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HAITI AND SANTO DOMINGO
In 1803, Jean Jacques Dessalines finally defeated the French
troops and, in 1804, declared the independence of Haiti. It was, thus, the second independent country in America, in this case, led by blacks. In 1822, Haitian troops subdued the eastern part of the island of Hispaniola, which would regain its independence from Haiti in 1844. -
BRAZIL: MONARCHICAL INDEPENDENCE
When Napoleon invaded Portugal, Juan VI took refuge in Brazil (1807) and later promoted a legal reform (1815) by declaring Brazil as the territorial base of the "Empire of Brazil, Portugal, and the Algarve". Thus, Rio de Janeiro becomes the seat of an absolute monarchy as well as those of Europe, and no longer a colony. -
Napoleon in Spain
On May 5, 1808 Napeleon's brother José Bonaparte King of Spain
called "PepeBotellas" -
CAUSES OF LATIN AMERICA INDEPENDENCE
To the causes, we must add
the events that precipitated the
independence. One of them is
that on May 5, 1808 Napoleon
imprisoned Charles IV and his
son Ferdinand VII and forced
them to abdicate in his favor.
Then, he named his brother,
José Bonaparte, king of Spain. In many Spanish cities were organized
Autonomous Boards that promised to govern until the return of
Fernando VII to the throne, but were dissolved by the French. -
THE LACK OF A KING, OCCASION OF AMERICAN BOARDS
Quito was to be the first in the history of
Spanish America to proclaim, on August 10, 1809, a government of its own, not appointed by the Crown. Soon they would proclaim their meetings, immediately, throughout 1810, Caracas (19/04), Buenos Aires (25/05), Bogota (20/07), and Santiago de Chile (18/08). -
THE INDEPENDENCE IN LATIN AMERICA
It began with the proclamation of Sovereign Boards in 1809. Some of them - especially the first that of Quito - were repressed by fire and blood by the Spanish authorities. The process continued until it became a true continental war. -
FROM THE BOARDS TO THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE
After the defeat, the armies of Lima and
Bogota occupied the city, and a year later, on August 2, 1810, they murdered 300 patriots and citizens, which shook entire America.
In the beginning, the Juntas were not independent: they were called interim depositaries of the sovereignty until the legitimate king returned. -
ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, AND URUGUAY
The first Junta de Buenos Aires (25-051810) organized three military campaigns to subdue the Spanish forces in the interior, but they were not successful. However, a revolution spontaneously broke out in Asuncion (14-05-1811), and the resulting government-held independent. This is how the Republic of Paraguay was created. -
MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE
The priest Miguel Hidalgo was placed in front of the Indians and peasants and launched, as we saw, the "cry of independence" in the town of Dolores. Throughout three years, it obtained triumphs with
its army and occupied several cities of Mexico, but was defeated in
Guadalajara and executed by the realistic authorities in 1811. The command was taken by another priest, José Maria Morelos, who led the second stage of the revolution (1811-1815). He introduced a liberal state and agrarian reform. -
INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTH AMERICA
When Fernando VII returned to the throne in 1814, patriotic military campaigns subsisted in Venezuela and the Río de la Plata. In the first, Simón Bolívar -Member of the Caraqueña boards of 1811- was named new military leader, and in 1813 he liberated Mérida and Caracas in the so-called Admirable Campaign, cities that gave him the title of "Liberator", united forever to his first name. -
NEW GRANADA AND VENEZUELA
Morillo soon resumed control of Venezuela and New Granada. But, in 1817, Bolívar, Piar, Páez, and other Venezuelan leaders reactivated the war. Bolivar
faced and defeated Morillo in Calabozo, in 1818. However, later, Morillo counterattacked and defeated Bolivar in the valley of Aragua. Then Bolívar crossed the Andes and defeated the royalists in the battle of Pantano de Vargas (25-07-1819). which sealed the independence of New Granada. -
INDEPENDENCE OF CHILE
San Martin was not discouraged and decided to continue with his plans, only now he first had to liberate Chile. For that he spent years
making weapons, bullets and all kinds of equipment, and organizing the Army of the Andes. -
PERU
Together with O'Higgins, and with 200,000 pesos that he obtained from Buenos Aires, San Martín managed to buy a naval squadron to attack the Spaniards in Peru by sea. San Martin sailed from Valparaíso (20-08-1820) with a fleet of eight warships and 16 transport ships, and 4,500 men from the armies of the Andes and Chile. -
INDEPENDENCE OF ECUADOR
Let us remember how the independence of Guayaquil was proclaimed (9-10-1820), the arrival of the patriot army commanded by Antonio José de Sucre, and its triumph in Pichincha (24-05-1822), which culminated the independence of the Great Colombia -
CENTRAL AMERICA
Guatemala with its provinces (Chiapas, Soconusco, El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Los Altos, and Costa Rica) declared its independence from the Spanish Crown (15-09-1821) and, shortly after, annexed Mexico to defend itself better from Spain. One year later, Guatemala and its provinces formed an independent state, of federal character, with the name of United Provinces of the Center of America, being its capital city of Guatemala. -
SAN MARTIN AND BOLIVAR
In their meetings in Guayaquil (26 and 27- 07-1822), Bolivar, liberator, and president of Gran Colombia, and San Martin, protector of Peru, talked about what was missing to complete the freedom of America: the defeat of the last realistic bastion in Peru. Surprisingly, San Martin gave Bolivar the initiative of the war completely. -
END OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
Four months later, while Bolivar had gone to Lima to raise more money and receive a new contingent of troops, Sucre was forced to give battle and destroyed the last bastion of the Spanish army at the battle of Ayacucho (9-12-1824) , which put an end to Spanish rule in South America. Sucre went to Alto Peru in 1825, where there was no resistance, and made it independent as a sovereign state that adopted the name of Bolivia in honor of Simón Bolívar. -
END OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
In 1823, Bolívar was authorized by the Congress of the Gran Colombia to take command of an expedition to Peru. In September of that year, he arrived in Lima and met with Sucre and the Peruvian leaders to plan the attack. Bolivar and Sucre defeated the Spanish army at the Battle of Junín (6-08-1824). -
THE CASE OF PUERTO RICO
On September 23, 1868, the scream of Lares, of independence against Spain, was produced. The rebellion is crushed in a short time. Puerto Rico continues within the Spanish system until the war between EE. UU and Spain. -
INDEPENDENCE OF CUBA
José Martí organizes the Cuban Revolutionary Party and looks for the old leaders of the revolution, unifies the different currents, builds a small army, and disembarks in Cuba. Martí dies in one of the combat actions (1895), but the revolutionary army continues to fight.
