1790-1848
 Social Unrest:
 Peninsulares
 Creoles
 Mestizos
 Mulatottoes
 Political Discontent: Educated creoles bring the ideas
of the Enlightenment to Latin America
 A French ruled island in the Caribbean (Hispaniola)
 A very wealthy sugar colony, worked by nearly ½ million
African Slaves
 The slaves revolt in 1791 lead by Toussaint L’Overture
 A self educated slave and a skillful leader
 France, Spain and Britain all send armies to stop the slave
revolt
 By 1798 Toussaint and his army controlled most of the
island and slavery was abolished
 In 1802 Napoleon sends an army to conquer the island but
his troops are unsuccessful
 France signs a truce with the island in 1803 and Haiti
declares itself a Republic in 1804
Toussaint
L’Overture
Skilled leader of the
slave revolt in Haiti.
A self-educated man.
Captured by the French
in 1802 after a false
truce. They carried him
off to France where he
died in prison in 1803.
His troops continue to
fight and win their
freedom from French
troops in 1803 following
yellow fever and their
eventual surrender.
 September 15, 1810: Father Miguel Hidalgo rang the
church bells in Dolores calling the people to prayer,
instead he asked them to fight for their freedom
against Spain (“el Grito de Delores”)
 Hidalgo, a creole, supported by his army of poor
mestizos and Native Americans marched to Mexico
City seeking an end to slavery and reforms to improve
conditions for the Natives
 With little success and no real support, Hidalgo was
captured and executed, his army disbanded
 Father Jose Morelos, a mestizo, continued the
revolution seeking social and political reform
 Morelos led rebel forces for four years until he was
eventually captured and shot in 1815
 In 1820 the Spanish King issued a constitution, fearing
forced liberal reform on the colonies, Mexican creoles
joined the rebel forces to overthrow the Spanish
viceroy
 Mexico finally won their independence from Spain and
became the Republic of Mexico in 1820
Father Miguel Hidalgo
Father Jose Morelos
Simon Bolivar
Simon Bolivar was an
educated creole born in
Caracas who admired
the US and French
Revolutions.
He received military
training in Europe and
was a successful
political and military
leader in South
America.
He freed Venezuela,
Peru, Ecuador, and
Bolivia from Spanish
Colonial rule.
Called “The Liberator”
 1810: Bolivar led an uprising in Spanish occupied
Venezuela and declared it a Republic
 The new republic was quickly toppled by conservative
forces and civil war raged in Venezuela for years
 Bolivar was exiled twice to Haiti during this time
 1819: Bolivar aligned with the llaneros, or Venezuelan
cowboys, marched his troops through the Andes
Mountains and captured the capital of the viceroyalty
of New Granada, Bogota. (Columbia)
 1821: Bolivar secured Caracas, Venezuela, and was
called “The Liberator”
Jose de San Martin
A creole born in
Argentina and
militarily trained in
Europe
A very gifted general
who frees Argentina
and Chile from
Spanish rule
He turns his forces
over to Simon Bolivar
in 1822 to continue the
fighting in Peru,
Ecuador, and Bolivia
 After joining with San Martin and his troops in Peru
Bolivar continued to fight the Spanish until 1824. At this
point most of South America had been freed:
 Modern day Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador,
Bolivia, Mexico
 Bolivar tried to unite the newly freed countries into one
united Grand Colombia but failed and four independent
states emerged: Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and
Ecuador
 Civil wars raged in the region throughout the century;
when Bolivar died in 1830, he saw his country fall from the
hands of the Spanish master, to a new master
 When Napoleon invaded Portugal, the royal family fled to
Brazil, before returning to Portugal the king left his son
Dom Pedro to rule Brazil
 As the rest of South America fought for independence from
their European rulers, the king of Portugal advised Dom
Pedro, “If Brazil demands independence, proclaim it
yourself”
 In 1822 Dom Pedro declared independence from Portugal,
crowned himself emperor, and accepted a constitution
giving freedom of press, religion, and an elected legislature
 Brazil remained a monarchy until 1889 when social and
political turmoil led it become a republic