Notes

Creoles Lead Independence
Even though they could not hold high public office, creoles were the least oppressed of those born in Latin America. They were also the best educated. In fact, many wealthy young creoles traveled to Europe for their education. In Europe, they read about and adopted Enlightenment ideas. When they returned to Latin America, they brought ideas of revolution with them.

Napoleon’s conquest of Spain in 1808 triggered revolts in the Spanish colonies. Removing Spain’s King Ferdinand VII, Napoleon made his brother, Joseph, king of Spain. Many creoles might have supported a Spanish king. However, they felt no loyalty to a king imposed by the French. Creoles, recalling Locke’s idea of the consent of the governed, argued that when the real king was removed, power shifted to the people. In 1810, rebellion broke out in several parts of Latin America. The drive toward independence had begun.

South America’s Generals
The South American wars of independence rested on the achievements of two brilliant creole generals. One was Simón Bolívar (see•MAWN boh•LEE•vahr), a wealthy Venezuelan creole. The other great liberator was José de San Martín (hoh•SAY day san mahr•TEEN), an Argentinian.

Bolívar’s Route to Victory
Simón Bolívar’s native Venezuela declared its independence from Spain in 1811. But the struggle for independence had only begun. Bolívar’s volunteer army of revolutionaries suffered numerous defeats. Twice Bolívar had to go into exile. A turning point came in August 1819. Bolívar led over 2,000 soldiers on a daring march through the Andes into what is now Colombia. Coming from this direction, he took the Spanish army in Bogotá completely by surprise and won a decisive victory.

By 1821, Bolívar had won Venezuela’s independence. He then marched south into Ecuador. In Ecuador, Bolívar finally met José de San Martín. Together they would decide the future of the Latin American revolutionary movement.

San Martín Leads Southern Liberation Forces
San Martín’s Argentina had declared its independence in 1816. However, Spanish forces in nearby Chile and Peru still posed a threat. In 1817, San Martín led an army on a grueling march across the Andes to Chile. He was joined there by forces led by Bernardo O’Higgins, son of a former viceroy of Peru. With O’Higgins’s help, San Martín finally freed Chile.

In 1821, San Martín planned to drive the remaining Spanish forces out of Lima, Peru. But to do so, he needed a much larger force. San Martín and Bolívar discussed this problem when they met at Guayaquil, Ecuador, in 1822.

No one knows how the two men reached an agreement. But San Martín left his army for Bolívar to command. With unified revolutionary forces, Bolívar’s army went on to defeat the Spanish at the Battle of Ayacucho, Peru, on December 9, 1824. In this last major battle of the war for independence, the Spanish colonies in Latin America won their freedom. The future countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador were united into a country called Gran Colombia.