Simón Bolívar. I INTRODUCTION Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), South American revolutionary, military leader, and politician known as the Liberator for his leading role in the wars of Spanish American Independence. More than anyone else, Bolívar was responsible for the independence of five countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Despite his success in leading these nations to independence, Bolívar never achieved his goal of creating a federation of Spanish American nations, and he died an unpopular figure because of his attempts to establish strong central governments in the nations he led to independence. Today most Spanish Americans hold Bolívar in high regard for his role as a leader of independence (see Latin American Independence). II CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION Bolívar was born Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar on July 24, 1783 in Caracas, which was then the capital of the Spanish colony of Venezuela. The Bolívars were creoles, Spaniards born in the colonies. They had been in Venezuela since the 16th century, amassing a large fortune based on landed estates, mines, and urban property. Although born to great advantage, Simón Bolívar was not destined to live a charmed life. His father died when he was only three years old, and his mother died when he was nine. Relatives raised the orphaned Bolívar and provided him with tutors to oversee his education. During his early years, Bolívar had remarkable tutors. The most influential was Simón Rodríguez, who instilled in him the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment, which placed great emphasis on reason, science, and a respect for humanity. In 1799 his family sent Bolívar to Spain to complete his education. He was in Spain only a short while before he fell in love with María Teresa Rodríguez de Toro. They were married in 1802 and took up residence on one of Bolívar's estates in Venezuela, the hacienda at San Mateo. There he spent the happiest days of his life, but these were to be only a few, because María Teresa died of a fever in January 1803. Simón Bolívar would never marry again. After the death of his bride, Bolívar returned to Spain and then on to France. In Paris Bolívar met his former tutor, Simón Rodríguez. While there, he witnessed the coronation of French emperor Napoleon I, which marked the end of France's first attempt at republican government. Disgusted with the elaborate coronation ceremony, Bolívar journeyed to Italy with Rodríguez. In Rome he vowed to liberate Venezuela from Spanish rule. Bolívar then traveled to France and the United States, arriving back in Venezuela in February 1807. He was 23 years old. During the next several years Simón Bolívar lived the life of a wealthy colonial aristocrat, tending to his estates and other investments. Nevertheless, he spoke openly and often about the need and benefits of independence from Spain. III FIRST ATTEMPTS AT INDEPENDENCE The movement for independence in Spain's American colonies gained strength as a result of developments in Europe. In 1808 Napoleon ousted and imprisoned King Ferdinand VII of Spain. Colonial leaders in Caracas formed a junta--a governing council--to rule Venezuela in the name of the deposed king. However, for all practical purposes, the junta functioned as an independent government. Its members refused to recognize the authority of Napoleon's colonial administrators or of a regent council that royalists in Spain created to govern Ferdinand's empire. The junta granted Bolívar the rank of lieutenant colonel in the militia and sent him to Britain in an unsuccessful attempt to win British support for the junta. In Britain, Bolívar met with Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan who was the most widely known advocate of independence for Spain's American colonies. Bolívar invited Miranda back to Venezuela. They arrived at the end of 1810. Miranda quickly became the leading figure of the independence movement. On July 5, 1811, Venezuela became the first of Spain's American colonies to declare its independence. Despite calls from Miranda and Bolívar for the creation of a strong central government, the Republic's new constitution adopted a federalist approach, granting considerable autonomy to local governments within the nation. It also divided executive authority among three men. Venezuela's First Republic lasted only one year. In March 1812 royalists--Venezuelan supporters of King Ferdinand--began a revolt in the west. The junta gave Bolívar command of the strategic coastal town of Puerto Cabello, which he lost in early July. Revolutionary forces surrendered to the royalists later in the month. A Defeat and Exile In defeat, Bolívar made his way to Cartagena in New Granada (now Colombia), where he issued the Cartagena Manifesto (1812), a public statement giving his views on how to achieve independence. Bolívar argued the need for a professional military in place of the more informal militia units. He also advocated strong central governments. Bolívar attributed the fall of Venezuela's First Republic partly to its federalist constitution, which he felt had given too much power to regional governments at the expense of the central government. Forever after he would favor strong central governments. In New Granada, independence leaders appointed Bolívar an officer in the army. In early 1813, at the head of a small army, he set out to retake Caracas. On August 6, 1813, Bolívar entered the city in triumph, establishing Venezuela's Second Republic with himself as dictator. A congress named Bolívar El Libertador (the Liberator). Bolívar's forces controlled only a small portion of Venezuela surrounding Caracas. Various factions controlled the rest of the country. The most powerful opposition came from a royalist, José Tomás Boves, who controlled the central plains of Venezuela with the support of the llaneros, the rugged cowboys who lived on the plains. In June 1814 Boves roundly defeated Bolívar's forces and took Caracas. Bolívar fled to Cartagena. Determined to continue the struggle for independence, he led a military expedition that captured Bogotá, the current capital of Colombia, in December 1814. At this juncture events in Spain greatly altered the direction of Spanish American struggle for independence. In February 1814 Ferdinand VII regained the throne of Spain, and a year later he sent a large army to Venezuela. The royalist army entered Caracas in May 1815. Bolívar fled to a self-imposed exile in Jamaica. B The Jamaica Letter It was in Jamaica in 1815 that Bolívar made one of his first public statements about his vision for the future of Spanish America. In the so-called Jamaica Letter (1815), he revealed himself to be a strong admirer of Britain's parliamentary system of government (see Parliament, British). He also expressed his belief in the idea of balance of powers, the theory that political power should be divided among different branches of government to prevent any one branch from becoming too strong. However, Bolívar also believed that popular democracies, in which people vote directly for all their political leaders, were not suitable to the character, customs, and political background of Spanish Americans. He was concerned that most citizens of the Spanish colonies had never participated in elected governments and therefore would be unprepared for the responsibilities involved. Instead, Bolívar believed that individuals with more political experience should guide the people until they learned how to participate fully in the political process. Again, he expressed his dislike of federalism and his preference for strong centralized republics. He felt that Venezuela and New Granada should unite into a centralized republic, which would be called Colombia. This new republic would have an elected executive and a legislature consisting of an elected lower house and a hereditary upper house. Lastly, he spoke about the need for a union of all the countries in Spanish America to ensure prosperity and security after independence. IV BOLÍVAR AS MILITARY LEADER In December 1815 Bolívar left Jamaica to begin what would be the long and arduous road to the final independence of Spanish South America. While sailing for Cartagena, he learned that the port had fallen to the royalists, so he changed course and landed in Haiti. On January 2, 1816, he met with Haitian president Alexandre Pétion, who agreed to support his efforts in return for a pledge that slaves would be freed in any colonies that might be liberated. A Liberation of Venezuela In March 1816 Bolívar set sail with a small force, intending to gain control of Venezuela's most important river, the Orinoco. The Orinoco controls access to the colony's central plains that are rich in natural resources. However, he soon changed his plan and sailed west in an attempt to capture Caracas. Bolívar suffered a serious defeat and returned to Haiti, leaving some of his soldiers stranded on the mainland. This was a blot on his reputation that would stay with him the rest of his life. In December 1816 Bolívar once more sailed for Venezuela, this time adhering to the plan to capture control of the Orinoco. Bolívar now demonstrated a keen sense of military diplomacy. Through flattery, strength, and reward, he won the allegiance of one after another of the various patriot leaders. Through their combined efforts the patriots captured the strategic river port of Angostura (today Ciudad Bolívar), giving them control of the great plains. The prospects for a successful independence effort had greatly increased. During 1819, Bolívar's campaign for independence gained momentum and strength. B Congress of Angostura In February, a congress convened in Angostura and created the Republic of Colombia (also known as Gran Colombia). This new nation included the colonies of Venezuela, New Granada, and Ecuador. In reality, royalist forces still controlled Ecuador and most of New Granada and Venezuela, with the exception of the inland plains regions along the Orinoco. Bolívar addressed the Congress of Angostura and made suggestions for a constitution. He favored a republic with a strong executive subject to frequent elections and an independent judiciary. He suggested a hereditary senate, an elected lower house, and a fourth branch of government, an Areopagus (a body of censors to supervise the country's education and morality). He also pleaded for the abolition of slavery. The delegates at Angostura accepted many of Bolívar's proposals, but they rejected the fourth branch--the Areopagus--and reduced his hereditary senate to one of life terms. The congress named Bolívar president of Colombia. Concerned that the position would interfere with his military obligations, Bolívar at first refused the position. Later he and the congress arrived at a compromise under which Bolívar accepted the presidency but allowed the vice president to govern in his absence. Now Bolívar served as the president of a large country and commander-in-chief of a military that was steadily growing more powerful. In May 1819 he moved his forces toward New Granada, starting the final phase of the wars for independence. C Liberation of New Granada and Ecuador Bolívar led his army on a difficult and dangerous trek across the Andes Mountains. The royalists, who did not believe a large army could accomplish such a journey, were caught unaware. Bolívar's forces defeated them just north of Bogotá at the Battle of Boyacá on August 7, 1819. Three days later the Liberator entered Bogotá, a conquering hero. By early December he was back in Angostura, where the new constitution for the Republic of Colombia was ratified on December 17. The signing of the constitution was the fulfillment of one of the Liberator's most important goals. The land under the control of the Republic of Colombia expanded further in May 1822 when Ecuador was liberated. Antonio José de Sucre, one of Bolívar's generals, defeated the Spanish forces in Ecuador at the Battle of Pichincha, just outside the capital of Quito. Bolívar arrived in Quito in June to celebrate this achievement. D Liberation of Peru and Bolivia During the years that Bolívar was leading northern South America toward independence, Argentine general José de San Martín was spearheading the independence of the southern part of the continent. San Martín had already freed Argentina and Chile. He invaded Peru in August 1820. In late July 1822 Bolívar and San Martín--the two most important generals of Spanish American independence--met at Guayaquil in Ecuador. Their meetings were private, and nothing is known of what they said to each other. However, following their meetings, San Martín returned to Peru and resigned his leadership. This left the task of completing the liberation of Peru to Bolívar, who arrived in the Peruvian capital of Lima in September 1823. He was quickly proclaimed dictator as well as commander of the Peruvian military. On August 6, 1824, he met and defeated the royalists high in the Andes at the Battle of Junín. Then, on December 9, in the last major battle of the wars of independence, revolutionaries under the command of Sucre defeated a large army of royalist troops in the Battle of Ayacucho. Final victory over the royalist forces in South America came in 1825 when an army sent by Bolívar defeated royalist forces in Upper Peru. This region was renamed Bolivia, in honor of the Liberator, and soon Bolívar arrived to a hero's welcome. V BOLÍVAR AS POLITICAL LEADER This was the highpoint of Bolívar's public life. He had liberated Venezuela, New Granada, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. He had achieved the creation of the Republic of Colombia and had become its president, as well as dictator of Peru. He was about to write Bolivia's new constitution. However, the newly liberated countries faced many problems Bolívar could not solve. Conflicts erupted between civilians and the military, for instance, as well as between creoles of varying political persuasion for control over governments and revenues. Sometimes insurmountable problems developed between regions within a nation, particularly between provinces and capitals. In fact, by the time Bolivia was created in 1825, Bolívar's influence in the countries he liberated had significantly weakened. A The Bolivian Constitution It was in this situation that Bolívar wrote the Bolivian constitution of 1826. This constitution expressed his mature political ideas, which he had developed in response to the problems of the newly liberated countries. Bolívar still favored republican government, but now he favored a stronger presidency than had been instituted in Colombia, powerful enough to hold together the conflicting and frequently disruptive interests in the new nations. He proposed that Bolivia's president should hold office for life and should appoint his successor. The legislature would comprise three houses consisting of a lower house of tribunes, an upper house of senators, and a chamber of censors. The censors were a new version of Bolívar's Areopagus. They had the power to impeach government officials and to oversee matters of public morality, education, and the arts and sciences. The Bolivian constitution also abolished slavery and guaranteed liberty, security, property, and equality under the law to all citizens. Although the constitution was approved and won great acclaim, it soon proved unworkable, and Bolivia entered an era of prolonged civil war and chaos. B The Congress of Panama At about the same time, Bolívar suffered a political setback as he attempted to form some sort of confederation of Spanish American countries. He had proposed such a confederation to prosecute the wars of independence and to contribute to stability and prosperity for the region after the colonies achieved independence. Even before the final victory over the royalists, Bolívar had issued invitations to a congress in Panama to discuss a confederation. Not all of the invited representatives arrived, but delegates from Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and the Central American Confederation attended the Congress of Panama. It met between June 22 and July 15. The Congress accomplished very little. Bolívar and most Spanish American politicians of the time considered the Congress a failure. The countries of Spanish America faced too many regional differences, as well as more immediate national problems, to devote sufficient time, energy, and money to the creation of any sort of federated government. Nevertheless, one can see in it the predecessor of such modern associations as the Organization of American States, which works to foster cooperation among nations of the western hemisphere on matters of security and economic and social development. C Breakup of Colombia Bolívar soon returned to Bogotá and resumed the presidency of Colombia, but he faced major problems in keeping the republic intact. For one thing, Bolívar had never actively held his political positions long enough to build strong and enduring support among government officials and the citizenry. In 1827 he advocated a new constitution for Colombia that would have increased the power of the president. A constitutional convention met in 1828 and rejected any change to the constitution. This was not only a public and stunning defeat for Bolívar, but it was also a clear sign he had lost effective power. At the urging of his supporters, Bolívar assumed dictatorial powers in Colombia following the constitutional convention. Sporadic uprisings broke out in opposition to Bolívar's rule and in 1828 an assassination attempt came close to succeeding. By this time Bolívar was nearing the end of his career. He had lost much of his political support, and he was sick with tuberculosis. His great republic could endure no longer: In 1829 Venezuela left the republic and soon Ecuador did likewise. In March 1830 Bolívar resigned the presidency of the Republic of Colombia. In May he departed Bogotá, making his way toward the coast and exile; he never got that far. Bolívar died on the way to Cartagena on December 17, 1830, at the age of 47. VI BOLÍVAR'S LEGACY Bolívar's lasting achievement was the liberation of a large part of South America. But the leaders of the five countries that owed their independence to Bolívar were not anxious to recognize their debt. The government of Venezuela even refused to allow his body onto Venezuelan soil, and he was buried in Colombia. It was 12 years before Bolívar's family could bring his remains back to his homeland. Since then his reputation has risen steadily. Today many Spanish Americans consider Bolívar one of the leading heroes of the independence movement and one of the early supporters of republican government in Spanish America. Contributed By: Jay Kinsbruner Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
