Latin American Independence Movements

1. Latin American Independence Movements

2. A Divided Colonial Society: • Peninsulares: people who were born in Spain, these were the top of the Spanish-American society, and the only people who could hold a high office • Creoles: Spaniards born in Latin America, could not hold a high-level official office, but could rise as an office in Spanish American colonies. • Both the Peninsulares and Creoles could own land, and controlled wealth and power in the Spanish colonies.

3. Mestizos: persons of mixed European and Indian ancestry; below the Creoles • Mulattos: persons of mixed European and African ancestry; below the Mestizos • Enslaved Africans were below the Mulattos. • Indians were at the bottom of the ladder.

4. Revolutions in the Americas: • The success of the American Revolution encouraged colonists in Latin American to attempt to gain their own freedom from their European masters.

5. Revolution in Haiti: • 500,000 enslaved Africans worked on French plantations (dramatically outnumbering their masters) • White masters were brutal, and terrorized the slaves • During the French revolution, the oppressed people in Haiti revolted against their masters. • On August 17, 1791 100,000 slaves rose against their masters.

6. Toussaint L’Ouverture • A former slave • Emerged as the leader of the Haitian Revolution • By 1801, he controlled the entire island and freed all the enslaved Africans.

7. In January of 1802 French troops landed in Saint Domingue to remove Toussaint from power. • Rather than facing 30,000 French troops, Toussaint agreed to stop the revolution if the French agreed to end slavery. • The French agreed and then later accused Toussaint of planning another uprising and had him arrested and sent to a prison in the French Alps. He died there in 1803.

8. Haiti’s Independence: • Toussaint’s lieutenant Jean-Jacques Dessalines took over as the leader of the revolution. • Declared the colony independent in 1904. • Significant because it was the first Black colony to free itself from European control.

9. Creoles Lead Independence: • Creoles could not hold public office, but were the best educated and least oppressed of the non-peninsulares. • Many wealthy families sent their children to Europe for education, and were introduced to the ideas of the Enlightenment.

10. In 1810 a rebellion broke out. • Napoleon had placed his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne, and the creoles felt no sense of obligation to a French king. • The Creoles relied on Locke’s theory of “consent of the governed.”

11. Two important generals emerge: Simon Bolivar: • Venezuelan • “Libertador” • Planned to unite all of South America into a single country “Gran Columbia” • Bolivia is named after Bolivar

12. Jose de San Martin: • Argentinean • Fought alongside the Spanish army in Spain against Napoleon

13. Bolivar’s Route to Victory • Declared Venezuela’s independence in 1811, but continued to struggle for independence. • 1819- Bolivar led over 2,000 soldiers on a march through the Andes into Columbia. • Bolivar defeated the Spanish army in Bogota by a surprise attack. • Won Venezuela’s independence in 1821. • Bolivar then marched to Ecuador and met Jose de San Martin.

14. Jose de San Martin: • Declared Argentina’s independence in 1816. • Freed Chile in 1817. • In 1821, after meeting Simon Bolivar and pushed the Spanish from Peru. • San Martin left his army under the control of Bolivar. • A unified army allowed Bolivar to defeat the Spanish once and for all.

15. Victory! • Latin America won their freedom. • The future countries of Venezuela, Columbia, Panama, and Ecuador were united into Gran Columbia.

16. Mexico Ends Spanish Rule: • 1810 – Miguel Hidalgo, a priest, issued a rebellion against the Spanish. He spoke to the peasants gathered at his church. • On September 15, 1810, Hidalgo learned that the Spanish had sent troops to quell the rebellion, and he rang the church bells yelling, “Viva Mexico!,” and “Viva la independencia!”

17. Hidalgo’s 80,000 Indian and Mestizo followers began a march to Mexico City. • The uprising alarmed the Spanish army and the Creoles, and the Spanish army defeated the rebellious crowd. • Hidalgo was executed in 1811.

18. Jose Maria Morelos (also a priest) led the revolution for another 4 years, but was defeated in 1815 by a Creole, Agustin de Iturbide.

19. Mexican Independence: • 1820- a revolution in Spain placed a liberal group in power there • The Creoles feared they would lose their favored status, so they joined the Mexican independence movement led by Agustin de Iturbide. • Iturbide declared Mexico independent in 1821, and declared himself emperor of all of Central America and named it the United Provinces of Central America.

20. Brazil’s Royal Liberator: • In 1807 Napoleon invaded both Spain and Portugal in an attempt to close European ports to the British. • The Portuguese royal family fled to their colony of Brazil and made Rio de Janeiro the capital of the Portuguese empire. • After Napoleon’s defeat, the royal family returned to Brazil, except for Prince Dom Pedro. • He stayed behind and intended to return Brazil to a colony.

21. 1822- Creoles demand Brazil’s independence from Portugal. • 8,000 Brazilians signed a petition asking Dom Pedro to rule. • Dom Pedro declared Brazil independent from Portugal, through a bloodless revolution.