Talk:History of Central America

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I did some substantial revision to this article. The main addition were two paragraphs on why the U.S. of Central America failed. I also included references to the inter-oceanic canal (historically a subject of great importance), to the invasion by William Walker, and to the present-day Central American parliament. I left the flag discussion more or less as User:Hajor had it and added mention of the Union's symbols in the appropriate section. Finally, linked here from the Central America article. (BTW, it's true that Costa Ricans like me are prejudiced against the Union. We were so remote and inaccessible that we were never effectively a part of it, and today we regard the regional parliament, to which we don't belong, as a waste of money and a sinecure for retired politicians). --Eb.hoop 14:50, 4 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Good editing. I'd heard the story about the president's wife sewing two Fr. flags together, but with the clarification that the two blue strips on the outside were kept as a nod to the federation. If that's not the case but just integrationist wishful thinking, please make the appropriate changes. (Recommendation for further reading: the FotW site has lots of other interesting information.) –Hajor 20:10, 4 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Looks to me like you did a good job. BTW, if you look carefully you'll see that "History of Central America" was already linked to in the "Central America" article, but I think there's nothing wrong with having the link more conspicuous. Cheers, -- Infrogmation 16:08, 4 Jul 2004 (UTC)

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I'm surprised at User:Eb.hoop's statement "Costa Rica's flag is not modeled after that of the U.S. of Central America", as I'd always heard that it was. -- Infrogmation 01:23, 4 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I was taught in school (I'm Costa Rican) that the president's wife made the current flag in 1848 by stitching together two French tricolor flags. This is why the flag has a double-wide red stripe in the middle. (Costa Rica, by the way, has a long history of resisting Central American integration.) --Eb.hoop 2:10, 4 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Interesting. Both in Guatemala and Honduras I was told that all 5 national flags had the white and blue stripes from the example of the old Federal Central American flag. That Costa Rica's flag has something to do with it has seemed plausible to me also because the coat of arms is quite similar to the old Central American one (I have a couple of old coins from the Federation era with that; I should see if I can get a decent scan from them). Perhaps we should both see if we can find some more info confirming one way or another-- or else note that contradictary stories seem to be told! Anyway, it seems there is sometimes a different attitude about that part of Central American history in Honduras and Guatemala, some people tend to romanticize the Federation-- it sounds like the situation is quite different in Costa Rica. Cheers, -- Infrogmation 02:36, 4 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I redirected "United States of Central America" and similar names here to "History of Central America" back when Wikipedia was much smaller and with less info on the topic. What do people think about splitting that off into a seperate article? If so, what is the best title? -- Infrogmation 01:23, 4 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I think it's fine as it is. The "United States of Central America" was short-lived and virtually inoperative while it lasted. It think's its adequately covered a by section of the "History of Central America." --Eb.hoop 2:10, 4 Jul 2004 (UTC)