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Napoleon's invasion in 1808
Napoleon invades Spain, causing the struggle of independence for Latin America. Joseph Bonaparte becomes king of Spain, making the people of Spain unhappy, causing rebellion the same year. This brought forth crisis in the Americas, because the monarchy had lost it’s legitimacy to Bonaparte’s family, meaning that the Americas were unsure who was in control of their authority. -
Simon becomes leader of Patriotic Society of Caracas
Simón Bolívar becomes the leader of the group “Patriotic Society of Caracas” which was already fighting for independence in South America by starting revolts. Simón was promoted to colonel and head of the diplomatic mission of London in which Bolivars career began as a public servant to freedom for the next 20 years. They freed and founded the first republic of Venezuela (July 5th, 1811) which didn’t give much rights to non-whites there, excluding them from voting and making them slaves. -
Bolivar escapes to New Granada
In 1812 an army of small spanish forces came to help non-whites, Bolivar and royalist combat the republican army. This led to Bolivar escaping to New Granada where he tried to renew a campaign against the royalist of Venezuela. Then he declared a war to death against the authority of Spain which he lost due to lack of support from the non-whites who were fighting for those loyal to the king. -
Joseph is no longer king (part one)
In 1814 Joseph Bonaparte was removed from the throne and Ferdinand VII took back his place. In 1815 the Spanish sent an army of 10,000 to the Indies which put New Granada and Venezuela in royalist control again in 1816. Since the creoles (sometimes poc with French/Spanish descends) had a harder time for decision making, the leaders of radical minorities were trying to get the support of the creoles. They had to make their revolutionary ideas more appealing to their wantings. -
The War of Independance
1817 - (August 10th) 1819 - Bólivar and José de San Martín begin to undertake different campaigns for independence lacking direct confrontation, with San Marín in the south and Bolívar up north. Bolívar begins the War of Independance fighting for Venezuela. He set headquaters up in Angostura to receive supplies and recruit soldiers. -
Joseph is no longer king (part two)
Bolivar knew that the republicanism in South America could not follow the model of North America’s after he witnessed the radicals of New Granada. On September 6th, 1815 he thought they were unqualified for electoral democracy. Bolivar and Jose de San Martin wanted to set up independent governments which would be more successful. Him and San Martin acted on this campaign in 1817 with Bolivar in the north and San Martin in the south. -
Liberation of New Granada
During the War of Independance, Bolívar decides to attack the Viceroyalty in New Granada. Bringing 2,500 men, Bolívar and his army marched to New Granada. It was a very rainy spring, and the majority of the march was in waist-deep waters. Choosing to head on a inconceivable path, many members of his men died from exposure to cold. The arrival Bolívar’s army took the Spaniards by total surprise. Most of the army surrendered to Bolívar during the Battle of Boyacà on August 7th, 1819. -
Venezuela is free of Spanish rule
With his extremely powerful army, it was easy for him to defeat the remaining Spaniards in Venezuela. Bolívar won the battle of Carabobo, and Venezuela was finally free of their previous Spanish rule. Later that year, the congress came together to draft Gran Colombia’s constitution. Bolívar was displeased with the draft, as he felt it was too liberal. Although he wasn’t too happy, he agreed to put up with it. -
Liberation of Peru (Part 1)
1822-1824
Around July 26th, 1822, Peru was the only area controlled by Spaniards. With Peru in this problem, Bolívar and José de San Martín were brought together. San Martín had already attempted to proclaim independence for Peru, but to no avail. The Spaniards made their way to the highlands, making it difficult for San Martín to follow them on his own, resulting in his partnership with Bolívar. Meeting in Ecuador to hold the Guayaquil Conference. -
Liberation of Peru (part two)
San Martín resigned his office and left Bolívar to complete the task of deciding the direction of the war coming. Presumably, San Martín believed he would only hinder the performance. Arriving in Lima in 1823, Bolívar assembled enough troops and ammunition to form a decent army. In 1824, the first major battle for Peru was taken place at Junín and was won effortlessly by Bolívar. On December 9th, 1824, the Spanish viceroy surrendered his entire army to Bolívar after losing the Battle of Ayacucho -
Bolívar becomes president
Bolívar became the president of Gran Colombia, and the dictator of Peru. The small part of Peru that was controlled by royalists fell due to liberation. That new area was named Bolivia. He created a constitution that was designed by a lifetime presidency, three chambers of legislative body and a high restricted suffrage. His designed constitution failed. -
Bolívar's Death
After civil war involving Venezuela and New Granada, Bolívar realized he would hinder the new found peace. He decided on May 8th, 1830 to sail to Europe and take refuge there. On his trip across seas, he discovered that Sucre (one of his trained successors) had been assassinated. He canceled his trip and headed towards Santa Marta due to an invitation from a Spanish admirer. He died towards the end of 1830 from tuberculosis in the house of the Spaniard.
