Latin American Revolution

Over the first few decades of the 19th century, nearly all of Latin America became independent. In most cases, Latin American Revolutions were led by Creoles. But just who were the Creoles? Learn about the Creoles and the Latin American Revolutions' causes, their events, the most important Latin American Revolutionary leaders, and the Latin American Revolutions' effects here.

Latin American Revolution Summary

The term Latin America is used to describe the areas of the Americas where languages that developed from Latin are spoken, namely Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

This is an enormous area that encompasses most of Central and South America and parts of the Caribbean. Except for the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, the Latin American colonies in the Americas all gained independence by the 1826.

In this Latin American Revolution summary, we will look in depth at the Spanish colonies of Central and South America, as well as touch on the Portuguese colony of Brazil and the French colony of Haiti. In all of these places, independence was achieved by 1826.

Starting around 1810, the Spanish colonies on the mainland began moving towards independence. The desire for independence was fueled by dissatisfaction among elites born in the colonies with the political control of Spanish-born officials.

Experiments in self-government during the French occupation of Spain by Napoleon prompted moves for full independence. After the expulsion of Napoleon, the Spanish attempted to regain but failed to regain control in the colonies.

In Brazil and Haiti, circumstances were slightly different but had similar causes of dissatisfaction with the political control of the ruling power. Inhabitants of these colonies also chose to fight for independence. In Brazil, independence was led by elites similar to what occurred in the Spanish colonies, but in Haiti, it was led by slaves, who successfully established the first republic led by people of African descent.

Fig 1 - Map showing the years different colonies achieved independence in Latin America.

Latin American Revolution Timeline

See key events in the Latin American Revolution timeline below.

Fig 2 - Latin American Revolution timeline. Made by the author Adam McConnaughhay, a StudySmarter original.

Latin American Revolution Causes

The causes of the Latin American Revolutions were complex, and each colony had its own particularities. However, in this summary of the Latin American Revolutions, we are going to look at the broad causes they held in common.

There are two main Latin American revolution causes: the impact of the French Revolution and resentment at the political structure of colonial rule.

Impact of the French Revolution

The impact of the French Revolution on the Latin American Revolutions' causes is hard to understate.

On one hand, the French Revolution, and the American Revolution before it, ended monarchies and established representative governments that placed sovereignty in the hands of the people, following the ideas of the Enlightenment.

This radical shift in power was undoubtedly influential in inspiring the Latin American Revolutions' causes.

However, the French Revolution had another indirect, but critical impact on the course of independence in Latin America.

In 1807, Napoleon invaded Portugal forcing King Dom João VI to flee to Brazil with the royal family.

While the Spanish had at first been Napoleon's ally, in 1808, he turned on them and removed King Fernando VII, replacing him with his brother.

This set off a political crisis in the Spanish colonies. Resentment at French rule prompted many Spanish colonies to declare autonomous juntas, or councils, that ruled in the name of Fernando.

However, after Fernando returned to the throne in 1813, this experiment in self-government and desire to continue it pushed the colonies to demand and fight for full independence.

Fig 3 - Painting by Francsico de Goya depicting the occupatoin of Spain by French armies.

Resentment at the Political Structure of the Colonies

The other key cause of the Latin American Revolutions was dissatisfaction with the colonial order, in particular how it placed the colonies as subservient to the colonial power.

Spanish Creole Resentment of Peninsular Rule

In the Spanish colonies, which constituted the vast majority of Latin America, there was a rigid class hierarchy. At the top, were those born in Spain, called peninsulares. Below them were the Creoles, or criollos in Spanish.

Below them were people of mixed race, and the indigenous peoples, free people of African descent, and slaves were on the bottom of the social class.

Under Spanish rule, the highest government positions were reserved almost exclusively for peninsulares.

However, by the late 1700s, the creole population made up most of the wealthy landowners and merchants in the colonies. Many were educated in Europe and were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment. Resentment at being excluded from the highest rungs of government was a key cause of Creole resentment, and some began to call for independence.

Meanwhile, for the largely disadvantaged peoples of mixed race as well as the indigenous and free peoples of African descent, desires for legal equality prompted many to join the cause of independence once the Latin American Revolutions got underway.

Fig 4 - Simón Bolívar, a creole and eventual independence leader.

Latin American Revolution Leaders

There were many important Latin American Revolution leaders. Learn about some of the most important Latin American Revolution leaders in the table below.

Fig 5 - Painting depicting José de San Martín crossing the Andes Mountains.

Latin American Revolutions Events

Learn more details about the Latin American Revolutions in this section.

Spain's Empire Becomes Independent

Spain was by far the largest colonial power in the Americas. By 1826, all of its colonies besides Cuba and Puerto Rico were independent.

Mexican Independence

On September 16, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo raised the banner of the Latin American revolution when he issued his Grito de Dolores, calling for revolt in the small town of Dolores.

He led an army that conquered some areas of south and central Mexico but failed to take Mexico City before he was captured and executed.

Insurgency continued in southern Mexico, but stalemate set in, with insurgents controlling rural areas and carrying out guerrilla warfare and royalist forces controlling most of the major cities. This remained the situation when Fernando returned to power in Spain. He at first reasserted himself as an absolute monarch.

However, Fernando was forced to implement liberal reforms, including a constitutional monarchy in Spain in 1820. This upset many of the conservative royalists in Mexico. Among them was Agustín de Iturbide, who decided to instead support independence as a way to preserve the conservative, colonial era order.

He aligned himself with independence fighter Vicente Guerrero. They drafted the Plan of Iguala. This plan included what were called the Three Guarantees:

• Mexico would be an independent monarchy
• Creoles would be given equal rights to peninsulares
• The Roman Catholic Church would retain its privileges

This plan was a compromise that granted citizenship to people of mixed and indigenous ancestry but also maintained the favored position of people of European descent. In many ways, it was a conservative reaction by royalists to events in Spain and fears of the prospects for more complete social revolution.

Iturbide captured Mexico City on September 27, 1821 and was made the emperor of Mexico. By late 1822, he was facing rebellion from republican opposition.

The states that eventually became Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras declared independence.

Iturbide ultimately was forced to abdicate and was later executed after attempting to return to power.

Mexico became a republic. Tensions between more liberal and more conservative political factions continued for much of the next century, culminating in the Mexican Revolution of 1910.

New Granada's Independence

The colony of New Granada included the modern-day countries of Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. In 1810, juntas claiming to be acting in Fernando's name were established, most notably in Santa Fé de Bogotá and Caracas.

In 1811, most of Venezuela and the city of Cartagena took the more radical step of declaring full independence and creating independent states.

Civil war ensued over the next 4 years. In Venezuela, royalists defeated the independence movement. In Colombia, conflicting views over a new governing structure led to fighting between Bogotá and the provinces that declared themselves free states like Cartagena, even while they simultaneously fought royalist forces.

These divisions aided the reconquest of most of the colony by Spanish general Pablo Morillo from 1814 to 1816. Many independence leaders were executed. Simón Bolívar, who had emerged as an important military leader, fled to exile in Jamaica and Haiti.

With the support of Haiti, he returned to his native Venezuela to attempt to free it. While he was able to carve out a liberated zone in southern Venezuela, he repeatedly failed to capture the capital of Caracas.

In a daring move, Bolívar marched his army across the flooded llanos, the plains of southern Venezuela and Colombia during the rainy season, then climbed into the Andes to surprise the Spanish forces at the Battle of Boyacá close to Bogotá in August 1919.

Victory at Boyacá effectively liberated most of Colombia. It also prompted the declaration of the Republic of Colombia (commonly referred to today as Gran Colombia) as a union of the modern-day countries of Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela. Bolívar continued by freeing the areas of Venezuela and Ecuador still under royalist control, doing so by 1822.

Continued division between factions favoring centralist and federalist systems of government eventually led to the break-up of Gran Colombia in 1830 into the three separate states of Ecuador, New Granada (later renamed Colombia), and Venezuela. Panama late gained independence from Colombia in 1903.

Fig 7 - Painting depicting the Battle of Boyacá.

Rio de Plata and Peru

The colony known as Rio de Plata was composed of the modern-day countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, followed a similar pattern to New Granada.

A junta was declared in Buenos Aires in 1810, in what is called the May Revolution. Paraguay declared independence in 1811. Buenos Aires then declared full independence in 1816, creating the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, which included most of modern-day Argentina and Uruguay.

The viceroy of Peru managed to keep control over Chile, Peru, and Bolivia for the moment, although it faced resistance from local rebellions and expeditions from Buenos Aires.

General José de San Martín led an army named the Army of the Andes to defeat them. He crossed the Andes into Chile, defeating most royalist resistance there by mid-1818. Chile declared itself an independent republic in February 1818. San Martín now turned his attention to Peru.

He took Lima, but royalist forces remained fortified in Cuzco. San Martín declared the creation of an independent Peru in July 1821.

However, in September 1822, San Martín withdrew from the war, which was stuck in stalemate. The final liberation of Peru was achieved by an army led by Simón Bolívar. The last remnants of royalist forces were defeated by 1826.

After the defeat of royalist forces, the area commonly referred to at the time as Upper Peru opted to become the independent state of Bolivia, named in honor of Bolívar. Uruguay, an area of dispute between Brazil and the United Provinces became an independent state in 1828. The United Provinces later changed their name to Argentina.

Latin American Revolution Effects

The main Latin American Revolution effects were the establishment of independent nation states in most of Central and South America. See a bit more about the effects of the Latin American Revolutions here.

Latin American Revolution Effects in Former Spanish Colonies

While most of the newly independent nation states of Central and South America adopted constitutions and forms of representative government as well as adopted reforms for racial equality, the independence wars also highlighted challenges that continued long afterwards.

Conflict between liberal and conservative political factions, as well as between those favoring strong central government and those favoring federalist systems with stronger provincial governments, were common throughout Latin America into the 20th century.

While slavery was usually ended during or in the years that followed independence, racist class structures remained, with those of African and indigenous descent remaining largely disadvantaged even if they had gained technical legal equality. Economic inequality and land ownership often went hand in hand with racial hierarchy.

Brazil: From Empire to Republic

Brazil is the only country in the Americas to have a long-standing monarch. It remained an empire for nearly 70 years. It was also the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery, only doing so in 1888.

In 1889, a coup deposed Dom Pedro II and established a republic in Brazil.

Haiti Faces Instability and Ostracization

In Haiti, Jacques Dessalines, who declared the country independent, faced internal opposition to his rule. He was captured and killed, and Haiti was beset by internal conflict and a series of civil wars for decades after independence.

It was also largely ostracized from the world community. The European empires and the US shunned it as a republic led by people of African descent. The other new republics of Latin America largely did as well, thinking it would help them establish successful relations with Europe and the US.

In conclusion, the Latin American Revolutions achieved independence but left complicated legacies and created dynamics that still influence events in the region today.