South American
Independence
(1811-1825)
Map of bolivar and san
martin’s conquests
Simon Bolivar
- Creole elite
- educated in Europe, toured the US
- returned to Venezuela in 1811 to fight for
Venezuelan independence
* led The Patriotic Society of Caracas
(with Francisco Miranda)
* Declared Venezuelan independence in 1811
* initially opposed by Creoles, but quickly dominated the movement to as
a way to secure their power base
- voting based on property
- end of slave trade, not slavery
- Spain sent troops to put down the rebellion (Miranda exiled, Bolivar
made an eventual escape to Jamaica – wrote the “Jamaica letter”
•
Spanish occupation fueled Venezuelan desire for
independence
- violent conflict between Royalists/Spanish forces and Patriots
•
Bolivar returned in 1816 to help in the struggle for Venezuelan
independence, and multiple things worked in his favor:
1. based his campaign away from Royalist forces
Jose Antonio Paez
2. gained support from local warlords (Jose Antonio Paez)
3. used British/Irish mercenaries
•
Bolivar’s personality and charisma helped unify forces, but it was
difficult to keep underclasses involved (little incentive…independence
would primarily help creoles)
•
Battle of Boyaca resulted in the defeat of the Spanish and the creation of
Gran Colombia (Colombia, Panama, Venezuela)
Battle of Boyaca (August 7, 1819)

Bolivar led an army across the Andes Mountains (lost 1/3 of his
men)

Took the Royalist forces by surprise, captured 1,600 men and
defeated the Spanish in under 2 hours

Captured Bogota, New Granada

These territories collectively became known as Gran Colombia
(Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador)
Significance:
-
Definitive independence from Spain
-
Final defeat of royal forces in Granada
-
Weakened the remaining Spanish forces in all the Americas
Battle of Carabobo (April-June 1821)
-
Spain had recently signed an armistice with Simón Bolívar in
November 1820.
-
The patriots broke the terms of the agreement by moving against
the royalist forces – believed Spanish forces were too weak to
fend off an attack
-
At Carabobo, Bolívar led his 6,500 troops (including volunteers
from the British Isles) to victory over the Spaniards.
Significance:
-
victory that gained independence for Venezuela
-
part of Gran Colombia until 1830 – Jose Paez led the move to
break away from Gran Colombia and it splits into Venezuela,
Ecuador, Colombia
Meeting of Bolivar
and San Martin
This painting shows the initial meeting between
Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin in
Guayaquil, Ecuador (July 1822).
Bolivar was at the height of his success and San
Martin was frustrated with a lack of success in
Peru and Argentina.
Following the meeting, San Martin resigned from
a leader of Peru and went into self-imposed exile
in Argentina.
The Crossing of the
Andes
This painting illustrates the crossing of the Andes
Mountains by Jose de San Martin and Bernardo
O’Higgins during the Argentine War of
Independence.
Frustrated with a lack of success, San Martin
resigned his post in Peru. The Peruvian
government asked Simon Bolivar to help in the
struggle for independence. Bolivar organized the
army and took advantage of the division
between royalists and patriots in order to further
the cause. Bolivar, with the help of Antonio Jose
de Sucre, won independence for Peru at the
Battle of Ayachuco in 1824.
Sucre also secured independence for Bolivia
(named after Bolivar) in 1825, at that point
ensuring independence for all of South America.
Battle of Ayachuco (April 1824)

The revolutionary forces, numbering about 6,000 men—among them
Venezuelans, Colombians, Argentines, and Chileans, as well as
Peruvians—were under the leadership of Simón Bolívar’s lieutenant,
Venezuelan Antonio José de Sucre.

The Spanish army numbered about 9,000 men (Just before the battle,
large numbers of officers and troops crossed over to embrace their
friends and brothers in the opposing battle lines)

Sucre attacked and in a short time the royalist army had been
defeated, with about 2,000 men killed.

The Spanish viceroy and his generals were taken prisoner. The terms of
surrender stipulated that all Spanish forces be withdrawn from both
Peru and Bolivia
Political Cartoon
This political cartoon
attempts to illustrate the
actual, rather than
intended, results of South
American independence
movements of the early 19th
century.