Simon
Bolivar
Key Events
• The key events of Simon Bolivar’s life:
Birth
Marriage
Pledge in
Rome
July 1783
May 1802
Aug 1805
He was
Born in
Caracas,
Venezuela
He
Married
Maria
Teresa
He
Declaration of
Pledged Independence
to liberate in Venezuela
South
America
Declaration
President
Liberation
Death
April 1810
1819
1817-1824
Dec 1830
Became first
president of
Colombia
and later
several other
Countries
Liberated
Columbia
Peru,
Ecuador,
Panama,
Bolivia
Died at
the age of
47 of
tuberculos
is
Simon Bolivar
• Simon Bolivar was the son of a wealthy aristocrat
and young man at the time that he joined the
revolutionary movement
• A Creole who joined sides with the natives and the
llaneros in order to win the revolution
• He was the greatest key figure in Latin American
Independence
Leadership Traits
• Bolivar was known to gave
been a charismatic leader
• He was an excellent horse
man and this helped win
the llaneros over to his side
during the revolution
• He was also a superior
general and strategist,
being able to free most of
Latin America from
European control
• However San Martin
described him as a finicky,
arrogant man
Causes / Effects of Independence
Movement
Causes
• Napoleonic Wars
overthrow the king’s in
Spain (Problem of
Legitimacy)
• The trading restrictions
cease to exist
• The class conflict between
the upper class
peninsulars and the
middle class creoles
• Creole wanted to take
away peninsulars power
and the natives sided with
them until them wanted
power
Effects
• Most of the European
controlled Latin American
countries gained their
independence
• Many new countries were
formed within a generation
out of the old provinces
that the Europeans owned
• The countries experienced
much turmoil after their
independence and went
through years of invasions
and civil war
Important Events of
Independence Movement
• Bolivar and Francisco de Miranda led the movement
• The Spanish government crushed it and Bolivar sold out
Miranda for safe passage
• Bolivar returned and defeated the Spanish in several battles
• Republic of Venezuela established on 5 July 1811
Compared to George Washington:
Simon
• Led armed forces in
revolutionary battles
• Accepted a dictatorship role
• Received good amount of
education as a child
• Fought to change who would
have power over South
America
• Extremely charismatic and
regarded almost as a god and
a hero
Compared to George Washington:
George
• Led armed forces in
revolutionary battles
• Previously fought for
European army
• Put in leadership roles after
revolution
• Accepted a presidential role
• Did not have a lot of education
• Fought to change political
structure of America
• Untouchable leader that was
respected as well as the other
member of the revolution
American revolution compared
to the Latin American rebellions
• Latin American countries
weren't united together
although they did support
each other’s causes
• The Latin American
rebellions were only a shift
of power no ideals only
those copied from the
American revolution
• They had their elite the
creoles who tried to control
the rest of native
population in order to
maintain control
American revolution compared
to the Latin American rebellions
• All the states in North
America formed an alliance
and in order to make one
countries fight against
Great Britain
• They fought in protest of
politics and revolted to
create a new from of
government
• There was a colonial elite
that benefitted
economically from the war
Other key leaders associated with
Simon
• Jose San Martin
• Leader of the
Argentinean movement
for independence
• Francisco de Miranda
• A key figure in the
Venezuelan revolution
• José Antonio Páez
• Leader of the llaneros a
group of horsemen and
cowboys whose was an
important players in
the fight for
independence
Bolivar’s Death
At the end Bolivar was
Exiled for trying establish
a totalitarian government
which enraged many who
believed that he was only
trying to establish what
they had fought so hard to
get rid of he died in bed
with tuberculosis but was
stilled remembered as a
hero to almost all the
countries in Latin America