Impact of Revolutions

on Unity
Miguel Hidalgo was a Catholic priest and leader of the
Mexican Revolution. Hidalgo had a plot against the

1810
Spanish colonial government, which was later exposed. He
decided to address the people from his pulpit. He
encouraged people to revolt. About 300 people from
many backgrounds attended his mass. Miguel Hidalgo
overcame many boundaries by speaking directly to the
people. Because he was an influential person of the
Catholic Church, people were more inclined to listen to
him. His influential cry was nicknamed Grito de Dolores.

The Sentiments of the Nation was created by Jose Maria

Morelos, who was a leader of rebels in the Mexican War

1813
of Independence. Morelos was a Catholic priest and
leader similar to Miguel Hidalgo. Morelos took up
leadership after Miguel Hidalgo was executed in 1811. His
document espoused things such as being free and
independent of Spain and having separation of powers.
This was important for the Mexican Revolution because it
set up what he aspired Mexico to be like. Because he
advocated for division of powers, this would help
maintain the distribution of power.

The Jamaica letter was written by Simon Bolivar while he

1815
was exiled in Jamaica. In this letter, Bolivar puts forward
his idea of Latin American Unity. His letter was very
influential for Latin American politics. In his letter, he
criticized Spanish colonialism and proposed that
constitutional republics be established throughout the
Americas. This letter was a significant attempt to
overcome different obstacles for the revolution because it
proposed unity that would carry on through Bolivar's life.
He wanted Latin America to be one powerful nation with
unity.

Simon Bolivar was born into a wealthy Creole family. He was

educated abroad in Europe which allowed him to gain

1821
Enlightenment influence. Simon Bolivar began a campaign
for Venezuelan independence in 1808 by appealing to the
wealthy Creole population. His revolution eventually
succeeded during the Battle of Carabobo in 1821. His
appeal to the wealthy Creole population allowed Bolivar to
have powerful support. He also made a sense of unity which
allowed many people of lower social class to believe in his
revolution.

San Martín’s campaign for the liberation of Peru was

becoming less successful. He proposed to Bolivar to join

1822
forces in order to make Independence a reality. They met
at Guayaquil in Ecuador but failed to agree. Because of
this, San Martín backed down from being a leader in the
wars for independence. With their combined forces,
Bolivar was able to take down the Spanish eventually.
While both people were very different and believed in
different things, they were able to come to a compromise
to achieve more important things.

When King João returned to Portugal in April 1821, he left

1822
his son Prince Dom Pedro to rule Brazil. The Portuguese
government took away the political autonomy that Brazil
had. Many Brazilians opposed this as they thought it would
infringe upon their rights and what they had already.
Brazilian leaders convinced Pedro to declare Brazil’s
independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822. This
revolution was mostly bloodless, but it remained the social
hierarchy in Brazil.

Agustin de Iterbide was born into an upper-class family.

1822
He enrolled in the royalist army early on. Miguel Hidalgo
offered Iturbide a post in the revolutionary army but
Iterbide refused and instead aligned himself with the
Spanish. Later, Iturbide ironically declared Mexico’s
independence from Spain. He later declared himself
emperor. This shows how Iturbide didn’t care that much
about the revolution because he was willing to change
sides very quickly.

Gran Colombia was an attempt to unite the entirety of

Latin America. It consisted of Colombia, Panama,
Venezuela, and Ecuador. Simon Bolivar was unable to
unit everyone because of divisions in leadership,

1831
assassination attempts, and internal uprisings. Bolivar
was the dictator from 1828 to 1830. After ruling, he tried
to make a constitution, but it was only recognized by
Colombia and Panama. He eventually resigned and
died in 1830. This caused that area of South America to
be marked by the history of caudillos, which were
warlords that fought each other. Here the revolution
was not able to overcome the differences between the
leaders, and ultimately failed to create Gran
Colombia.