Independence Movements in South America and Summary
Overview
Statewide Dual Credit Modern World History: Unit 7, Lesson 4
A discussion of revolutions in South America during the 18th and 19th centuries, focusing on the Mexican War for Independence and the efforts of Simon Bolivar to liberate several South American countries from Spanish rule including the Battle of Ayacucho, the last major battle of the Spanish American War for Independence.
Although inspired by similar Enlightenment trends, Latin American revolutionaries differed considerably from their Anglo-American counterparts. By the 1760s, the thirteen British North American colonies featured a decentralized imperial government, considerable regional political autonomy, a sizeable middling sort of attorneys, printers and other professionals, a preoccupation with private property, written contracts and the exclusion of most Native Americans from colonial society. However, the colonies of Nueva España sported top-down imperial governance, a ruling gentry of landholders, soldiers and church officials, an emphasis on personal relationships and multicultural societies that included large numbers of Native Americans and African Americans.
From the 1500s to the 1700s, Spanish colonial governments remained deeply conservative. Dominated by large landholders, merchants, royal bureaucrats and church officials, colonial leaders became accustomed to a certain amount of autonomy within the empire. When Philip V (1683-1746) of the House of Bourbon became the Spanish King in 1700, he began to streamline colonial governments and centralize royal authority under his leadership. Latin American elites bitterly resented what they considered an attempt to rein in their autonomy.
By the late 1700s, South American revolutionary leaders like Simon Bolívar and José de San Martín became inspired by the Enlightenment philosophy of John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu and Jean Jacques Rousseau. Encouraged by the success of the American, French and Haitian revolutions, Spanish colonial leaders formed junta- style governments that declared their independence from Spain in the 1810s and 1820s. However, while Bolívar and San Martín promised liberal reforms to attract peasants to their cause, many of the newly freed countries of Latin America, such as Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina and Bolivia, retained traditional political and social orders. Among other things, this created a political environment in which civil wars and coups became commonplace.
Mexico
The Mexican War for Independence began on September 16, 1810, when Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753-1811) urged his parishioners in the province of Dolores, many of whom were Native Americans, to rebel against the Spanish Imperial government. Over 60,000 peasants heeded Hidalgo’s “Grito de Dolores” (“Cry of Dolores”) and marched upon Mexico City. Spanish officials responded by capturing and executing Hidalgo. However, his successor, Father José María Morelos (1765-1815), routed Spanish forces across the Mexican countryside. Morelos was ultimately captured and executed by Spanish royalist forces in 1815.
Augustin de Iturbide (1783-1824), a creole military officer who had previously fought for the Spanish Crown, later joined the independence movement in 1820. By 1821, Iturbide had consolidated all of Mexico under his rule.
The success of Mexican revolutionary armies also helped inspire independence movements in Central America. In 1823, the provinces of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Costa Rica reconstituted themselves as the Federal Republic of Central America, although by 1840, they had emerged as independent nations.
Spotlight On | MEXICAN CONSTITUTION
In 1824, Mexican officials gathered together in Mexico City to create the nation’s first written Constitution. Modeled on the U.S. Constitution and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the Mexican Constitution called for a federal government with a separation of powers, a system of checks and balances, and provincial assemblies with considerable autonomy. However, the Mexican Constitution differed from its American counterpart in several ways. First, rather than providing a separation of church and state, the Mexican Constitution declared Roman Catholicism to be the official state religion of the country. Second, the Mexican Constitution abolished slavery and provided equal rights for all minorities. Texas revolutionaries cited the suspension of the Mexican Constitution in 1836 as a key reason for declaring their independence from Mexico.
Venezuela and Chile
The outbreak of the Mexican War for Independence paralleled similar developments in South America. An attempt by Napoleon Bonaparte to install his brother on the Spanish throne led to a power struggle. Unwilling to submit to a French ruler, local elites and revolutionaries in South America created several juntas to govern the colonies.
When Madrid attempted to reassume its control over its American colonies in 1808, several juntas declared their independence. In 1811, wealthy creole Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) launched a bloody eleven-year independence movement in Venezuela. To promote support for his revolutionary movement, Bolívar offered full political rights to poor Venezuelans and ended slavery. In 1819, he and a small army conducted a daring journey across the Andes Mountains, catching Spanish forces by surprise and capturing the capital of Bogota.
Bolívar’s war for independence inspired revolutionaries to the south. In 1816, Spanish military officer turned revolutionary José de San Martín (1778-1850) liberated Argentina. The following year he and his soldiers pushed Spanish forces out of Chile. In 1821, Bolívar and San Martín met in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where they planned a campaign against Spanish forces entrenched in the Peruvian Andes. No one knows how the two men reached an agreement, but San Martín left his army for Bolívar to command. Soon after, San Martín sailed for Europe, dying almost forgotten on French soil in 1850. Bolívar followed the Spaniards into the heights of the Andes. His forces defeated the Spanish army at the Battle of Ayacucho in 1824, which was the war’s last major battle for independence.
Spotlight On | BATTLE OF AYACUCHO
The Battle of Ayacucho, fought on December 9, 1824, represented the final major battle in the Spanish American War for Independence. In 1821, a revolutionary army led by Simón Bolívar invaded Spanish-occupied Peru. Three years later, a large Spanish army of 9,000 soldiers remained embedded in the Peruvian Andes. Leading an army of 6,000 soldiers representing provinces stretching from Colombia to Argentina, General Antonio José de Sucre (1795-1830) launched a devastating cavalry charge against extensive Spanish artillery. Capturing the Peruvian Viceroy and his officers, Sucre’s victory represented the defeat of Spain’s last large army in South America.
Brazil adapted from Statewide Dual Credit World History | CC By-SA
In Brazil, independence took a different turn. When Napoleon’s armies entered Portugal in 1807, the royal family escaped to Brazil, its largest colony. For the next 14 years, it would be the center of the Portuguese empire. In 1821, the Portuguese king returned to Portugal and left his eldest son, Pedro to rule Brazil as a regent.
However, growing calls for independence emerged among the Brazilian population. Faced with increasing pressure from Brazilian elites and popular movements, and recognizing the growing sentiment for independence, Pedro declared Brazilian independence in 1822. This decision followed a period of complex negotiations and political maneuvering involving Brazilian elites, the Portuguese court, and various factions within Brazilian society.
In 1826, despite his role in Brazilian independence, Pedro I became the king of Portugal. In 1831, unable to manage both Brazil and the Portuguese throne (which his brother had usurped), Pedro I abdicated the Brazilian throne in favor of his young son, who then became Emperor Pedro II.
Under the young Pedro II's rule, Brazil went from the verge of disintegration to becoming an emerging international power. Pedro II brought peace and stability to the country, and Brazil was victorious in several major conflicts during his reign. The Brazilian economy prospered, leading to increased European immigration and the gradual abolition of slavery. The arts, literature, and culture also flourished, with Brazilian adaptations of European styles. Despite his lack of desire to maintain the monarchy, Pedro II's reign was marked by continuous internal peace and economic growth. Even after he was suddenly overthrown in a coup, some saw him as a model for the new Brazilian republic.
SUMMARY
The impact of the American, French and Haitian Revolutions and the independence movements in South America and what they meant then and mean to us today are still widely debated. One aspect about these revolutions is certain: they still influence much of how humanity views and understands the world and continue to shape our conceptions of liberty, equality and freedom. The Haitian Revolution interfered with Napoleon’s plan to establish a French Empire across the Atlantic world. The Louisiana Purchase extended slavery in the United States. It also blocked slave holding empires such as France and Britain from expansion, moving them closer to the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The French abolished the slave trade in 1815, followed by the abolition of slavery in 1845. The British abolished the slave trade in 1807 and slavery in 1833. In Latin America, this period of revolutions was marked by violence and turmoil. Inspired by the America, French and Haitian Revolutions, rebellions against the Spanish and Portuguese led to the establishment of independent nations. Following these revolutions, each of the new countries would have to establish a new framework for governance as they attempted to create a new prosperous and independent nation.