1. Spanish American Wars of
Independence, 1760-1830
Michael Rodriguez

2. Key Objectives
1) Trace historical
patterns
2) Identify key
events
3) Understand race,
gender, & nation
4) Think like a
historian
5) What is an
American?

3. Who was Simón Bolívar?

4. Vow at Monte Sacro

8. Bolívar’s Many Faces
 Discussion to be followed
by in-class writing
The Question
 Who was Simón Bolívar?
The Sources

“The Many Views of Simón
Bolívar” by Erin O’Connor

The General in His Labyrinth

“Bolívar’s Justice” by Ricardo
Palma
by Gabriel García Márquez

9. Colonial Hierarchies
 Peninsulares (Spanish-born)
 Criollos (American-born)
 Castas (racially mixed)

10. Colonial Hierarchies
 Indios (indigenous peoples)
 Esclavos (Afro-Latinos)
 Heterogeneity & fluidity
Conflict, competition,
and cooperation

11. The Bourbon Reforms
 Self-sufficiency and
relative autonomy
 Carlos III (1759-88)
 Royal centralization
and higher taxation
 Clergy curtailed
 Prevailing attitude:
“Viva el rey, muera
el mal gobierno.”

12. Revolutionary Liberalism


 French Revolution
 Influences
Classical Liberalism

 American Revolution
What is
Enlightenment?
Republicanism

13. Colonial Rebellions
 Roots of these
popular uprisings
 Tupac Amaru II
(Peru, 1780-83)
 The Comuneros
(Colombia, 1781)
 “Tiradentes”
(Brazil, 1792)

14. Patriotic Juntas
 The Napoleonic Wars
 Ferdinand VII replaced
by Joseph Bonaparte
 The rise of anti-French
juntas as “caretaker”
governments, 1808-13
 Liberals vs Absolutists
 Why “patriotism”?

15. Identity
 Two documents by Bolívar—
read in class and discuss.
 Arguments and implications!
 What is an American?

16. Patriotism and Nativism
 “Patria y libertad”
 Rhetoric of equality
across race and class
 Celebration of the
indigenous past
 “American” identity
defined by birth
 NOT nationalism!

17. War in New Granada
 General Bolívar
 Initial defeats
 Haitian support
 War to the death
 Los llaneros
 Independence

18. Central America
South
America
Spain

19. War in the Southern Cone
War in the Southern Cone
 Argentina
 José de San
Martín
 Chile falls to
San Martín
by 1818
 San Martín
invades Peru
José de San Martín and Bernardo O’Higgins
crossing the Andes

20. War ininthe Andes
War the And
 Guayaquil declares
Ecuadorian independence
(1821). Bolívar leads an
army to support rebels.
 Bolívar persuades San
Martín to step aside.
 Quito falls in 1822—
Ecuador fully liberated.
 Royalists routed at Battle
of Ayacucho (1824)
 Peru gains independence

21. British Legions
BritishLegions
 7000 volunteers from
Britain and Ireland
 For gold, glory, high
adventure, and liberty
 Bolívar: “Those soldier
liberators are the men
who deserve these
laurels” of victory
 Many granted lands
and citizenship

22. War in Mexico
 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla:
the radical priest
 Vicente Guerrero: the
pragmatic liberal
 Agustín de Iturbide: the
scheming ex-royalist
 Independence in 1821,
after 11 years of war
 Aftermath

23. Exceptions
 Cuba would remain
Spanish until 1898
 Central America gained
independence peacefully
as part of Mexico (1821)
 Left Mexico to form
Federal Republic of
Central America (1823)
 Union consensually
dissolved by 1841

24. Big Exception: Brazil
 Independence gained
(1823) with surprisingly
little bloodshed
 Portuguese king exiled to
Brazil by Napoleon
 Prince Pedro of Portugal
= new Emperor of Brazil
 Political unity maintained
 Blacks and Indians don’t
gain any civil rights

25. Gender
 Rhetoric versus reality
 Gender, honor, patriarchy
 Case study: Manuela Sáenz
 Battle cry: “Are the women
of Cochabamba present?”
 Discussion:
Ricardo Palma’s short story
“Bolívar’s Justice” (1833)

26. Repercussions
Revolutions Unfinished
Exam Review

27. Questions? Comments?