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THE INDEPENDENCE IN LATIN AMERICA
The independence of Latin America was the historical process of the rebellion of its inhabitants against Spanish colonial rule and the formation of independent national states. -
CAUSES OF LATIN AMERICA INDEPENDENCE
In the independence of Latin America, as in any complex process, many causes can be distinguished, among them: Economic, Social, Ideological, Influence of US independence and the French Revolution. -
THE LACK OF A KING, OCCASION OF AMERICAN BOARDS
When proclaiming the Sovereign Boards, the South American Creoles held three theses: The rejection of Napoleon's claims to America, the loyalty to Ferdinand VII and, most importantly, the illegitimacy of both Joseph Bonaparte and the colonial authorities appointed by the Spanish king, who no longer had any power. -
FROM THE BOARDS TO THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE
The Spanish authorities fiercely repressed the first of the cities to form a Sovereign Junta. They tried to prevent the contagion. The viceroys of Lima and Bogota immediately sent troops with the order to besiege Quito and not allow "a grain of salt" to enter. -
ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY, AND URUGUAY
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. Colonel José Artigas commanded the revolutionary troops who defeated the royalists at the Battle of Las Piedras (18-05-1811). The Oriental Republic of Uruguay, fed up with its disappointments with the centralism of Buenos Aires, and after the War with Brazil (1825), it would be established as an independent entity in 1828. -
INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTH AMERICA
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. To quell the independence movement, Fernando VII ordered to organize the so-called "Peacekeeping expedition" which, under the command of Marshal Pablo Morillo, sailed from Cádiz in 1815. -
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. Bolívar crossed the Andes and defeated the royalists in the battle of Pantano de Vargas. which sealed the independence of New Granada. A few months later, the royalist army was defeated in the battle of Carabobo, the final victory of Venezuela's independence -
INDEPENDENCE OF CHILE
San Martin had to liberate Chile. Making weapons, bullets and all kinds of equipment, and organizing the Army of the Andes. The crossing was epic, but, as they had planned, the six columns met less than a month later in the Aconcagua Valley it triumphed in the decisive battle of Maipú (5-04-1818), assuring the independence of Chile. -
INDEPENDENCE OF ECUADOR
The independence of Guayaquil was proclaimed the arrival of the patriot army commanded by Antonio José de Sucre, and its triumph in Pichincha which culminated the independence of the Great Colombia. Let us remember, also, that Bolivar defeated the royalist pastures in the battle of Bomboná, and entered triumphant Quito and, later, he waited for the president of Peru, General José de San Martín, to discuss the strategy to end the war against the royalists. -
MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE
a group of conservative creoles proclaimed independence in
1821, but only when Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was proclaimed
president of the Republic in 1833 Spain only recognized Mexican
independence in 1839. -
PERU
San Martin sailed from Valparaíso (20-08-1820) with a fleet of eight warships and 16 transport ships, and 4,500 men. It forced the realistic army to retreat towards the mountain range. The uprising in favor of the independence of the Realista Regiment Numancia - opened the doors of Lima to San Martin (July 5, 1821), and forced the viceroy La Serna to leave the city and enter the mountains, with an army still very numerous. San Martin declared independence (28-07-1821) -
CENTRAL AMERICA
Guatemala with its provinces 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. However, local oligarchies promoted separation. -
HAITI AND SANTO DOMINGO
François Dominique Toussaint-Louverture took charge of a slave revolt on the French side of the island of Hispaniola and led it between 1793 and 1802. In 1803, Jean Jacques Dessalines finally defeated the French troops and, in 1804, declared the independence of Haiti. In 1822, Haitian troops subdued the eastern part of the island of Hispaniola, which would regain its independence from Haiti in 1844. -
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. He returned to Lima, resigned from the government of Peru (20-09-1822) -
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. 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. -
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. -
BRAZIL: MONARCHICAL INDEPENDENCE
When Napoleon invaded Portugal, Juan VI took refuge in Brazil and later promoted a legal reform by declaring Brazil as the territorial base of the "Empire of Brazil, Portugal, and the Algarve". In 1821, Juan VI returned to Portugal, leaving his son
Pedro de Braganza as governor of Brazil, but the following year he proclaimed himself emperor of Brazil. In 1831 he abdicated and was succeeded by his son, Pedro II, who reigned until 1889 when the first republic was proclaimed. -
INDEPENDENCE OF CUBA
The intervention of EE. UU precipitated the Spanish defeat and Cuba proclaimed its independence in 1899, although it suffered the American occupation.
