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| 1847–49 |
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| José María Castro Madriz promoted public education and proclaimed Costa Rica a republic. | 3 |
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| 1849–59 |
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| Juan Rafael Mora (1814–60), conservative president, defeated Walker. Coffee merchants benefited from the construction of the Panama railroad (1855). | 4 |
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| 1870–82 |
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| Gen. Tomás Guardia (1831–82) established a liberal dictatorship, drawing support from small landowners. Coffee subsidies were distributed on a more equitable basis. In 1873, confiscation of church land and privatization of communal lands allowed expansion of coffee cultivation. | 5 |
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| 1885–89 |
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| Under presidents Próspero Fernández Oreamuno (1882–85), Bernardo Soto (1885–89), Carlos Durán (1889–90), José Joaquín Rodríguez Zeledón (1890–94), Rafael Iglesias (1894–98, 1898–1902), Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra (1902–6), and Cleto González Viquez (1906–10) liberal reforms expanded. | 6 |
| In 1892, the country had 243,000 inhabitants. U.S. entrepreneur Minor Keith obtained land concessions to build a railroad. He displaced local banana growers and secured a monopoly on production. A merger with the United Fruit Company in 1899 led to further land concentration. Workers on banana plantations, many of them immigrants from the Caribbean, were subjected to restrictive systems such as payment in scrip. (See Costa Rica) | 7 |
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