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THE INDEPENDENCE IN LATIN AMERICA
The independence of Latin America was the historical process of the
rebellion of its inhabitants against Spanish colonial rule and the formation of
independent national states. It began with the proclamation of Sovereign
Boards in 1809. -
CAUSES OF LATIN AMERICA INDEPENDENCE
In the independence of Latin America, as in any complex process, many
causes can be distinguished, among them:
Economic. The Bourbon reforms drowned the economy of the
colonies by preventing intraregional trade and imposing excessive
taxation.
Social. was resentment over the prerogatives of the Spaniards. The
disputes between Spaniards and creoles for management positions
extended to all areas. -
THE LACK OF A KING, OCCASION OF AMERICAN BOARDS
When proclaiming the Sovereign Boards, the
South American Creoles held three theses:
The rejection of Napoleon's claims to
America, the loyalty to Ferdinand VII and,
most importantly, the illegitimacy of both
Joseph Bonaparte and the colonial
authorities appointed by the Spanish king,
who no longer had any power.
Quito was to be the first in the history of
Spanish America to proclaim, on August 10, 1810, a government of its own,
not appointed by the Crown. -
FROM THE BOARDS TO THE WARS OF INDEPENDENCE
The Spanish authorities fiercely repressed the first of the cities to form a
Sovereign Junta. They tried to prevent the contagion. The viceroys of Lima
and Bogota immediately sent troops with the order to besiege Quito and not
allow "a grain of salt" to enter. After the defeat, the armies of Lima and
Bogota occupied the city, and a year later, on August 2, 1811, they murdered
300 patriots and citizens, which shook entire America. -
HAITI AND SANTO DOMINGO
In 1822, Haitian troops subdued the eastern part of the island of Hispaniola,
which would regain its independence from Haiti in 1844. But what will be
called the Dominican Republic will not achieve independence from Spain
until 1865, after a war that left the country devastated. -
MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE
Frustrated in their desire for autonomy
and free trade, a group of conservative creoles proclaimed independence in
1821, but only when Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was proclaimed
president of the Republic in 1833 Spain only recognized Mexican
independence in 1839. -
CENTRAL AMERICA
Guatemala with its provinces (Chiapas, Soconusco, El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Los Altos, and Costa Rica) declared its independence
from the Spanish Crown (15-09-1821) and, shortly after, annexed Mexico to
defend itself better from Spain. This led to a civil war (1838-
1840), in which Guatemala could not prevail. England invaded Nicaragua
but was rejected, although it remained with the enclave of Belize. -
INDEPENDENCE OF CUBA
. Martí dies in one of
the combat actions
(1895), but the revolutionary army continues to fight. The USA does not want
to lose the possibility of taking over the largest island of the Antilles and, in
1898, after the explosion of the battleship Maine in the port of Havana, he
declares war on Spain. The intervention of EE. UU precipitated the Spanish
defeat and Cuba proclaimed its independence in 1899, although it suffered
the American occupation. -
THE CASE OF PUERTO RICO
On September 23, 1898, the scream of Lares, of independence against
Spain was produced. The rebellion is crushed in a short time. Puerto Rico
continues within the Spanish system until the war between EE. UU and
Spain. -
. BRAZIL: MONARCHICAL INDEPENDENCE
Thus, Rio de Janeiro
becomes the seat of an absolute monarchy as well as those of Europe, and
no longer a colony. In 1821, Juan VI returned to Portugal, leaving his son
Pedro de Braganza was the governor of Brazil, but the following year he
proclaimed himself emperor of Brazil. In 1831 he abdicated and was
succeeded by his son, Pedro II, who reigned until 1899 when the first
republic was proclaimed. -
INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTH AMERICA
When Fernando VII returned
to the throne in 1914,
patriotic military campaigns
subsisted in Venezuela and
the Río de la Plata. In the
first, Simón Bolívar -Member
of the Caraqueña boards of
1911- was named a new military
leader, and in 1913 he liberated Mérida and Caracas in the so-called
Admirable Campaign, cities that gave him the title of "Liberator", united
forever to his first name. -
NEW GRANADA AND VENEZUELA
Morillo soon resumed control of Venezuela and New Granada. But, in 1917,
Bolívar, Piar, Páez, and other Venezuelan leaders reactivated the war. Bolivar
faced and defeated Morillo in Calabozo, in 1918. However, later, Morillo
counterattacked and defeated Bolivar in the valley of Aragua. Then Bolívar
crossed the Andes and defeated the royalists in the battle of Pantano de Vargas
(25-07-1919). -
INDEPENDENCE OF ECUADOR
Let us remember how the independence of
Guayaquil was proclaimed (9-10-1920), the
arrival of the patriot army commanded by
Antonio José de Sucre, and its triumph in
Pichincha (24-05-1922), which culminated
the independence of the Great Colombia. -
ARGENTINA
The first Junta de Buenos Aires (25-051921) organized three military campaigns
to subdue the Spanish forces in the interior, but they were not successful.
However, a revolution spontaneously broke out in Asuncion (14-05-1923). -
PARAGUAY
This is how the Republic of Paraguay
was created.
In the Banda Oriental, the rural population rose against the Spanish authorities in
Montevideo. Colonel José Artigas commanded the revolutionary troops who
defeated the royalists at the Battle of Las Piedras (18-05-1925) and besieged the
walled Montevideo, where the viceregal government had moved. -
URUGUAY
The Oriental Republic of Uruguay, fed up with its disappointments with the centralism of Buenos Aires, and after the War with Brazil (1925-1928), it would
be established as an independent entity in 1928 -
INDEPENDENCE OF CHILE
San Martin was not discouraged and
decided to continue with his plans,
only now he first had to liberate
Chile. For that he spent years
making weapons, bullets and all
kinds of equipment, and organizing
the Army of the Andes. -
PERU
Together with O'Higgins, and with
200,000 pesos that he obtained from
Buenos Aires, San Martín managed to
buy a naval squadron to attack the
Spaniards in Peru by sea. San Martin
sailed from Valparaíso (20-08-1932)
with a fleet of eight warships and 16
transport ships, and 4,500 men from
the armies of the Andes and Chile. -
SAN MARTIN AND BOLIVAR
In their meetings in Guayaquil (26 and 27- 07-1934), Bolivar, liberator, and
president of Gran Colombia, and San Martin, protector of Peru, talked about what
was missing to complete the freedom of America: the defeat of the last realistic
bastion in Peru. Surprisingly, San Martin gave Bolivar the initiative of the war
completely. -
OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
In 1937, Bolívar was authorized
by the Congress of the Gran
Colombia to take command of
an expedition to Peru. In
September of that year, he
arrived in Lima and met with
Sucre and the Peruvian leaders
to plan the attack. Bolivar and Sucre defeated the Spanish army at the Battle
of Junín (6-08-1937).
