Draft One of Term Paper on: Simon Bolivar
IBH History of the Americas
Simon Bolivar does not deserve the title of “Liberator of Latin America.”
Latin America as we know it today has undergone many changes throughout history. The beginning for this time of change was 1808. Spain, the country most widely responsible for the colonization of Latin America, was in trouble with France’s master of conquest, Napoleon Bonaparte. Napolien overthrew the King of Spain and replaced him with his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. The repercusions of this evet rolled through Latin America and primed the atmosphere for revolution. The colonial people of Latin America had no loyalty to the new Jing Joseph. This lack of respect for the new power also contributed greatly to the Revolutionary spirit.
The invasion of Spain by Napolien represents the final straw on the colonial back. There were three other main problems with the Spanish empire that agreed with revolution. The first and most obvious problem was Spains separation from her colonies by great distances. The affect of the great distance was a disloyalty to the throne, Then second was colonial resistance to commercial restrictions placed on them by Spain, and lastly, the immidiate problems that faced the throne, or the French. All of these problems allowed the revolutionary spirit to grow in the colonies.
Simon Bolivar would be the man to try to unite and liberate much of Latin America, but with mild success. He was born on July 24th, 1783, into a rich creolle family in Caracass, Venezuela. His life was one of potential ease, but he found little. His father died when he was three years old. Then, six years later his mother died as well. Young Bolivar was left to his tutor, Simon Rodriguez . Rodriguez was a radical political thinker who belived in much of what Rousseau had writen. He traveled to Spain to continue his education, and ended up marring. Shortly upon his return to Venezuela, his wife died, and Bolivar launched himself into a ‘new’ political and military life. He was an impulsive, passionate and restless character, with tremendous ambition and vision packed into a small body. He also is thought to have said “If it wasn’t for my wife’s death, I might have led a quiet and passive life.”
Between 1810 and 1815 there were the first attempts at ‘full’ independence. This in...
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...tain slopes. He shows the dispersed patriot warlords of Venezuela and Colombia that it is he who can bring in arms and supplies, and he imposes his will to lead upon them successfully, especially after executing Manuel Piar, one of his most distinguished patriot allies, for treason.
His most strategic ally was to be Jose Antonio Paez, who led the plainsmen to victory after victory. (Remember that the plainsmen were not always his allies) His most loyal commander was the Jose Antonio Sucre, a man of humble and quiet disposition that sealed Latin American independence at the Battle of Ayacucho (Peru) in 1825.
Bolivar organizes the liberated territories into the super state of Greater Colombia, encompassing present day Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. He dreams of an even larger union, which would include Chile, Bolivia and Peru. However, he is unable to control the deep divisions between Venezuelans and Colombians from breaking out, and he is unable to temper the differences between centralists and federalists; he declares a dictatorship in 1825 and loses much of his prestige and beloved "glory." Bolivar died in 1830, virtually forgotten in both Colombia and Venezuela.
This paper will be exploring the book The Vanguard of the Atlantic World by James Sanders. This book focuses upon the early 1800 to the 1900 and explores the development of South American political system as well expresses some issues that some Latino counties had with Europe and North America. Thus, Sanders focus is on how Latin America political system changes throughout this certain time and how does the surrounding countries have an effect as well on Latin political system. Therefore, the previous statement leads into some insight on what the thesis of the book is. Sanders thesis is, “Latin American’s believed they represented the future because they had adopted Republicanism and democracy while Europe was in the past dealing with monarchs
Models for post-revolutionary Latin American government are born of the complex economic and social realities of 17th and 18th century Europe. From the momentum of the Enlightenment came major political rebellions of the elite class against entrenched national monarchies and systems of power. Within this time period of elitist revolt and intensive political restructuring, the fundamental basis for both liberal and conservative ideology was driven deep into Latin American soil. However, as neither ideology sought to fulfill or even recognize the needs or rights of mestizo people under government rule, the initial liberal doctrine pervading Latin American nations perpetuated racism and economic exploitation, and paved the way for all-consuming, cultural wars in the centuries to come.
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina is without a doubt one of the most known figures within the Dominican history. The “Era de Trujillo” (The Trujillo Era) occupied the Dominican Republic for the long period of thirty-one years. His dictatorship started in 1930 and ended with his assassination on May 30, 1961. Trujillo’s Career began with the occupation of the United States in 1916. During this time he was trained in a military school, and became part of the National Police, a military group made by the Unites States to maintain order in the Dominican Republic . Trujillo stood out during his military career and rapidly ascended within the military ranges. Under the government of Horatio Vasquez Trujillo received the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was put in charge of chiefs and assistant commanders of the National Police . This new position gave him the opportunity to be part of the overthrowing of Horatio Vasquez. Trujillo was sworn into presidency on August 16, 1930. Marking the beginning of what is known as the cruel, violent and controversial part of history in the Dominican Republic.
... gain to Spain. He also viewed the Americans that were under the Spanish rule as serfs. Serfs are classified as a member of the lowest feudal class with a status so low that it makes it harder to gain freedom. Bolivar does not agree with absolutism which he feels is another form of slavery. His idea of governance for Latin America is one that is “organized as a great republic”, but he sees this as impossible. Bolivar expresses that it would be nice to have “an august assembly of representatives of republics, kingdoms, and empires to deliberate upon high interest of peace and war with the nations of the other three-quarters of the globe. This type of organization may come to pass in some happier period of our regeneration” (413).
Conquests--- the art of obtaining power and authority through means of military forces--- have been adopted and practiced throughout the history of America for centuries. Similar to how two art paintings have resemblances and differences when replicated by different artists, the conquests of Sundiata and Cortés both share commonalities as well as a fair share of respective distinctions. In Djibril Tamsir Niane’s Sundiata: Epic of Old Mali and Bernal Díaz’s The Conquest of New Spain, the narrator’s arguments within each account display a ray of more similarities in regards to the conquests’ successes of Sundiata and Cortés compared to that of their differences.
From the foothills of Barcelona in Spain, a man came to be. Full of strength, honor, wisdom, and courage, this man was named Hernan Cortes. He, as the Spaniards would say, was a god among men. Legend says he had cat-like reflexes, and also had the mind filled with strategies. He may not have been the tallest person in the crowd, but he had the most will to achieve greatness. He is one of Spain's most influential, if not the most, conquistadors.
In the early 1900’s, one man bested the rival troops and used his intelligence to defeat the oppressive Mexican regime. Doroteo Arango Arámbula, also known as Pancho Villa, was born into a poor family and worked in the fields. Pancho Villa escalated from a peasant outlaw into a well-known revolutionary war strategist and folk hero. Pancho Villa could easily outsmart troops and use his popularity to help his cause for equality. His actions could not atone for any previous transgressions in his life of crime, but his tactics as a revolutionary war commander made him almost unstoppable when it came to fighting for equality. Pancho Villa was an important factor in the Mexican Revolution and its beginnings. He was one of the first revolutionaries to fight against the Mexican government, and successfully evaded and won fights against the United States government. His greatest achievement was the amount of influence he delivered the poor, and empowered them to fight for their rights.
Burns, E. B., & Charlip, J. A. (2007). Latin America: an interpretive history (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Simon Bolivar not only gained independence for Venezuela but accomplished many noble achievements such as helping to liberate Ecuador, unite nations, and put in place a notable influence in the seal of American liberty in December 1824. His efforts to unify Latin America today are still very much prevalent. Throughout Latin America, he is still thought upon as an icon and a Latin American Independence Leader all over the world.
There are four major reasons that the rebellion of the colonists accumulated into a full scale revolution. The most indistinct of these four reasons is the old societal legacies of the colonies, namely: social, political, religious, and economic values. These deeply rooted values were ingrained and inherited from the generations of colonists, and once the British began upsetting those values, resentment set in and began to undermine the British authority. For example, many of those who came to America were of British decent; they loved being English and fancied that, as colonists, they were taking part in the building of a bigger and stronger British Empire. But to those in England, the Americans were no better than barbarians. The English did not view A...
With a population of 48.32 million and about the size of California and Texas combined is the Republic of Colombia. Located at the northern tip of South America. Similarly to the United States it has a republic form of government with executive,judicial,and legislative branches. There President is Juan Manuel Santos and they use the Colombian pesos for money. They have free education systems that are Primary school which is elementary school for us and Secondary school which to us is high school and there major language is Spanish. Colombia’s flag is striped mostly yellow then blue then red on the bottom.
Simón José Antonio de la Santísma Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios, or for our purposes, Simon Bolivar, was born in modern day Caracas, Venezuela on July 24, 1783. Unlike what many would commonly think, Bolivar was born into a fairly wealthy family which found its riches in the gold and copper mines of Venezuela. After being left an orphan first by his father and then by his mother at age nine, Simon received a sized inheritance and was left to the care of his maternal uncle. While being properly educated in Spain, Bolivar met the love of his life. Soon they were married and as a couple returned to the Americas. Soon after arriving, his wife Maria Teresa Rodriguez del Toro y Alaysa was struck with yellow fever and
Latin America’s independence kicked of with the independence of Haiti. Before the the independence movement that overtook Latin America, Haiti had gained independence twenty years before the movement. The Spanish Empire had been in decline for a period of time after the rise of the English empire and many failed battles on the Spanish (class notes). The French Revolution and the American Revolution had inspired many of the Latin American countries to fight for independence (Chapter 3). They were inspired by the Enlightenment that washed over Europe. Of the inspired, one man stood out and took the movement by heart.
In South America, Native Americans had rebelled against Spanish rule as early as the 1700s. These rebellions had limited results, however it was not until 1800s that discontent among the Creoles sparked a widespread drive for independence. Educated Creoles like Simo¢n Bolivar applauded the French and American Revolutions. He dreamed of winning independence for his country. When Napoleon occupied Spain, Simo¢n returned to his South America and led an uprising that established a republic in his native Venezuela. But his newly found republic quickly toppled by conservative forces. Bolivar then got a daring idea; he would march his forces across the Andes and attack the Spanish at Bogotá. He managed to free Caracas then moved into Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru to do the same.
Scholars have debated not only the nature of Iberian colonialism, but also the impact that independence had on the people of Latin America. Historian Jaime E. Rodriguez said that, “The emancipation of [Latin America] did not merely consist of separation from the mother country, as in the case of the United States. It also destroyed a vast and responsive social, political, and economic system that functioned well despite many imperfections.” I believe that when independence emerged in Latin America, it was a positive force. However, as time progressed, it indeed does cause conflict.