The American and French Revolutions
spread the idea that people were
entitled to a government that protected
their interests.
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When Napoleon
conquered Spain,
Latin Americans
were able
to govern
themselves.
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After Napoleon’s defeat, many Latin
American colonies refused to return to
Spanish rule and demanded independence.
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Toussaint L’Ouverture
led an uprising of
African slaves in
1791, forcing the
French out of Haiti.
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Haiti was the first Latin American
colony to achieve independence.
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Simon Bolivar
defeated Spanish
forces between
1819 and 1825,
liberating
Venezuela, Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru
and Bolivia.
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Jose de San Martin worked to
liberate Argentina and Chile from
Spanish rule in the years 1816 to
1818.
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Miguel Hidalgo,
a priest, began
a rebellion
against Spanish
rule in Mexico
in 1810, but the
uprising failed.
Mexico later
achieved
its independence
in 1821.
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President Monroe of the United States
issued the Monroe Doctrine in 1823.
It stated the United States would oppose
any attempt by Europeans to establish
new colonies in the Americas.
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The Monroe Doctrine made it clear
to the world that the United States
had special interests in the Western
Hemisphere.
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After independence, dictatorships,
unstable governments, and poverty
affected many Latin American nations.
Land and wealth remained in
the hands of a small elite. Caudillos or
military leaders ruled in some places.
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