And as you can see, it was for the most part, divided as colonies by a bunch of European powers. Most prominent is Spain. You can see in this peach brownish color, it had control all the way south as modern-day Chile and Argentina and all the way as far north as modern-day Texas and California. You also see significant control by the Portuguese in what will eventually be Brazil. The French have at this point some territory, especially in North America and in several islands in the Caribbean and the British, of course, have control along the east coast of North America.
And they also have several islands in the Caribbean and the Atlantic. As we fast forward years, we're going to see a dramatic change.
Notice roughly a hundred years later, most of what used to be these European colonies have now achieved independence. In other videos, we go in some depth from to You have the American War for Independence.
You see on this map now the United States is an independent country. From to , you have Toussaint Louveture lead the revolt against French control, eventually gaining independence and establishing Haiti. From to , you have a series of revolutions in Latin America, many of which were led by Simon Bolivar, who was a Crejo, or Creole, Venezuelan. The term Creole has many meanings in modern-day language, but in this context, it refers to someone of mostly Spanish descent who was born in the New World.
And Simon Bolivar plays an active role in achieving independence from Spain for Venezuela, what will eventually be Columbia and Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and the country that will eventually be named for him, Bolivia. So there is an interesting question here. The French Revolution, which began in , shaped the course of the ongoing conflict in Saint-Domingue and was at first welcomed in the island. In France, the National Assembly made radical changes in French laws, and on August 26, , published the Declaration of the Rights of Man, declaring all men free and equal.
Wealthy whites saw it as an opportunity to gain independence from France, which would allow elite plantation-owners to take control of the island and create trade regulations that would further their own wealth and power. There were so many twists and turns in the leadership in France and so many complex events in Saint-Domingue that various classes and parties changed their alignments many times.
However, the Haitian Revolution quickly became a test of the ideology of the French Revolution, as it radicalized the slavery question and forced French leaders to recognize the full meaning of their revolution. The plantation owners would be free to operate slavery as they pleased without the existing minimal accountability to their French peers. Raimond used the French Revolution to make this the major colonial issue before the National Assembly of France.
He and an army of around free blacks fought to end racial discrimination in the area. The conflict up to this point was between factions of whites and between whites and free blacks. Enslaved blacks watched from the sidelines. The Revolution in Haiti did not wait on the Revolution in France. The individuals in Haiti relied on no resolution but their own. The call for modification of society was influenced by the revolution in France, but once the hope for change found a place in the hearts of the Haitian people, there was no stopping the radical reformation that was occurring.
The Enlightenment ideals and the initiation of the French Revolution were enough to inspire the Haitian Revolution, which evolved into the most successful and comprehensive slave rebellion. Just as the French were successful in transforming their society, so were the Haitians. On April 4, , The French National Assembly granted freedom to slaves in Haiti and the revolution culminated in ; Haiti was an independent nation comprised solely of free people.
The activities of the revolutions sparked change across the world. John E. Baur honors Haiti as home of the most influential revolution in history. Haitian Revolution: Battle at San Domingo, a painting by January Suchodolski, depicting a struggle between Polish troops in French service and the slave rebels and freed revolutionary soldiers.
While in Europe, he was introduced to the ideas of Enlightenment philosophers, which gave him the ambition to replace the Spanish as rulers. Despite a number of hindrances, including the arrival of an unprecedentedly large Spanish expeditionary force, the revolutionaries eventually prevailed, culminating in a patriot victory at the Battle of Carabobo in that effectively made Venezuela an independent country.
Through further military campaigns, he ousted Spanish rulers from Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia which was named after him. He aimed at a strong and united Spanish America able to cope not only with the threats emanating from Spain and the European Holy Alliance but also with the emerging power of the United States.
First was gaining acceptance as undisputed leader of the republican cause. Despite claiming such a role since , he began to achieve acceptance only in , and consolidated his hold on power after his dramatic and unexpected victory in New Granada in His second challenge was implementing a vision to unify the region into one large state, which he believed and most would agree, correctly would be the only guarantee of maintaining American independence from the Spanish in northern South America.
His early experiences under the First Venezuelan Republic and in New Granada convinced him that divisions among republicans, augmented by federal forms of government, only allowed Spanish American royalists to eventually gain the upper hand. Once again, it was his victory in that gave him the leverage to bring about the creation of a unified state, Gran Colombia, with which to oppose the Spanish Monarchy on the continent.
At the end of the wars of independence — , many new sovereign states emerged in the Americas from the former Spanish colonies. During the wars of independence, the fight against Spain was marked by an incipient sense of nationalism. It was unclear what the new states that replaced the Spanish Monarchy should be. For Bolivar, Hispanic America was the fatherland. He dreamed of a united Spanish America and in the pursuit of that purpose not only created Gran Colombia but also the Confederation of the Andes, which was to gather the latter together with Peru and Bolivia.
Moreover, he envisaged and promoted a network of treaties that would hold together the newly liberated Hispanic American countries. Nonetheless, he was unable to control the centrifugal process that pushed in all directions. Gran Colombia was dissolved later that year and replaced by the republics of Venezuela, New Granada, and Ecuador.
For the rest of the 19th century and into the early 20th century, the political environment of Latin America was fraught with civil wars and characterized by a sociopolitical phenomenon known as caudillismo. This was characterized by the arrival of an authoritarian but charismatic political figure who would typically rise to power in an unconventional way, often legitimizing his right to govern through undemocratic processes. These caudillos would maintain their control primarily on the basis of a cult of personality, populist politics, and military might.
Gran Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from to The first three were the successor states to Gran Colombia at its dissolution. Panama was separated from Colombia in Its existence was marked by a struggle between those who supported a centralized government with a strong presidency and those who supported a decentralized, federal form of government.
The two men had been allies in the war against Spanish rule, but by , their differences became public and contributed to the political instability from that year onward. Gran Columbia broke apart in The departments created in were split into 12 smaller departments, each governed by an intendant appointed by the central government.
In its first years, Gran Colombia helped other provinces still at war with Spain to become independent: all of Venezuela except Puerto Cabello was liberated at the Battle of Carabobo, Panama joined the federation in November , and the provinces of Pasto, Guayaquil, and Quito in The Gran Colombian army later consolidated the independence of Peru in As the war against Spain came to an end in the mids, federalist and regionalist sentiments that were suppressed for the sake of the war arose once again.
Although Haiti is quite different from the other revolutionary movements listed in this set, its revolution is a turning point in Latin American history. Only some attempts at independence were fully successful, but seeds sowed by these early revolutions would yield a great harvest in years to come. In this set, students will begin to see how a group of revolutionaries shaped both the map and the mindset of Latin American nations. To give feedback, contact us at education dp. You can also suggest a primary source set topic or view resources for National History Day.
Primary Source Sets. Latin American Revolutionaries. Show full overview.
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