South American Wars of Independence: Encyclopedia II - South American Wars of Independence - Spanish Colonies

South American Wars of Independence - Spanish Colonies

Because Spain was virtually cut off from its colonies during the Peninsular War of 1808-1814, Latin America was in these years ruled by independent juntas. These provisional governments claimed allegiance to the Bourbon king in exile, Ferdinand VII, but in practice operated independently.

One of the most influential leaders in the Wars of Independence was Simón Bolívar, known as "the Liberator". Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Bolívar was able to promote his personal vision of South America powerfully enough to gather and direct the efforts of several of the colonies after their initial revolt. Bolívar's first victory occurred in 1817 at Angostura in eastern Venezuela. In 1819, he led his army over the Andes and attacked the Spanish by surprise, thereby taking control of Bogotá. He occupied Quito and Caracas soon thereafter, at which point Bolívar controlled all of northern South America. The former colonies Venezuela, New Granada (modern-day Colombia) and Quito (modern-day Ecuador) formed the Republic of Greater Colombia, but after Bolívar's death in 1830 they separated, because the immediate need for unity had disappeared with independence. In the absence of this unifying cause, the remaining political and economical ties between the countries were weak and dissent spread among the different territories.

The southern South American colonies of Spain, including Argentina, Chile and Perú, fought their wars of indepence under José de San Martín (curiously also known as "the Liberator", especially in Argentina), another influential military leader and politician. He served as "Protector" of Perú until its parliament was assembled. San Martín met secretly with Bolívar at Guayaquil to plan the future of Latin America on July 26, 1822. Some have speculated that during this meeting Bolívar would have refused to share command of the combined forces, and this may have contributed to San Martín's withdrawal from Perú and subsequent settlement as a farmer in Mendoza, Argentina.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Spanish Colonies", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki