(1783–1830). Simón Bolívar inspired men to fight and die for freedom. He led revolutions against Spanish rule in South America. Bolívar is known as the George Washington of South America. Early lifeSimón Bolívar was born on July 24, 1783, in Caracas, New Granada (now Venezuela). He studied in Europe as a youth and went back again in 1804. In Europe, he read the writings of 17th- and 18th-century philosophers and absorbed the spirit of revolution that they had written about. He was filled with the desire to liberate, or free, his country. The country had been under Spanish control since the 16th century. CareerIn 1807 Bolívar returned to South America. A year later, the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain. While Spanish troops were busy fighting the French, the South American colonies took the opportunity to rebel against Spanish rule. On April 19, 1810, revolutionaries forced New Granada's Spanish governor to leave the region. In 1811, the nation's independence was declared. In 1814, however, Spanish forces defeated the young republic, and Bolívar was forced to leave his country. He went to live in Jamaica. Conquest of New GranadaBy 1815, Spain had sent the strongest force that had ever crossed the Atlantic Ocean to its rebellious colonies. Three years of fighting followed. In 1819, Bolívar decided to return and lead an attack against the Spanish in New Granada. It was one of the most daring attacks in military history. About 2,500 men traveled over difficult routes, took the Spaniards by surprise, and defeated them. In December 1819 the rebels set up a government for a new country called Colombia. They made Bolívar the president and military leader of the state. The rest of the territory that made up New Granada was still under Spanish control, however. Bolívar therefore set about freeing the rest of the land. In 1821, the Spanish forces in what is now Venezuela were defeated and the country was at last free. In 1822, Bolívar secured the independence of Ecuador. Liberation of Peru and BoliviaThe Spanish still controlled other territory, however. In September 1823, Bolívar arrived in Lima, Peru. He gathered troops, horses, mules, and ammunition to form an army. In 1824, he fought with the Spanish forces in the first major battle at Junín and easily won it. On December 9, 1824, the Spanish governor lost the battle of Ayacucho and surrendered with his entire army. Bolívar was now president of Peru and Gran Colombia, which was made up of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. A small section of the continent, Upper Peru, was finally freed from Spanish rule in April 1825. The new nation was to be called Bolivia. The country was named after the Liberator, as Bolívar had come to be known. Last yearsBolívar had now reached the high point of his career. His power stretched from the Caribbean to the Argentine-Bolivian border. He was president of both Colombia (1821–30) and Peru (1823–29). However, the new states soon began fighting among themselves. Also, some leaders were getting worried about Bolívar's increasing power in South America. On the night of September 25, 1828, a group of men invaded the presidential palace and tried unsuccessfully to kill Bolívar. On May 8, 1830, Bolívar left Bogotá and journeyed to a friend's estate near Santa Marta. Bolívar died there of tuberculosis on December 17, 1830. |