Latin America’s Enlightened
Revolutionary Leaders
Enlightenment liberal Idealists:
Miguel de Hidalgo-priest
Simon Bolivar-Grand Colombia
Benito Juárez-Mexico’s liberal
reformer
José de San Martín:
Domingo F. Sarmiento
José de San Martín
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(1778 – 1850)
One of the major liberators of South
America from Spanish rule
He is also known as Argentina's
liberator, and was one of the principal
revolutionary fighters against royalist
forces in South America.
He was a master of military strategy, a
skill which led him to success.
Became a national hero in many South
American countries, Chile, Paraguay,
Peru, and particularly in Argentina
By 1825 all of Spanish America had
won political independence. All were
republics with representative
governments.
Miguel Hidalgo
• Read and studied the works of
Enlightenment Europe though
forbidden in Mexico at the time.
• He launched a colonial independence
struggle against Spain, mother country
that had become excessively
oppressive in Mexico.
• A priest in the village of Dolores , he
gave a fiery speech, called Grito of
Dolores, urged the people to
overthrow Spanish rule.
• His speech moved the people to
marched toward Mexico City, but
unarmed, they were soon defeated
and Father Hidalgo was captured but
the revolution he started did not die.
(1753 – 1811)
Simon Bolivar-Gran Colombia (1783 – 1830)
• A general and one of South America’s
most important leaders. He is called
“The Liberator.”
• He lead Spanish America in a
successful struggle for independence.
• Contributed to the independence of
the present-day countries of
Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,
Panama, and Bolivia.
• After defeating the Spanish Monarchy,
Bolívar participated in the foundation
of Gran Colombia, a nation formed
from the liberated Spanish colonies.
He was President of Gran Colombia
from 1821 to 1830.
Benito Juárez (1806 – 1872)
• Regarded as Mexico’s greatest and most beloved leader, resisted French
occupation, overthrew the Empire, restored the Mexican Republic, and
modernize the country
• Became a lawyer in 1834 and a judge in 1841
• Governor of the state of Oaxaca from 1847 to 1852
• Went into exile in 1853 due to objections to the dictatorship of Santa Anna
• In 1854 he helped draft the Plan of Ayutla as the basis for a liberal revolution in
Mexico.
• Served five terms as president of Mexico from 1858 until he died in office in
1871
• The first Mexican leader who did not have a military background
• The first full-blooded indigenous national ever to serve as President of Mexico
and to lead a country in the Western Hemisphere
The Liberation of Latin America
Independent States of
Latin America in 1830